Collaborative Model for Supporting Vulnerable Children in Christchurch

1. A model for Collaboration between the statutory and NGO sectors

2. Christchurch What are the immediate concerns? What would you do next?

3. Christchurch – Our response • Based ourselves at Marae – community presence • Weekend adventures • 1-1 and group mentoring • School based support work • Re connection with our local and regional networks – where are they all?

4. Context • Following the Christchurch earthquakes, a number of agencies were left ‘homeless’. • A hub was formed at Nga Hau E Wha National Marae. • CYF have long spoken about high and complex workloads that can become slowed by volumes of referrals that do not necessarily fit with the design of the service

5. Te punawhaiora - Who are we? • Building Resiliency, moving children from pain to promise and from isolation to connection. • Vulnerable children and families • Children aged 5-12 years • Identified areas of need in health, welfare or education. • Maori and Pacific Island, rurally or socially isolated children

6. Relationships • Te Puna Whaiora hold a number of contracts with CYF, including: • Home for Life • Kidzacool and CYF partnership camps • Partnered response • Social workers in Schools • Building resiliency services

7. Green paper • Sharing responsibility • Showing leadership • Child-centered practice changes • Child-centered policy changes

8. Statistics • Child, Youth and Family confirmed 21,000 cases of abuse and neglect in 2009/10 • Over 30,000 students are truant from schools on any given day • 7,342 school leavers left with no qualification in 2009 • 13,315 hospital admissions in 2008/09 were for children under five that could have been avoided. In the same year, 1,286 admissions for all children were as a result of assault, neglect or maltreatment • 47,374 children (aged 0–16) were present, or usually residing with the victim, at an incident of family violence reported to the Police in 2010. (p. 6)

9. Questions? • How can the Government’s frontline services better connect vulnerable children and their families and whānau with the services they need? • What services could be included in this action to better connect vulnerable children to the services they need? • What other changes do you think could be made to ensure vulnerable children are connected to the services from which they would benefit? (p. 29)

10. Purpose • What we were trying to achieve: - ease of access for vulnerable families that need support. - relationship building between sectors - resource building - increased awareness of role in the community - supporting community/sector understanding of CYF duties and mandates

11. Action • Social workers from TPW went out on duty calls with CYF • ‘triage’ meetings between supervisors and TPW to identify families that may meet criteria for TPW services.

12. Outcomes • Where appropriate families were able to engage with their TPW worker right from the start • CYF were able to close cases in the knowledge appropriate services were in place. • Families had significantly quicker access to TPW services then if they had gone the DR pathway. • Increased understanding of roles • Supportive collaboration and relationships between services and families. • Practice support. • “A way forward” consultation document

13. Challenges • Role clarity and boundaries • Reciprocity • Buy-in • “Third Wheel” syndrome • Gaps in knowledge

14. Links to green paper outcomes • Share responsibility • Reducing caseloads • Early intervention • Child centered practices • Information sharing and collaboration between agencies. • Expansion of support services

15. Links to green paper outcomes • Show Leadership • Government action plan (access to services) • Reporting of outcomes • Partnerships and culturally relevant services • Connection to services (reducing barriers)

16. Links to green paper outcomes • Make child-centered policy changes • Targeting vulnerable children • Early intervention • Evidence based policy • Prioritizing families and services • Monitoring of children • Information sharing

17. Links to green paper outcomes • Make child-centered practice changes • Collaboration • Support and training • Reducing barriers to services • Raising awareness of services

18. What next • Training • Education supports • Potential for city wide roll out and increase of staff

19. What next for Christchurch • What do you think the current issues for the community are? • How can government and NGO sectors continue to build their collaboration and meet the needs of vulnerable families in this context?

20. references • Ministry of Social Development. (2011). The Green Paper for Vulnerable Children. Every child thrives, belongs, achieves. Wellington. • Ministry of Social Development. (2012). The Green Paper for Vulnerable Children. Complete Summary of Submissions. Wellington. • Ministry of Social Development. (2012). Child Youth and Family Christchurch. A Way Forward. Christchurch.