Statement of Intent 2006 - Children and Young People
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High Level Outcome
All children thrive in childhood, are respected and valued, have the opportunity to reach their full potential and participate positively in society now and in the future.
Context
Every child and young person has the right to be safe and secure, to be free from violence, abuse, and neglect, and to live in a strong and loving family that gives them the best possible start in life. Every child and young person who has experienced abuse or neglect has the right to care and protection, and support to prevent the abuse or neglect happening again.
Our merger with Child, Youth and Family Services on 1 July 2006 will strengthen our work to support, protect and care for children and young people. Both agencies have much to offer each other, and we share the same objectives for New Zealand’s one million children and young people aged under 18; 400,000 young people aged 18-24 and 600,000 families with dependent children.
Most New Zealand families - young and old, provide safe, loving and supportive homes for their children. But all families, young and old, face pressures that can affect their ability to cope. The pressures can be even greater for families experiencing social or economic disadvantage.
On behalf of the Government, we support parents and families, young and old, to give their children the best start in life. We provide, through Child, Youth and Family, important services to protect children and young people and support youth justice processes around young people. We focus on early intervention, meaning we act as early as possible in the life of a child or of a problem, and we make sure support is available to all families with young children. We provide useful, accessible information and services that help families care for each other and address their own problems.
Family violence and its effects on children and young people is a critical social issue for New Zealand. While most children in New Zealand are safe and secure, we have high rates of violence within families. We lead government work to prevent and reduce family violence and to provide effective support to its victims.
Young New Zealanders today may face a number of challenges as they move into adulthood. Issues include drug and alcohol abuse, obesity, suicide, loneliness, teen pregnancy and access to good education and training. Our policy and research groups advise on issues that affect young people. We work with other social agencies to help young people have a successful transition from school into work, training, or further education.
The Ministry of Youth Development is part of our Ministry. They work with young people to provide opportunities for them to take part in decision making, and build their skills and confidence through involvement in outdoor and community projects.
We are working to strengthen the use of research and evaluation in the Ministry of Youth Development’s decision making and policy advice. Written and electronic resources will be available to all staff to develop clear linkages between research, policy and practice, and we will make the resulting information available through the Youth Development website www.myd.govt.nz.
Our role
To improve outcomes for children and young people, the Ministry:
- provides advice on child and youth policy, including the care and protection of children and young people, and youth justice issues
- co-ordinates policy across government sectors such as health, education and care and protection
- leads the Agenda for Children, the Investing in Child and Youth Development action area within the Sustainable Development for New Zealand Programme of Action and the Youth Development Strategy Aotearoa (YDSA)
- co-ordinates Government’s work programme to implement the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCROC)
- provides information and funds programmes to support parents and to prevent, or to mitigate the impact of violence within families
- purchases programmes and services to support the implementation of the Youth Development Strategy Aotearoa - with an increased focus on outcomes for young people
- co-ordinates the Government’s Youth Transition Services
- provides employment services and training opportunities, along with income support and entitlements
- provides access to Student Loans and Student Allowances for people entering tertiary education
- provides Working for Families assistance to families with dependent children
- delivers services and programmes to children as well as ensuring they get the best start in life.
From 1 July 2006, Child, Youth and Family will become part of the Ministry. Their core business involves providing adoption, care and protection and youth justice services.
The wellbeing of children and young people
Children and young people (0-24 years) make up 36% of New Zealand’s population. In recent years, we’ve seen many improvements in their overall wellbeing, in areas like health, housing, employment and economic status. However, our progress is still poor in some areas and there are still some disparities for groups such as Maori and Pacific young people.
Wellbeing for children and young people is about an adequate standard of living, freedom from violence, abuse and neglect, access to good education and healthcare and opportunities for training and work. Children and young people need to feel valued and respected, and to have some involvement in the decisions that affect them.
Some young people need support to make a good shift from school to adult life. A good transition is essential to their wellbeing as young people, and in their future lives. Youth Transition Services provide intensive support to young people who may be at risk of missing out on work, training, or further education after they leave school.
Our focus for the next three years
New Zealand’s services for children, young people, and families - young and old, range from support and assistance through to statutory intervention. Between these points lie many services of differing intensity, duration, and purpose. Both the government and non-government sectors are heavily involved in service delivery.
