Working New Zealand: Work Focused Support Fact Sheet

Increasing support and services

26 October 2006

Work in paid employment offers the best opportunity for people and their families to achieve social and economic wellbeing. Over the next year, the Working New Zealand: Work-Focused Support programme has a focus on getting the right services and support in place for people to get into work

Enhanced support, services and expectations for Domestic Purpose, Sickness and Invalid's Benefit clients

The number of people receiving the Domestic Purposes Benefit is continuing to decline, with a 5,113 or five percent decrease over the year to September 2006 alone. This decline has been supported by the introduction of initiatives including the Personal Development and Employment Plan process, supported by Enhanced Case Management, and the Working for Families package which reduces barriers to employment, provides incentives to move into employment through the In-Work Payment and provides help with childcare costs.

The rate of increase in Sickness and Invalid's Benefit recipients has slowed in the last two years, with numbers receiving these benefits rising by 3.4% to 122,000 in the year to June 2006. Since 2003/2004 several initiatives have been introduced for people with particular ill health and disability related circumstances, and the Providing Access to Health Solutions (PATHS) programme has been progressively expanded.

We need to build on existing initiatives to ensure that people with ill health or a disability have the right support to plan their return to work.

Over the next year Work and Income will:

• introduce planning and activity requirements to ensure clients have the right support to plan their return to work
• provide more services and support, including access to Employment and Training Assistance to help clients participate in the labour market
• further develop appropriate packages of case management and targeted services, with a view to a progressive rollout of these packages throughout 2007
• develop a new framework for people with ill health and people with disability, which will collect better information about what people are capable of doing and the barriers they face, particularly health or disability-related barriers, in achieving their goals and potential
• introduce new services for people with ill health or a disability.

Some people on Invalid's Benefit, for example those who are terminally ill, will be exempt from all planning and activity requirements. Domestic Purposes Benefit Care of Sick or Infirm clients will also be exempt.

Improving outcomes for young people

Young people receiving an Independent Youth Benefit have a heightened risk of poor outcomes, including criminal offending, substance abuse, teenage pregnancy, and mental or physical ill health. They are at risk of becoming disengaged from education, training or employment, and making poor life decisions.

Over the next year the following Independent Youth Benefit initiatives will be introduced:

• intensive one-to-one case management (including, where appropriate, joint case management between Work and Income, Child, Youth and Family, Youth Transition Services, and other providers of Youth Services)
• expanded services for the treatment of substance abuse problems
• increased use of existing services such as Youth Transition Services
• a review of the assessment process for determining whether a family breakdown exists
• replacing the existing work-test with new activity expectations (including participating in agreed activities for between 30 and 40 hours per week or seeking full-time work) for Independent Youth Benefit recipients.

Sixteen and 17 year olds are able to access Domestic Purposes Benefit for the Care of the Sick and Infirm (DPB:CSI). In terms of long term outcomes it is preferable for young people to be engaged in education or training. The eligibility criteria will be tightened so that for 16 and 17 year olds DPB:CSI is only available when there is no other carer after consideration has been given to alternative arrangements and family circumstances.

Work and Income will also introduce an enhanced service for 18 and 19 year old Unemployment Benefit recipients, including:

• intensive one-to-one case management with key intervention points at three and six month intervals
• attendance at Job Search Services and seminars
• a coaching model including quality mentoring, job search advice and support and post-placement support for up to six months
• use of contracted services, including career advice where needed
• a School Leaver Strategy in conjunction with the Ministry of Education.
  

Improving opportunities for Māori jobseekers

Good gains have been made in reducing Māori unemployment over the past four years, with the number of working-aged Māori receiving unemployment-related benefits dropping by nearly two thirds, down from 36,100 in March 2002 to 13,500 in March 2006. In the year ended June 2006 the number of Māori receiving unemployment related benefits dropped by 4,177.

However, Māori are still over-represented on unemployment-related benefits. Based on the June 2005 population estimates, around 4% of the population aged 18 to 64 are receiving an Unemployment Benefit, compared to 1.2% of other New Zealanders in the same age group.

From December 2006 a range of initiatives to improve employment opportunities for Māori on Unemployment Benefit will be introduced.