Frontyard Youth Services is a collection of services that work together to address the physical, emotional and social needs of young people aged 12 to 25 years who spend time in the Melbourne CBD and who are homeless or marginalised. Some of the services also work with young people across the whole of Melbourne and Victoria. The Frontyard Services seek to provide young people with choices that contribute to their health and future wellbeing and, where possible, return them to their community of origin.
For further information or full DVD presentation of this innovative health promotion project, please contact Donna Eade (YPHS) on 9345 4719
Frontyard’s unique model of service delivery is more than simply being about services co-located together. Frontyard is dependant upon high levels of collaboration and dialogue between the individual services aimed at finding new ways of working together and delivering services. Frontyard relies on the commitment and good will of service providers that are coming from different disciplinary backgrounds, to find common ground when dealing with issues that affect young people. Some of the features of the Frontyard integrated model include, a common critical incident response procedure, a single point of entry and waiting area, and shared procedures and protocols relating to integrated service delivery.
The Frontyard Operating Platform is composed of a Manager and a Youth Worker position and shared costs such as rent and utilities, which is funded by the City of Melbourne (CoM). Melbourne Citymission (MCM) is the lead agency responsible for governing and managing the operational development of Frontyard in accordance with its strategic direction and Funding and Service Agreement with the City of Melbourne. Melbourne Citymission also funds a second youth worker position, which operates as part of the Operating Platform. The Strategic Alliance for Frontyard, which comprises representatives from the Department of Human Services, MCM, CoM and an academic also provide overall advice to MCM on the development of the Frontyard model. Frontyard has been based at 19 King Street in the CBD since February 2002.
Our referral methods
Most services are drop-in so no appointments are necessary, however when referring clients please let them know that depending on how busy the day is there may be a slight wait. We basically see people on a first in first served basis. Some services do have referral forms and these can be downloaded from the service information sections.
After more info? Download the Frontyard factsheet for students (pdf 48Kb).
