Community Living Supports (CLS)

Community Living Supports (CLS) is a statewide program which supports people with a severe mental illness to live and participate in the community in the way they want to.

The program began in 2016 to help more people live in the community with the type of support provided under the Housing and Accommodation Support Initiative (HASI).

What sort of supports are provided?

Like HASI, people in the CLS program work with a support worker from a community organisation, a clinician from the local mental health service and their family or other important people in their life to develop their own unique support plan.

Everyone’s supports are different and depend on the person’s needs and wants. As examples, the type of things that people in the program often get help with are:

daily living skills like shopping, looking after finances, cooking or catching public transport
remembering mental and physical health appointments, medications and other treatments
meeting people in the local community and participating in social, leisure or sporting activities
learning new skills
accessing education or help to get a job
moving from a hospital or a prison back to home
accessing other supports like drug or alcohol services and the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

How much support can I get it?

The amount of CLS support you can receive is flexible. Some people might need only a few hours of support a week while some HASI consumers might get more than 5 hours support a day.

The amount of support can change to meet your needs. When things are going well you may only need a few hours of support a week, but there may be times when you are finding things difficult or distressing and it would be helpful to get more support.

Can I get housing as part of the program?

Supported people with a severe mental illness who live in social housing is a priority for the CLS program. But a person is not automatically eligible for social or community housing just because they are a CLS participant. If you need housing, the normal application process and eligibility criteria for social housing apply.

Am I eligible for CLS?

You may be eligible for CLS support if you:

are 16 years or older
have a diagnosis of a mental illness which causes you some difficulties in your day to day life
live or are staying in a local area so you can meet regularly with your support provider
want to access this sort of program help you develop and achieve your goals.

Are there any priority groups for the program?

Yes. Like with HASI, people referred to CLS are assessed according to their need and, when there are limited vacancies, priority will be given to people who meet the eligibility criteria and:

are having to stay in hospital for longer than they need to because of their high support needs
are putting their social housing at risk because they need more support to manage their severe mental illness
are coming out of a prison or in contact with the community justice system (like a person on parole or someone who is serving a community based detention order)
are living in a boarding house
are Aboriginal.

Where can I get more information about the program?

Your local CLS provider is able to provide you with more information about CLS, including how to access or refer someone into the program.

You can contact your local CLS provider using the below contact information. If you are unsure about which local health district you are in, further information can be found at the Local Health Districts and Specialty Networks.