Despite crime rates falling overall, the prison population in New Zealand has tripled since 1985 and is likely to reach a record 10,000 people next year. Corrections is also unlikely to meet its composite target of reducing reoffending by 25 per cent by 2017. Post-prison reoffending rates have barely changed in the past 10 years. Read more
The Salvation Army says there is persistent unemployment in the 15- to 24-year-old age group and this is related to immigration. It says as a country we need to have a rational and open debate around the role of immigration in New Zealand’s future. In a report, What Next, released this week;the Salvation Army suggests Read more
Salvation Army representatives hope to meet with Whanganui District Council staff to discuss a proposed joint venture for pensioner housing. If it goes ahead, Whanganui will become the first regional city in New Zealand to implement such a scheme. Continue reading
Two teenage burglars have robbed a Salvation Army food bank in Christchurch should have visited in work hours if they were hungry, a spokesperson says. The break-in happened on Southampton Street in Sydenham shortly before 6am on Friday. Continue reading
The Salvation Army says incorrect statements by the government last week have jeopardised its ability to work with the homeless. 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 Read more
The Salvation Army has dipped into its reserves to help people who were turned down by Work and Income pay for rental housing bonds. About four people have come into the Salvation Army Manukau office in the last two days to ask for help to get into new accommodation. Salvation Army policy analyst Alan Johnson Read more
The latest report from the Social Policy & Parliamentary Unit examines how even just a small dip in economic fortunes could see many more Kiwi families fall into poverty and severe social distress, despite recent economic upturn. December 2015 job figures paint an encouraging picture of the resilience of the New Zealand economy. But just Read more
The Salvation Army toy appeal co-ordinator says all children deserve new presents on Christmas Day. This has drawn widespread condemnation from detractors shocked at the Salvation Army’s consumer-driven stance, with many saying they will not be supporting their appeal. The Salvation Army’s territorial social services secretary, Pam Waugh, said for many children this would be the Read more
Every week another 300 families struggling to put food on the table are turning to the Salvation Army for help, the organisation says. In the year to September, it recorded a 7 percent increase in requests for food parcels compared to the previous year – the biggest rise since 2011. In some regions, including Hawke’s Read more
A food company marked the 500,000th loaf of free bread delivered to Salvation Army food banks with a celebration in Lower Hutt. The Goodman Fielder Cares Trust has provided baked bread for 10 Salvation Army food banks around the country for about the last six years. That is enough bread to stretch from Wellington to Read more