Our focus for the next three years is to make sure services are well co-ordinated and resourced, and are accessible to all children, young people and their families. This will involve building on some existing services and developing some new ones. We also intend to improve the effectiveness and availability of services, including Youth Transition Services.
Early Intervention: Giving children the best start in life
Early intervention initiatives also include:
- Piloting a programme providing education, support and outreach activities for vulnerable parents of children aged 0-3 years.
- Universal parenting support service that focuses on preventing behavioural problems in young children.
A key area of work for the next three years will be expanding the early intervention programme for vulnerable children, their families, and communities. Research clearly shows that intervening early in the life of a child or a problem brings the best long-term results. Early intervention helps children do better socially and educationally, reduces behavioural problems and criminal offending, improves health and wellbeing, and can reduce violence within the family over the long term.
In 2006/2007, we will continue to provide early intervention programmes such as Family Start and Strategies with Kids Information for Parents (SKIP). Family Start provides intensive support to vulnerable families with very young children. Available from the time the mother is six months pregnant, it aims to help families prepare for and raise their young children. Family Start/whanau workers provide information on entitlements, give advice and support, and refer parents to other sources of support. The programme involves many government and non-government agencies, and builds on the work of organisations like Plunket and Tipu Ora.
SKIP supports parents and caregivers to raise children in a positive way, using effective non-physical discipline that includes love and nurture and limits and boundaries. SKIP works with national organisations and local community groups to promote positive parenting.
However, there are times when statutory intervention is needed to provide care and protection for a child or young person.
Care and protection
Our merger with Child, Youth and Family on 1 July 2006 will strengthen work already underway to improve care and protection services for children and young people. On behalf of the Government, we will work to ensure that care and protection services are timely, effective and responsive to the needs of the child, young person, and family. This will involve:
- continuing to establish very clear and measurable outcomes for care and protection services
- promoting good governance
- gathering and using evidence about what works
- creating feedback loops to share knowledge and promote collaboration
- making sure services work well with others and provide good coverage across New Zealand
- promoting family and community involvement in decision making
- building a highly skilled workforce so children and families get better support before statutory intervention is needed (see below).
The merger will also strengthen our work with Child, Youth and Family to develop new responses to the demand for services by families, agencies and members of the public. These developments will focus on effective responses to notifications of possible abuse or neglect.
There are a number of related developments which will improve care and protection and youth justice services. See Child, Youth and Family section.
Building the workforce
New Zealand is facing a severe scarcity of appropriately skilled, qualified and experienced social workers for children and young people, as well as workers in the early childhood education and early childhood health fields. We need to take action now to reverse this scarcity, and ensure that effective, competent and appropriately qualified people are attracted to these professions. We also need to support workers to improve their qualifications.
On behalf of the Government, we will administer the non-government organisations (NGO) Social Work Study Awards. These awards support NGO employees to complete a social work qualification recognised by the Social Worker Registration Board. We also administer study awards to degree or diploma level for Family Start employees, covering the disciplines of social services, early childhood education, and health. The awards contribute to the cost of course fees and study leave, and enable the employer to backfill the employees’ position when they are absent from the workplace during placement.
We will continue to monitor and provide advice to the Minister for Social Development and Employment regarding the Social Workers Registration Board. The Board is responsible for establishing the criteria for registering Social Workers, developing a code of conduct, establishing the policies and procedures for complaints and discipline, and setting up and administering the registration database.
Preventing and improving responses to youth offending
Our merger with Child, Youth and Family will support work to improve responses to youth offending. With the Ministry of Justice, Child, Youth and Family is reviewing sentencing options in the youth jurisdiction.
On behalf of the Government, we will work to increase the number of programmes that support the current range of Youth Court orders; and will continue working with the Ministry of Justice on how to improve current responses to child offenders, and on the minimum age of criminal prosecution. We will build on the work of Youth Offending Teams to tackle entrenched problems in older children and young people.
Research shows that the time when a young person leaves school is a critical transition in their life. A poor transition can lead to long-term problems like unemployment, depression, and crime. Youth Transition Services are being successfully trialed in selected sites around New Zealand, supporting young people to move straight into work, training, or further education after school. On behalf of the Government, we will improve the effectiveness and availability of Youth Transition Services.
We will also develop a five year action plan to improve outcomes for young people in Counties Manukau.
