NETWORK NEWS

AUTUMN 2012

Notes from the Executive Officer

Ros Rice

With the Government moving into the second term, we are all steeling ourselves for some major changes and how we will all need to streamline and tighten up our delivery of services.  This is not a bad thing, as we all know how accountable we are held for the public money that comes our way; however, the scary thing is, the policy changes and the oft repeated mantra that there is no more money, and what should be taken from what, to pay for new ways of working.

Personally, I find that a very distressing question.  How do I, as an individual, give advice on who should go without, so others may get more?  This question is on in the Green Paper for Vulnerable Children.  I have been talking to many people and studying this Paper, and although I know that Minister Bennett is passionate and dedicated to improving our horrific child statistics, there are statements in this discussion document that I and others question.

As an example, I quote the main byline on the front of the Paper which states, "Every child thrives, belongs, achieves."  This is followed by the question: Where do we take money to put money?"

For instance, do we take it from older children?  What is the age limit? Recently, I attended the SSPA Forum held in Wellington by SSPA on the Green Paper and heard the wonderful Dr. Nicola Atwool, a senior lecturer at Otago University, discuss the ethical question of discrimination  against the older child who may not have had the luxury of early intervention and for whom there may be no more money.  How do we sit watching that child slide into drug abuse, early, single parenthood with no support or worse, without the funding to intervene?

Some suggestions have been made that it is time to review superannuation; but can I really understand the complexity of changing the system of looking after our superannuants when political parties themselves cannot manage to cross party agreements on this important issue?

My point is: we all have opinions, but how difficult is it for everyone to come to any consensus on this specific question.  If the Paper is about every child, how can we discriminate between the baby, the toddler, the school aged, the teenaged or even the adult?  We all began as children and our life is a journey with  many hurdles to cross and many moments when, for some of us, intervention is necessary to enable a continued and better life experience. Early intervention is essential -- yes -- but perhaps not at the expense of care for the rest of us when we are vulnerable and need help at some point later on in life.

Maybe the answer is looking at re-prioritising spending, not merely in the social service arena, but across the whole of government.  Maybe an increase in funding within the social service arena is what's needed with less money being spent on bailing out failing financial institutions and the support of expensive sporting events. 

But then.......return for investment rears its ugly head.  Our biggest question might be: Is the return for investment more money?  Or, healthy, happy and well balanced communities of children and families?

View from the Chair 

Andrew Beyer

As our 2012 in Aotearoa progresses through this erratic summer and a stumbling return to the habits of political posturing, media manipulation and public turmoil some real challenges and opportunities emerge for our community of social service.

The newly formed government is promoting strongly its continuing project to engage public response to the Green Paper on Vulnerable Children.

At the same time there has been meagre information and no progress reports on the government’s deliberations on the recommendations of its working group on “welfare”.

Not only can we hope for, we can also press for the government to hold together in these two programmes an honest and active recognition of the impacts of economic deprivation and poverty that contribute to the tension, fear, anger, hopelessness, foolishness and madness in households and families.

Let’s hope for and press for the government “welfare reforms” directly to relieve poverty and economic deprivation in households and families and for some effective innovations (or return to some good old practices) to support people and families at times of job loss, reduced income, housing challenges and loss of health or ability.

And so in that context 2012 is a grand year to re-ignite a public conversation and debate about what publicly funded “welfare” or (as I prefer) “social security” now means for us as a community of people.

I was privileged in January to hear a presentation from Mike O’Brien, a veteran researcher, teacher, advocate and activist for a fair and just society. Mike has a long – term involvement in the Child Poverty Action Group and chaired the Alternative Welfare Working Group.

Mike offered a survey of the historical dimensions of social welfare in Aotearoa and then an identification of the issues of priority, values and direction that have emerged through changing times.

Against a set of compelling questions: what do we now mean by a just and fair society? – what do we now really think about a progressive tax system and taxing all forms of income? – how much inequality can we accept? – what is the role of the state in responding to all this? – what does it now mean to create meaningful opportunity for all? – what are the relative roles and engagements of the state and non-government organisations? – what place for protection from poverty? – the relationship between work and income in an increasingly casualised labour market? – universal or targeted dimensions of social support? – etc. etc…..against these questions, and many more, Mike contrasted an holistic approach to social and economic need – a response that includes attention to incomes, jobs, education and training, health, housing and social support services.

Mike’s conclusion was a call (to all of us who value this) to articulate and advocate strongly for a foundation to our social policy and practice in our shared identity and collective belonging and seriously to examine the presentation and performance of the state in relation to whose interests are being served and for what do government initiatives, changes and directions stand.

