June 2011

Youth and Us
Newsletter from the Tauranga Youth Offending Team (YOT)
WORD FROM THE CHAIR
Trevor Wi-Kaitaia
The Tauranga Youth Offending Team does not lack any number of challenges that present themselves for attention. Two aspects come to mind. Firstly, a range of government programmes are now starting in Tauranga that are extremely important in assisting our youth at risk, including their family. For example, the Positive Behaviour for Learning overseen by the Ministry Of Education has a lot to offer and especially when the initiative can be networked and supported by other organisations. Education is a key portfolio in our YOT strategy and it is very encouraging to have these opportunities for youth to be supported by us. Another example is the Fresh Start initiative managed by Child, Youth and Family. Fresh Start programme opportunities are beginning to build in Tauranga, as they are across the Bay of Plenty. This is providing greater community agency involvement for youth at risk and working with their families. See the end of this newsletter for more detail. The second aspect to our YOT challenges includes greater membership by relevant organisations in the Tauranga Moana area. While core government departments have been part of our identity, the participation of community providers and iwi representation is a very valuable contribution to our networking, collaboration and strategy. I greatly appreciate the commitment our membership has toward the wellbeing of our youth. Kia ora mai - Reduce the harm of alcohol and drugs in our community - Discuss and debate the effects of alcohol and drugs in the community. - Develop strategies and solutions based on analysis of facts and statistics of the local area. - Create a capacity for recreational activities and employment opportunities Our desire is to improve the well being of our people in the many aspects of life. I am the New CAYAD Coordinator for Te Runanga O Ngai Te Rangi Iwi Trust and I am focusing on Community Action Youth and Drugs. CAYAD is a national project with the following goals: Tauranga YOT welcomes Kahatapu Black as a new member. Ko Mauao te Maunga Ko Tauranga te Moana Ko Ngai Te Rangi me Ngati Pukenga nga Iwi Ko Kahotapu Black toku ingoa

NEW YOT MEMBER

For further information, or to add names to an email distribution list for this newsletter, please contact: Trevor Wi-Kaitaia Youth Justice Manager Child, Youth & Family Trevor.Wi-Kaitaia001@cyf.govt.nz Or trish.eggleton002@cyf.govt.nz Phone 07 928 5129

LOSS OF CHILD ADVOCATE POSITIONS

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MERIVALE COMMUNITY CENTRE
Taurangas Merivale Community Centre, in partnership with Child, Youth and Family, is taking an innovative approach to youth offending. Kia Mhiotia is a programme for young people who are offenders or at risk of offending and which seeks to involve the community in the lives of their young people. The programme has three streams. The first is 10 one week long wnanga-based camps for young people of all ethnicities. The wnanga are at marae around the country which some of those young people have a whakapapa connection to, and each wnanga is around a kaupapa that deals with life skills, social issues or goals and direction setting. The second stream is to reconnect those young people with their community. Each young person will be mentored by a whnau in their local community who are able to role model loving relationships within the home. The third stream is an opportunity for the parents and caregivers of the young people to meet and talk about the struggles and joys in their parenting role. Kia Mhiotia is our local response to negative patterns some of our young people fall in to, explains Graham Cameron, Services Manager of the Merivale Community Centre. The support of Child, Youth and Family indicates they understand that a holistic programme is needed to deal with holistic problems in the lives of our youth. The philosophy behind the programme is the Merivale community development model Puahou which is about building safer and more resilient communities. These are communities which are: committed to connections between people; physically active; notice the world around them; committed to life-long learning; and have an ethic of Merivale Community Centre was started by Merivale residents in 1996, and is a hub for whnau support and youth services in Tauranga South. Kia Mhiotia is a programme developed from those years of learning alongside young people. Many of the young people currently enrolled in the first Kia Mhiota programme are well-known to the Merivale Community Centre and residents, with much of their offending already in the local community. Kia Mhiotia is an exciting opportunity to restore the relationships between youth and their communities. We need to respond to the real lives that our youth are living, while also honouring the needs of those who have been victimised by them. Our hope is that Kia Mhiotia will allow these youth to demonstrate their desire to change, says Graham.

Graham Cameron, Manager

Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life, not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens. Kahil Gibran 1883-1931

giving and volunteering.

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RELATIONSHIP SERVICES
We have the following initiative taking place in Tauranga over the next six months. Promoting participation in the initiative and use of positive parenting strategies through three radio promotions and four stalls at community events. Evaluating the effectiveness of this approach among parents who would not normally engage with parenting programmes through parent and whanau feedback and inter-agency feedback.

Tautoko Mai
Relationship Services will work in partnership with Merivale Community Centre and Te Tuinga Whanau Support Services Trust to engage 60 parents and whanau of 0-5 year olds living in Merivale, Gate Pa and Greerton in behaviour change towards increased use of positive parenting strategies. This will be achieved by overcoming the barriers to participation in positive parenting opportunities, and providing a continuum of support to effect parental behaviour change. Initiative activities will include: Working collaboratively with parent support workers, as key influencers of parents, to encourage them to participate. Adapting the promotion, content, delivery, facilitation and other aspects of Relationship Services Positive Parenting programme to suit the target audience. Providing programmes of parenting groups, familiarisation with local parent support options, celebrations of parent changes, follow-up support, and access to family therapy, where relevant, for at least 60 parents/whanau of 0-5 year olds. Running three community workshops (pre-launch, midway and project end) to formalise initial expressions of community support for the Initiative, finalise details of participation and collaboration, pool community resources, and ensure learnings from the initiative are shared for the benefit of the wider community.