Seeing results
The results we aim to achieve, today and for future generations, are that children and young people:
- are loved and supported by their families
- enjoy good health and an adequate standard of living
- have opportunities to develop work and social skills
- are in work, education, training or another activity that contributes to their long-term economic independence and wellbeing
- have lives free from violence, crime, bullying, abuse and neglect
- are valued and have their views respected, and can take part in decisions that affect them.
Children and young people enjoy a secure attachment to family and whanau and other nurturing relationships where they are valued, respected and supported to explore and develop
Our work in this area is about education and supporting parents to provide a loving, stimulating, and positive environment for children and young people.
On behalf of the Government, we will continue to deliver early intervention initiatives such as Family Start and Strategies with Kids Information for Parents (SKIP). Family Start educates families about young children’s need to learn from and communicate with family members. Having extended Family Start to a further 10 sites, we will support many more families to understand the importance of regular positive contact with their children.
SKIP provides practical advice and support to parents and caregivers on safe, non-physical ways to discipline children and reward good behaviour.
A pilot scheme we are currently developing for children of teenage parents will support teenage parents raising young children and help them access universal services for children.
Quality time
A recent study shows that while most young New Zealanders enjoy good quality contact with their parents, a significant minority do not. Almost 80% of the young people interviewed said they got enough praise from their parents, and around 60% said that most weeks they were able to spend enough time with at least one parent.
Strengthening Families allows at-risk families to meet all their support people and agencies at one time. They get better access to information and services, and support to develop their own goals and solutions. Further information is included in the Families and Whanau section.
We will continue to administer the Strengthening Families Local Collaboration service and will work to overcome patchy coverage and fragmentation of family services in some communities.
Child, Youth and Family is also involved in Family Start, SKIP and strengthening families. The merger on 1 July 2006 will increase our two agencies' co-ordination and information sharing in all these initiatives.
Over the next three years, we will continue to monitor the wellbeing of children and young people, and continue to work with other agencies to provide annual progress reports to Government on the UNCROC five-year work programme.
Children and young people enjoy a secure standard of living that means that they can participate in society
Our work to reduce and prevent hardship for children and young people covers many areas from improving family living standards to helping young people take part in study and move into employment.
Working for Families provides more assistance with childcare and housing costs, higher rates of Family Support, and a new In-Work Payment for working parents. Further information is included in the Working Age and Families and Whanau, sections of this report.
This Government has signalled its commitment to lifting living standards for families and eliminating child poverty. Over the next year, we will continue to promote, implement and evaluate the Working for Families package on behalf of the Government. Working for Families provides a range of assistance that makes it easier for people to work and raise a family.
Children and young people enjoy good physical and mental health with access to appropriate health care services
Good health is more than the absence of illness. Good health includes safety and physical and emotional wellbeing, and is influenced by a person’s environment, standard of living, and family and peer relationships.
To help improve health outcomes for children and young people, we will lead work in the following areas on behalf of the Government:
- Family Start programme – we will administer this programme, giving vulnerable families advice and support on health matters, and referrals to health and social support agencies where needed
- Toddlers without Tears programme – we will trial together with Well Child Providers, a new parenting programme designed to help parents manage toddler behaviour and reduce the possibility of behavioural problems developing as children grow
- Youth 2007 project – led by the Ministry of Youth Development, this is a comprehensive survey of the health and well being of young New Zealanders in secondary schools. The survey will explore new emerging health trends for young people, including new issues, risks and protective factors
- All Ages Suicide Prevention Strategy – we will support the development of a Strategy and Action Plan for the All Ages Suicide Prevention Strategy.
Children and young people obtain the knowledge and skills to enable them to participate in society, feel secure with their identity, develop socially constructive behaviour and the capacity for economic independence
The Government shares the goal of the Mayor’s Taskforce for Jobs that by 2007, all 15-19 year olds will be in education, employment, or other activities that lead to economic independence and social wellbeing.
On behalf of the Government, we will continue to establish and administer the Youth Transition Services in selected sites. This service targets young people at risk of a poor transition from school, providing the mentoring, training, support, and employment services that will enable them to set clear goals and work towards them. Youth Transition aims to support young people to make good long-term choices about their lives after school.
Young people making the transition from secondary school to tertiary education need good financial and careers advice, especially when student loans are involved. Ill-informed or poor study choices (including failure to complete) can leave people with substantial debts and without a corresponding boost in future earning potential. Our StudyWise programme will continue to offer students advice on study or training choices and how to finance their studies.