Before us in 2012 the impacts of the soggy global and domestic economies as well as government proposals and initiatives will focus and make real these and many other issues in our public life. Within NZCOSS we will continue to maintain our conversations and communication with central and local government, with partner organisations, with business and the public – seeking always to express our values and directions. Always, every day, we uphold most of all the experiences, stories and opinions of people in our member organisations and we welcome your continuing contact and telling us “how it is” in your organisations and communities.

In practical terms our newly elected Executive Committee met in January to continue the task of guiding our organisation and activity through the year. We are privileged to have the smart, energetic and dedicated work of our staff members and Ros Rice and Jill Turquet and the input of all our Executive members. For the record, I was re-elected Chairperson, Owen Lloyd from Gisborne COSS our Deputy Chair, Sharon Torstonson from Christchurch our Secretary and Alan Shanks from Dunedin our Treasurer.

Our Conference this year will be in Taupo in October – we will be sending out details about that soon and we are planning a programme to address the issues of the day and to provide training and support opportunities for our member organisations, visitors and friends.

Have a great 2012 – because we are going to!!

 Whanau Ora

 Owen Lloyd

 Deputy Chair, NZCOSS

 Whanau Ora is an inclusive approach to providing services and opportunities to families across New Zealand. It empowers families as a whole, rather than focusing separately on individual family members and their problems.

It requires multiple Government agencies to work together with families rather than separately with individual members.  It is available to all families in need across New Zealand.

Whanau Ora believes it can provide results for families.

Whanau Ora Working for Families

Whanau Ora works in a number of ways, influenced by the approach the Whanau chooses to take. Whanau Ora is not a one size fits all approach. It is deliberately designed to be flexible to meet family needs.

Some Whanau will want to come up with their own ways of improving their lives, and they may want to work on this with a hapū, iwi, or a non‐government organisation (NGO).

Other Whanau will want to seek help from specialist Whanau Ora providers, who will offer them wrap‐around services tailored to their needs.

Whanau will have a champion to work with them to identify their needs, develop a plan of action to address them and broker their access to a range of health and social services.

Successive Governments in the past have tried to get agencies to work together, and some of these initiatives have worked quite well. Whanau Ora takes this a step further by putting families at the centre, because they are the best people to make decisions for themselves. This is likely to be more successful because families will have real ownership of their solutions

How to Start?

Get in touch with your local Te Puna Kokiri (TPK) office and request an application form and some assistance to fill it out for Whānau integration, innovation and engagement Fund (WIIE Fund) This is to enable a Whānau to develop a Whanau Plan, Whanau Ora provides up to $5,000 to make this happen, Each application is approved by The Local Regional Leadership Group/TPK.

Plan to succeed and succeed because you Plan!

Heather Henare, Chief Executive

Seasonal Spike for Women's Refuge

By the National Collective of Women’s Refuges

A busy seasonal period topped off a significant 30^th anniversary year for the National Collective of Women’s Refuges – a support organisation for 45 independent refuges in New Zealand.

In a recent press release, Chief Executive Heather Henare said, “many refuges have had their busiest holiday period in 25 years, or a 100% increase in referrals or calls.  There were only a few regions that did not notice an increase. 

Whether the spike in Christmas callouts is due to an increase in violence or an increase in women speaking out earlier about their abuse, is yet to be determined.  Regardless, it is Women’s Refuges that deal with the important need for emergency accommodation and support in the community.  Their advocates work to support women and children through their journey of dealing with partner violence and making changes to be safer and heal from the devastation of the abuse.  Refuge education courses, lasting eight to ten weeks, are becoming increasingly popular.

Women’s Refuge AMG statistics showed that the 2010-1 year had a 12% increase in the acerage number of women and children who needed safe house accommodation each night in New Zealand.  Nearly 25,000 women and children use refuge services annually, and 60% of women are under the age of 36.  Due to the age of the majority of women who use refuge services, it is not surprising, but still sad, that nearly 40% of children who end up either in a refuge safe house or rehabilitative service are under the age of five.

Ms. Henare thinks the increase in safe house accommodation numbers reflects the fact that women need to spend longer periods at a refuge, before finding alternative accommodation.  The changes to Housing New Zealand eligibility she thinks, will directly impact on women trying to escape from family violence this year.

“This year holds further challenges with the yet to be announced social welfare reforms, consultation around the Green Paper on Children and our never-ending efforts to secure reasonable funding for refuge services,” says Ms. Henare.

In February, Ms. Henare and another Women’s Refuge staff member, will travel to Washington to attend the World Conference on Women’s Shelters, where they hope to be informed and inspired by what is happening in the world as well as contributing to the discussion.

