Sod-turned for first national youth forensic facility

Sod-turned for first national youth forensic facility

Capital & Coast welcomed the beginning of works on a new $15 million national youth forensic facility this morning, as Minister of Health Jonathan Coleman turned the first sod.

As a 10-bed secure unit, Nga Taiohi will provide the first dedicated treatment beds in the country for youth offenders with combined mental health and drug and alcohol issues.

It is the final stage of a national ‘centre of excellence’, mental health services director Nigel Fairley says.

Nga Taiohi will join the Rangatahi regional adolescent mental health unit and Hikitia Te Wairua, the national youth forensic intellectual disability unit on site at Kenepuru Hospital.

“We are very pleased to be able to concentrate local and national expertise in youth mental health on one site, which will enable us to offer greater support to help these young people successfully integrate back into their communities,” Mr Fairley says.

Interim chief executive Debbie Chin says she is delighted to welcome another national service to Capital & Coast’s Ratonga-rua-o-Porirua mental health campus.

“This is a significant milestone, which has been achieved by the teamwork of our mental health service and other staff across CCDHB, who have been working with the Ministry of Health and the National Health Board for two years to get us here,” she says.

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