Some budgeting service providers around New Zealand, including the Ashburton Budget Advisory Service, have been advised by the Ministry of Social Development their contracts are not being renewed, leaving Ashburton staff without jobs.

The ministry is getting a new provider for Mid Canterbury as it consolidates services nationwide. Read more

The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) has confirmed it will no longer fund 44 of the current 132 budgeting services, due to a change in the funding model and the end of a cash boost given during the pandemic.

Earlier this month it said the Building Financial Services funding had dropped from $22.3 million last year to $19.5 million from 1 July, but did not confirm how many services would miss out on the funding. Read more

An Independent Children's Monitor report, Returning Home From Care, looks at experiences and practices when children and young people's parents care for them while in state custody.

Report findings

As at 30 June 2022, 627 children and young people in care (12 percent) were living at home while in state custody.

The report says planning is important to success when the child or young person goes home. However, it says it found almost half the home stays were unplanned.

The Returning Home From Care policy used at the time recommended children be visited weekly for the first four weeks. The report says only 19 percent of children received these visits.

The report also says the children and young people whose return home was unplanned were visited less frequently during the first four weeks than those whose return was planned.

The report says that barriers arising from communication, collaboration, funding and inconsistent policies also pose problems.

These problems included long waiting lists for assessments and specialised support - like alcohol and drug counselling - for parents.

Data on children in state care successfully returning home was limited.

The report says Oranga Tamariki was unable to provide details about how many children and young people were removed from their parents' care following a return home.

Going home - pros and cons

Aroturuki Tamariki Independent Children's Monitor chief executive Arran Jones says the goal is for those in care to return home as long as it is assessed as safe.

"We heard that for many tamariki (children), rangatahi (young people) and whanau (familes), the supports and services are not in place," Jones said.

"Our report found that planning is important to the success of tamariki returning home, however, data shows that almost half of these are unplanned.

"Some of those unplanned returns may be rangatahi voting with their feet, but it is important that social workers are checking on the safety of tamariki and rangatahi.

"We also heard that communication, collaboration and funding across the social sector were barriers to success. Lack of co-ordination in the policies and practice of government agencies was also identified as a barrier to a successful return home."

Jones says there was room to do better for the sake of children and their parents.

Improvements promised

Oranga Tamariki's Nicolette Dickson says work is underway to address many of the report findings.

These include developing new policy and supporting guidance for social workers when determining how and when to support children in state care to return home, and the way transitions from one environment to the other occur.

Technology systems are also being upgraded, Dickson says.

Oranga Tamariki's strategies to simplify core processes and systems include working with other agencies to deliver Oranga Tamariki's Action Plan best.

Oranga Tamariki is developing an information-sharing process with the Ministry of Social Development to fast-track eligible families' position on the public housing register.

Source

• RNZ

According to Ministry of Social Development's Housing Register, the number of applicants approved and waiting for social housing peaked at 26,868 at the end of March this year, declined slightly to 26,664 at the end of June then dropped more significantly to 24,996 at the end of September.

That means the number of applicants on the list is now down 7% from the March peak.

The June figure was the first time the number of applicants recorded on the register has declined since it was set up in September 2017. The fact the numbers have declined for two consecutive quarters, with the September decline reasonably substantial, suggests this may be the start of a downward trend.Read more

Public Service Commissioner Peter Hughes, who was chief executive of the Ministry of Social Development when the survivors made their claims, today apologised unreservedly at the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care's State Institutional Response.

"What happened to those who were abused in care, should not have happened. And I deeply regret that it did," Hughes said. Read more

It said the government's claims that Ministry of Social Development (MSD) staff accompanied Salvation Army staff to visit homeless people in a South Auckland park were incorrect.

The prime minister's office has issued a statement saying his comments were based on advice given to him.

Last week prime minister John Key was talking about the "flying squad", dispatched earlier this week by the government to help the homeless, and gauge the level of the problem.

"On I think Tuesday or Wednesday night MSD and the Sallies went around and knocked on I think eight cars that they could find, all eight of those people refused to take support either from Sallies or from MSD."

However, the Salvation Army said that was not true.

Divisional commander Ian Hutson said it declined an offer by MSD officials to accompany them, as many of the people there had a deep distrust of government officials.

The Salvation Army had been working with the people in the park for four weeks building trust, he said.

"I guess the main issue here for us is re-establishing the fact that we were concerned that we would lose some of that relationship with statements like this, that it will impair the way we will be able to help the people there," Hutson said.

Speaking to Checkpoint, Hutson said he believed there had been some kind of miscommunication.

"We've been carefully developing relationships with people there... gaining their trust."

He said while MSD had asked the Salvation Army if they wanted to participate, they preferred working the way they were.

"That's not how we do things, we weren't involved in it.

Mr Key's office told ONE News he was given the information by Social Housing Minister Paula Bennett.

He said he was making the point that people have refused assistance that they had been offered.

MSD has responded by saying it is continuing to support mobile squads of NGO workers who are "actively engaging with homeless in the community".

"Local community organisations make up the mobile squads while we provide the support to make sure people are getting what they need - the help is there, and this is one way we can make sure those needing it are getting it," MSD's Auckland regional commissioner Blair McKenzie said.

To date, MSD said it has approached 15 people living in cars. One person, who was not homeless, has chosen to engage further with MSD.

Source

• radionz.co.nz
• tvnz.co.nz
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