Budget gives Youthline $400,000 over four years

11.45am

Phone helpline Youthline is to get $400,000 over four years in next week's budget in recognition of its important role in helping young people in need, Associate Health Minister Jim Anderton said today.

Mr Anderton, who chairs the Government's ministerial committee on drug policy, said the money would fund two staff to manage and supervise Youthline volunteers to provide a round-the-clock telephone service.

"It has come to my attention that the crisis phone line service can respond to only approximately 10 percent of incoming calls, leaving an estimated 20,000 crisis calls unanswered, some of which are likely to be from suicidal young people.

"This funding will go some way to toward addressing this problem," Mr Anderton said in a statement.

Youthline director Stephen Bell said the grant would help the organisation take a huge leap in providing the service 24 hours a day.

"We know we must be missing a lot of desperate young people who try to get in touch with us outside our current hours. The Government's support is vital to enable us to reach them at their time of greatest need," he said in a statement.

Mr Anderton also launched a new book aimed at helping the families and loved ones of people who commit suicide.

The book, After a Suicide of Someone you Know, was about helping people, particularly young people, to talk openly after the death by suicide of people they knew.

"We know from research that young people who have contact with a suicide are at an increased risk of suicide themselves.

"Obviously their situation is made more difficult by the many other factors we know contribute to suicidal behaviour. If we, the adult community, don't support young people to deal with their experiences of suicide then we are potentially compounding the problem."

About 100 young people committed suicide every year, Mr Anderton said.

- NZPA