We will continue to develop a more effective approach to improving youth justice outcomes, building on the work of Youth Offending Teams to tackle more entrenched problems in older children and young people.
To help Government develop an effective response to youth gangs and crime in Auckland, we will undertake research on the problem, including an environmental scan of services for families and young people in South Auckland. The research will lead to a medium-term action plan to address the issues underlying youth gangs. We will lead development of this plan with other agencies.
Children and young people enjoy personal safety, and are free from abuse, victimisation, violence and avoidable injury and death
For more information on work occurring to help keep children and young people safe and free from abuse refer to the Child, Youth and Family section of this report.
In the 1980s, the rate of children dying from intentional injury in New Zealand almost doubled and there has been little change since then. The Social Report 2005 indicates that children aged under five are twice as likely to suffer this fate as children aged 5-14 years. In 2004/2005, around 55,000 referrals were made to Child, Youth and Family regarding suspected child abuse and neglect.
The Children’s Commissioner
The Children’s Commissioner was originally established as an independent statutory officer under the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989. Its functions were recently reviewed to take account of a number of recent developments including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and are now set out in the Children’s Commissioner Act 2003. These include:
- inquiring into and reporting on any matter relating to the welfare of children
- advocating for and on behalf of children and young people
- promoting public awareness of children’s rights and issues
- monitoring the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services
- promoting the development of policies and services designed to protect the interests, rights and welfare of children and young people
- promoting the establishment of accessible and effective complaints mechanisms, in key agencies, for children and monitoring the nature and level of complaints
- undertaking research into matters relating to the interests, rights and welfare of children and young people.
Family violence, abuse, and neglect is a critical social issue for New Zealand. The merger with Child, Youth and Family will have a very positive impact on prevention, care, and protection work in this area. Both agencies will be able to share information and resources, more strongly co-ordinate our work, and build on each other's strengths and areas of expertise.
On behalf of the Government, over the next three years the Ministry will lead inter-agency work on this issue. We will lead the Taskforce for Action on Violence within Families, which includes child abuse and neglect as a focus area. We will provide policy advice on the care and protection of children and young people and take part in co-ordinating policy across government.
Children and young people are given the opportunity to participate in decisions that affect them now and in the future and their views are considered
Children and young people’s wellbeing, sense of belonging, and sense of identity is heavily dependent on them having a sense of control over their lives, being able to participate in their communities, and having a say on the issues that affect them. The wellbeing of children and young people is central to supporting families, young and old.
The Ministry leads the Government’s overarching strategies for children and young people:
- Investing in Child and Youth Development, an action area within the Government’s Sustainable Development for New Zealand Programme of Action
- the Agenda for Children, the strategy for Child, Family and Community Policy and services.
The Ministry of Youth Development will run programmes such as Youth Week 2006 and Youth Parliament 2007, which promote young people’s representation and participation, and challenge negative stereotypes about young people. The Ministry of Youth Development will also continue to promote and implement the Youth Development Strategy Aotearoa. The Strategy has a strong focus on young people’s participation and on seeing young people in the context of their families, peer groups, and wider communities.
Promoting sustainable youth development requires us to work with all agencies at national, regional and local levels. Over the coming year, the Ministry of Youth Development will expand its regional teams from one to four. The regional team is a small policy team that works with local youth agencies and networks.
Regional teams will:
- provide information about services for young people
- lead co-ordinated planning and funding processes across government agencies in local communities, aiming to identify good practice and innovation in youth development
- form partnerships with city and district councils through the Youth Development Partnership Fund supporting projects that benefit young people in their communities.
Research and Evaluation
Evidence-based research and evaluation inform our policy and service delivery for children and young people.
Longitudinal study of New Zealand children and families
In partnership with the Health Research Council, we are leading work to explore the possibility of conducting a longitudinal study of New Zealand children and families. This study would provide a secure information base for future development of policy relating to children, young people and families - young and old. It would also provide information on children’s developmental pathways and factors that influence these, including the family environments in which children are raised.
As part of the governance arrangements for this work, an Executive Steering Committee has been established. Members of the Executive Steering Committee comprise representatives from the Families Commission, the Children’s Commissioner, Statistics New Zealand, the Treasury, the Health Research Council of New Zealand and the Ministries of Social Development, Education and Health.
