Kotahitanga, Funding opportunities and contracting update

Longer terms for Employment Services contracts

We’re responding to the call for well-performing providers to have longer-term contracts with us.

We recently tendered the Employment Service contracts for people who have a disability or health condition that is likely to impact on their ability to work for six months or more.

The services include pre-employment assistance, employment placement, employment support for the first 12 months following placement, and time-limited in-work support for career development and work-place assistance. Evaluation has shown these services to be effective in increasing time in employment and increasing income.

Following the tender, we have offered contracts to 36 providers. We wanted to ensure that each disability cohort would have choice of providers in every region.

The contracts align with the Employment Support Practice Guidelines developed by the sector, and will provide flexibility in the services being provided.

The new contracts will be effective from 1 April 2019, with well-performing providers being offered a five-year contract term, in line with MSD’s strategy to provide additional financial certainty to providers where performance has been well established.

Youth enterprise and entrepreneurship funding available

Applications are now open for funding to support young people to be better prepared for the future work environment.

The Ministry of Youth Development’s Youth (MYD) Enterprise and Entrepreneurship funding stream supports strengths-based enterprise education and skills development opportunities, and investing in young people with business potential.

These opportunities and investments will positively engage rangatahi (aged 12 to 24) in building skills and knowledge for life and learning, equip them to make successful transitions, and have meaningful options for making a living.

The funding will be distributed through two sub-streams, a ‘Programmes and Services’ stream and an ‘Opportunity for Young People’ stream.

• The Programmes and Services funding stream is focused on providing contributory funding to organisations to deliver enterprise activities to young people.
• The Opportunity for Young People funding stream is aimed at young people who have a new and/or innovative business or enterprise idea/project, to invest in them to help them progress on their enterprise journey. If you know any young people (12 to 24 years) who might be interested, please let them know. We’ve created a downloadable poster which you can use to spread the word.

Applications for both streams close at midday on 5 April 2019.

There is approximately $600,000 available across these two sub-streams in 2019/2020. Applicants will know the outcome of the process by the beginning of June 2019, for contracts starting on 1 July 2019.

Visit the MYD SmartyGrants page to apply or the MYD website to learn more.

Safety checking of staff working with children

Providers are being reminded that they are legally required to carry out Children’s Worker Safety Checks for all staff who work with children.

This includes individuals, sole traders, self-employed, family team members, owner operators, and situations where there is no governance structure. An individual is unable to complete their own objective safety check.

CVCheck is the exclusive supplier of Children’s Worker Safety Checks and can help providers/individuals achieve compliance with the Children’s Act 2014. There is a cost to complete the CVCheck process. Once the individual has completed the CVcheck, they will then be able to check other staff. They will also be compliant with the Social Sector Accreditation Standards.

Under the Children’s Act, all existing children’s workers must be safety checked by 1 June 2019. All providers and individuals are required to meet this deadline. Compliance with this requirement will be assessed during the provider or individual’s next scheduled review.

To check whether this applies to you please visit our website or email us at Social_Services_Accreditation@msd.govt.nz.