The Kari Centre is the community service provided for children and adolescents who may be experiencing a mental illness. The teams are separated into East and West to reflect the geographical areas of the Central Auckland catchment area. The Kari Centre Community Teams are made up of experienced Mental Health professionals including Specialist Psychiatrists, Psychologists, Social Workers, Nurses and Occupational Therapists as well as cultural support workers.

Kari Centre Community Teams provide assessment and treatment for children and adolescents with a known or suspected mental health disorder at times of urgency or crisis.

More recently the Kari Centre has developed services for infants and families/whanau (Koanga Tupu) and a service for children of a parent with a mental illness (Tu Tangata Tonu)

Children and adolescents are seen with their family or legal caregiver’s involvement.

Referrals are required from a professional who has seen the identified child or adolescent, including (but not limited to) general practitioners, public health nurses, school guidance counsellors, paediatricians, school principals, teachers, social workers, other mental health services, the police etc.

Whilst families are welcome to make phone enquiries, referrals cannot be accepted directly from family members. Similarly, children and adolescents cannot self-refer.

Kari Centre applies the following District Health Board policy as standard operating procedure:

"As a general rule, patients who are not New Zealand residents are ineligible for publicly funded healthcare, and it is MOH policy that they must pay for their treatment.

ADHB policy is to identify ineligible people by means of a screening process, and charge them appropriately for their treatment. The screening process is based on the Eligibility Criteria implemented by the Ministry of Health.

This does not imply that ineligible people who present acutely will not be treated. ADHB is obliged to treat such people, and recover the cost of treatment, which the patient is legally obliged to pay notwithstanding that they presented acutely.

ADHB is not obliged to provide ineligible people with elective services. If accepted for treatment, ineligibles will only receive treatment after having paid 100% of the estimated cost of such treatment in advance."