The Better Futures grants offered up to $200,000 (excluding GST) for innovative initiatives that improved the mental health and wellbeing, and social inclusion of Queenslanders with a lived experience of mental illness, problematic alcohol and other drug use, or those impacted by suicide. The grants had a particular focus on those experience housing and/or employment issues.
The Commission partnered with the Department of Employment, Small Business and Training (DESBT), Department of Communities, Housing and Digital Economy, (DCHDE) and Department of Tourism, Innovation and Sport (DTIS) to develop the Better Futures grants and support organisations to implement and evaluate the grant-funded initiatives.
Four not-for-profit organisations were awarded a grant, and initiatives were developed, implemented and evaluated over a two-year period, with initiatives finishing in July 2021. Local level impact and outcome evaluation included appropriateness, cost-effectiveness, equity and efficiency, as well as social return on investment, sustainability and scalability.
Each organisation was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and had to make adjustments to align with COVID-19 public health directives, some more significantly than others.
The Brisbane Youth Service’s (BYS) Couch Surfing Hotline and Mobile Support initiative was a 14-month trial of a dedicated couch surfing support hotline and mobile face-to-face support service that aimed to prevent the further exacerbation of homelessness, mental health issues, risk of self-harm and isolation among vulnerable young people.
Mental health risk assessments identified that 38 per cent of the service users were at a high or very high-risk pre-support and post-support only three per cent of users were identified as high-risk. Additionally, 72 per cent of service users were not already engaged with a support service, indicating extensive reach into the at-risk population.
Outcomes also found improvements with the users’ living arrangements (housing safety and stability), confidence and skills to manage life and wellbeing, connection to services and support options relevant to them, and across a wide range of domains including violence, financial, safety, education and employment.
The Brisbane Youth Service’s (BYS) Couch Surfing Hotline and Mobile Support initiative was a 14-month trial of a dedicated couch surfing support hotline and mobile face-to-face support service that aimed to prevent the further exacerbation of homelessness, mental health issues, risk of self-harm and isolation among vulnerable young people.
Nuture, delivered by Lives Lived Well, was established as a social enterprise to develop a farming and distribution cooperative, which created employment pathways for young people and adults who have a lived experience with mental health and problematic substance use, living in the Logan area.
Lives Lived Well partnered with DGT Training and Employment to provide access to targeted training and employment for individuals who in the past, may have struggled to gain and/or maintain employment due to their personal circumstances. Grant funding enabled the 25 participants to complete Skilling Queenslanders for Work training and obtained either a Certificate One in Construction and/or Certificate One in Conservation and Land Management.
Despite the employment challenges of the pandemic, 17 of the participants secured employment as a result of the initiative and training. Participants also developed life skills, including finance and budgeting, cooking and healthy lifestyle behaviours, and mental wellbeing skills. The initiative also positively impacted on the participants’ overall mental health and wellbeing, including improved self-confidence and self-esteem, communication and conflict resolution skills, coping skills and resilience.
Mercy Community Services implemented the Green Care Multicultural Mental Health initiative, a structured educational care program that focused on social and therapeutic horticulture, and social connectedness and inclusion of migrant and refugee communities within the Toowoomba region.
Thirty participants from 14 different cultural backgrounds participated in the initiative. Overall, the initiative reported improved mental health and wellbeing outcomes, including life-skills, employment, communication and agricultural skill development. Additionally, the initiative improved the social community connection among participants, volunteers and clients of Mercy Community Service, which was critical during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the significant employment challenges of the pandemic, a notable employment outcome was achieved, demonstrating the effectiveness of engaging CALD communities in community outreach, mental health and wellbeing, and employment initiatives. Thirty per cent of participants were able to obtain employment, with some maintaining employment for 12 months.
Mercy Community Services established and maintained a number of stakeholder partnerships within Toowoomba’s multicultural community, including those within the health and employment sectors, as well as with community groups and elders. These relationships were critical in addressing the stigma associated with mental illness within the communities, and for agencies to work together to provide the wrap around supports that immigrants and refugees require when settling-in to a new place.
Help Enterprises’ Champions of Change: Mental Health in the Workplace initiative focused on building the capacity of individuals and the labour hire workforce through ongoing, sustainable education and training, to break down the stigma of mental illness within the workplace. Help Enterprises developed an online e-learning platform and delivered mental health first aid training to enhance the knowledge, awareness, education and mentoring of colleagues with mental health issues, and ongoing resources as training tools for managers. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted on the planned participation of a labour hire companies in the initiative, because of reduced business activity and fewer employment places.
In addition to the grants, the Commission engaged LivSmart to independently evaluate the impact and outcomes of the Better Futures grants. This includes an overarching evaluation of the Commission’s grant funding, including appropriateness, cost-effectiveness, equity and efficiency, as well as social return on investment, sustainability and scalability. LivSmart was also funded to build the capacity of four organisations to undertake comprehensive evaluation at a local level. This included both impact and outcomes evaluation.
The grant recipients reported varying degrees of appropriateness, effectiveness and efficiency, however each initiative was assessed to represent value for money, as the social return on investment exceeded the cost to deliver the initiative. The pandemic effected the achievement of the intended sustainability and scalability of all four initiatives however, the organisations displayed their ability to be flexible and agile in response, and continue to meet the needs of Queenslanders with a lived experience of mental illness, problematic alcohol and/or other drug use, or impacted by suicide.
The partnership with DESBT, DCHDE and DTIS has supported a cross-agency approach to the evaluation of the Better Futures grants, which in turn will support integrated agency planning, coordinated action and sharing of evidence-based information. LivSmart’s final report will be finalised in early 2022 and will guide the Commission’s future grant funding opportunities.
The Commission would like to acknowledge and thank all the grant recipients for their hard work, dedication and persistence over the past two years, as well as the ongoing commitment and involvement of the government agencies.
If interested in the outcomes of the Better Futures Grants, please sign up to our eNews.
Looking for other funding opportunities?
- Additional state government grants are available on the Queensland Government website.
- A comprehensive list of sector grants available to community and social service organisations from all tiers of government, community foundations and corporations published by the Queensland Council of Social Service (QCOSS)