Youth Transition Services evaluation
The evaluation will support the further development of the Youth Transition Services, which aims to help young people leaving school make a smooth transition into further education, training or employment. The ‘real time’ evaluation will help us to adjust our initiatives as our findings show us what works.
Childcare in New Zealand Study
This study aims to explore childcare use in New Zealand. The Ministry’s 2004 living standards survey included a small selection of questions on childcare use by New Zealand families. A short descriptive analysis of these findings will provide information on families using different types of care and on some of the limitations families face when suitable care for their children is not available. The study’s findings will inform policy development on childcare issues and delivery of services for New Zealand families.
Early Intervention: Children witnessing family violence evaluation
This work evaluates the utility and effectiveness of child advocates working with NGO service providers to raise awareness of the needs of children exposed to family violence and be able to support positive outcomes for these children.
Managing our Capabilities
The merger of Child, Youth and Family and the Ministry will see strengthened links between the two departments by joining up our policy, research and evaluation and service delivery arms. We expect to see greater information and resource-sharing, and increased expertise in prevention, care and protection work as a consequence.
As part of the Ministry’s commitment to strengthening the NGO sector, we are providing scholarships for non-government organisations in areas such as social work. For more information on the activity we are undertaking in this area, see the Working Age People section.
The Ministry has also established a Youth Network - an across-Ministry forum for co-ordinating policy and delivery for children and young people that brings together youth policy and service delivery. This will enable us to make sure each supports and aligns with the other.
In addition to strengthening our people capability to achieve positive outcomes for children and young people, we will continue to:
- expand the Ministry of Youth Development’s regional presence through regional teams based in Auckland, the South Island, Bay of Plenty/Waikato and the Lower North Island
- develop a comprehensive strategic operating framework to better implement the Youth Development Strategy Aotearoa.
A key focus for the Ministry over the coming year will be to develop and strengthen the links between Child, Youth and Family, Family and Community Services and the Child, Family and Community Policy area.
Monitoring Progress
The following measures provide an overview of the current state of wellbeing for children and young people.
Outcome Indicators
| INDICATORS – LIVING STANDARDS OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE | ||
|---|---|---|
| Indicator | Result | Trend |
| Percentage of dependent children under 18 years experiencing lower standards of living | 29% (2000) |
No trend available |
| Percentage of Maori families experiencing lower standards of living | 49% (2000) |
No trend available |
| Percentage of Pacific families experiencing lower standards of living | 42% (2000) |
No trend available |
Source: New Zealand Living Standards 2000
Note: Lower standards of living refers to Economic Living Standard Index (ELSI) levels 1-3
| INDICATORS – CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE AT RISK | ||
|---|---|---|
| Indicator | Result | Trend |
| The number of children under 15 years of age who have died as a result of intentional injury | 1 child per 100,000 (1996-2000) |
Uncertain |
| Suicide deaths per 100,000 15-24 year olds | 16.5 (2003) |
Declining |
| Births to females under 18 years per 1,000 females aged 15-17 years | 14.5 (2005) |
Declining |
| Births to Maori females under 18 years per 1,000 Maori females aged 15-17 years | 37.9 (2005) |
Declining |
Source: The Social Report 2005; Statistics New Zealand
Note: The indicator reported in the 2005/2006 Ministry of Social Development Statement of Intent “Substantiated notifications of abuse and neglect per 1000 children aged 0-16 years" has been replaced with the outcome indicator “The number of children under 15 years of age who have died as a result of intentional injury”. This new outcome indicator is in line with reporting in The Social Report 2005.
| INDICATORS – YOUNG PEOPLE IN TRANSITION TO ADULTHOOD | ||
|---|---|---|
| Indicator | Result | Trend |
| Estimated percentage of 15-19 year olds not in formal education, training or work | 6% (2005) |
Declining |
| Percentage of young people aged 15-24 years in the labour market who are unemployed | 9.4% (2005) |
Steady |
| Percentage of Maori young people aged 15-24 years in the labour market who are unemployed | 17.8% (2005) |
Steady |
| Percentage of Pacific young people aged 15-24 years in the labour market who are unemployed | 12.7% (2005) |
Declining |
| Percentage of young people aged 18-24 years undertaking tertiary education | 38.3% (2004) |
Increasing |
| Percentage of 18-24 year olds who completed a tertiary qualification | 10.6% (2003) |
Increasing |
Source: Statistics New Zealand, Household Economic Survey, Census, Household Labour Force Survey, Ministry of Education
