Mental health residential support services

What help is available?

Residential support services help people with needs related to mental health live in a supported community-based environment. Services can support you 24-hours a day depending on individual needs. This may include helping with and encouraging people to meet their day-to-day responsibilities for such things as personal care, planning and preparing meals and other daily tasks.

Services are provided in a range of community settings such as small or large homes, groups of small homes or flats. The idea is to provide a homelike environment, including individual bedrooms where residents can have their own belongings. They will have access to community groups, leisure activities and opportunities to socialise and meet other people.

Who qualifies?

The person you support can get residential support services if:
• they have a mental health issue, and
• their needs are assessed as being best met by community residential support services (see section below 'Who to talk to first').
In most cases they will need to be under the age of 65. They won't qualify for this DHB-funded service if they are eligible for ACC funding.

Who provides the service?

Community residential support services are paid for by a provider who has a contract with a District Health Board.

Who Pays?

If the person you support receives a benefit, they make a contribution from the benefit they get from Work and Income. The District Health Board covers the remaining cost. The resident can use the left-over portion of their benefit to pay for their personal needs such as toiletries, magazines and entertainment.

Who to talk to first

The needs of the person you support will have to be assessed in order to get funded residential support. The first step is to contact your mental health service at your local hospital - either the person's mental health case worker or the Mental Health Needs Assessment and Service Co-ordination agency (NASC) if your DHB has one.

You can read more about needs assessment here.

If you get stuck

  • In the first instance, you should talk to your local mental health service, which is part of your local District Health Board. You can find the phone number for your District Health Board in the front of your phone book. If this doesn't work, you can contact:
  • the Nationwide Advocacy Service at the Health and Disability Commissioner's office.