For further information contact: Ash Smart Area Manager, Relationship Services ashs@relationships.org.nz Phone 07 576 8392

PROFILE OF YOT MEMBER GAIL MORLEY

Gail Morley is employed by Child & Adolescent Mental Health Specialist Service, Tauranga District Health Board.
What is your current role and organisation? I am an Occupational Therapist/Case Manager. This means along with my professional clinical Occupational Therapy qualification and providing Occupational Therapy to clients and whanau, I also have the generic clinical role of case manager for a number of clients accessing the CAMHS service. I am also an EAGALA (USA) certified Equine Therapist and provide therapy using horses.

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What led to your working in your current position? After six years of working as a Locum Occupational Therapist in the United Kingdom, the time felt right to return to my home town and settle in one place for a period of time. What are the challenges? I dont really see challenges as such as I work from a solution focused approach. I guess in a perfect world I would have more access to funding and resources to carry out more Occupational Therapy and Equine Therapy sessions (for individuals, groups and families). What are you involved with at present? Alongside my case management role, I am currently moving the Equine Therapy programme forward. This month I will be starting a 6 week EAGALA model Girls Self Esteem Group, using the Tauranga RDA facilities. This is the first group of its kind in Tauranga and my hope is to take the project forward to benefit other youth and families accessing the CAMHS service. We also commission a Therapeutic Riding Group via the RDA and this is proving to be very successful. (FGC) or from the Youth Court. While matching a young person and mentor is an important part of the work, we are finding a larger range of mentors is necessary to support the diverse needs of youth. For example, a young person may benefit from one mentor focusing on study and another person mentoring the same youngster into sport. Another regular programme is Supervision with Activity (SWA) where an increased volume of placements are open to youth from Tauranga and the Bay as a whole. The Tauranga area has sent a number of youth to SWA programmes located in Auckland, Rotorua and the East Coast. These orders from the Youth Court could extend up to six months and a lot of effort is placed into positive behaviour, life skills, good decision making, job skills and accountability. A significant importance is placed on transition back home to Tauranga where youth may return to family, enter training or employment or be supported into other opportunities. Some programmes that need more effort to help Tauranga youth include supervised camps, and alcohol and other drugs (AOD) programmes. However, the volume of cases for these is expected to rise shortly. In addition, the law changes provided youth justice the chance to target parents/guardians of persistent young offenders with a p-

FRESH START UPDATE

The Fresh Start initiative was released in 2009 and the legislative amendments to the Children, Young Persons & their Families Act were enacted on 01 October 2010. Most of the key programmes under Fresh Start have been progressing gradually as community providers and CYF staff work together for youth at risk in the Tauranga Moana area. Youth mentoring is the most common programme based on a referral and plan from a Family Group Conference

parent education programme. Working with adults in this way is a new challenge; therefore all of these opportunities are underway at different stages of progress. A detailed Fresh Start update for the country is available on the YJ website www.youthjustice.co.nz

Trevor Wi-Kaitaia Youth Justice Manager, Tauranga Child, Youth and Family

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Te KURA - its impact on Taurangas young adult learners
With term two of 2011 already underway there have many positive results and promising changes made to the way Te Kura is impacting young adult learners within Tauranga. Our current roll of 35 active learners is drawn from youth justice, Employment Plus, alternative and mainstream education, Northern Health School, social services agencies, CAMHS and the general public. Working with these learners has been rewarding and displays promise for effective ways for dealing with alienated young adults. This effectiveness has been shown by: Learners starting to re-engage with education Realistic goals and career planning being achieved Learning communities being formed Learners gaining credits, levels and moving successfully employment Life coaching/mentoring equipping learners with essential life skills Young adults not re-offending into tertiary education or provide greater access to resources such as employment and personal development. One recent success story is regarding a former youth justice client who has just, with the help of Te Kura, been offered a permanent position with the New Zealand Fire Service truly an inspiring outcome considering this young mans personal struggles over the past three years. Our aim, over the next term, is to increase the number of advisory groups. This means putting likeminded learners into a group or learning community and providing them with the support and resources to start making steps towards their career goals. The Advisory Groups also include 1:1 mentoring which has been very unique to our young learners development.

Stefan Nogaj Kaitautoko Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu The Correspondence School

Te Kura is actively changing the way for young adults to succeed with learning. This is being achieved through a personalised, authentic learning approach using advisory groups, internships and mentoring. Recent results are showing that Te Kuras approach to education is preparing our young learners appropriately for their future. This is through using methods that increase each learners responsibility for their own learning; involving the family to support and provide change; creating learning communities that greatly increase the chances of social awareness, communication, confidence and academic success; and also networking efficiently to