New Zealand Statistics

• On average, 14 women, six men and ten children are killed by a member of their family each year.
• Police are called to around 200 domestic violence situations every day; that’s one every seven minutes on average.
• Police estimate that only 18% of domestic violence incidents are reported.
• At least 74,785 children and young people aged under 17 were present at domestic situations attended by police.
• Eighty four percent of those arrested for domestic violence are men; 16% are women.
• Of the women who seek help from Women’s Refuge, 90% report psychological abuse, compared to 65% who report physical abuse.

Sourced from “The Circular”

National Council of Women of New Zealand

Green Paper Campervan spreads “say something” message

John Dickson, National Executive Officer of Social Service Providers Aotearoa

A national drive is on to ensure as many New Zealanders as possible have their say in the Green Paper for Vulnerable Children.

The Social Development Minister, Paula Bennett, is touring New Zealand, with the first tranche of her tour taking her to Kaitaia, Whangarei, Rotorua, Taupo, Tokoroa, Porirua, Lower Hutt, Henderson, Manukau, Hamilton and Mt Roskill, with details of meetings in the South Island to be released shortly.

At the same time, a Green Paper campervan is driving from Kerikeri in the north to Invercargill in the south, making 32-stops over 13-days, talking to people in the street about the Green Paper and asking them to make submissions, there and then.

Last July the Social Development Minister Paula Bennett released the Green Paper – a discussion document that calls for all New Zealanders to give their views on what changes might help this country's 160,000 vulnerable children. "We have never had a more important national debate, that's why we needed to take this issue literally to the people on the street," says the former All Black, Norm Hewitt. Norm is one of three Green Paper Champions who have been leading the discussion on how New Zealand tackles its child abuse record.

Well over 1200 submissions have been received, but Norm says the more submissions that come in, the better, which is why the national tours are so important. "Both the Minister's tour and the campervan drive are excellent ways of getting the Green Paper directly to as many New Zealanders as possible. The Green Paper representatives travelling in the campervan say they've stopped hundreds of people on the streets of the towns they've visited, and given out hundreds of Green Paper submission forms and flyers. They say they have been very impressed by the willingness of people to be engaged about the Green Paper and child abuse.

"We know many New Zealanders feel angry and sad when another child is hurt – or worse – by the people who are supposed to care for them. They might also feel powerless to do anything to help. This is something we can all do to help – we can say something on the Green Paper and help change the story for our children.

"While submissions are accepted via email, Facebook, Twitter, our www.saysomething.org.nz website, or the old-fashioned way by post, making one in person at the campervan is another way you can say something. So keep an eye out for the Green Paper submission drive if it comes to your town – you can't miss the green campervan, flanked by large green flags," says Norm.

"Many of us are more than happy to call talkback radio when we think we've got the answers, but if you make a submission on the Green Paper for Vulnerable Children, you can really help make a change because someone is definitely listening."

Saying something on the Green Paper for Vulnerable Children is easy:

Visit www.saysomething.org.nz and make a submission online.  Email to yourresponse@childrensactionplan.govt.nz

Pick up a freepost submission flyer from WINZ offices. Mail: Green Paper for Vulnerable Children, PO Box 1556, Wellington 6140

Connecting Communities

Connecting Communities will showcase the important role that technology plays for today's New Zealand's non-profits, charities and community organisations.  This successful and popular event is being hosted by Microsoft in association with Social Development Partners.  This year, Connecting Communities will be repeated in Christchurch on Wednesday, 29 February and in Wellington on Monday, 5 March.

This free, one-day event, at the Brentwood Hotel in Wellington,  will bring together a range of leading presenters from community organisations as well as Microsoft to bring a range of relevant topics:

• How can you make changes to embrace the current wave of IT products and services in achieving your organisation’s goals?
• What‘s a CRM and how can you take your nonprofit organisation forward with improved data?
• Cloud Computing—the internet is changing the world of computing. Should you move your infrastructure to ‘the cloud’?
• Social Media—insights into how you can integrate social media into your communications tool kit.

A good deal of interest in this event at both locations is expected, given that there is a growing appetite for ICT knowledge and skills in the nonprofit sector. We believe this is a unique opportunity for nonprofit and community sector organisations to learn more about the capability that ICT offers them in this modern age.

Currently, the programme is being finalised; how to register and full event details will be available very son. As soon as it does become available, the registration site address will be emailed to everyone on the mailing list.   Just save the date now and come along and learn how to take control of your investment in IT! 

NZCOSS Conference 2012

Heads Up!

Watch This Space!

We're in the midst of planning NZCOSS Conference 2012, in Taupo, an area well known for its spectacular landscape and wonderful ambiance.  The event will take place in early to mid-October 2012 in one of many fabulous venues on offer in the area.  We'll let everyone know both vital statistics-- dates and venue --  just as soon as we have it all well confirmed!

Community Events Calendar

February

March

April

National Awareness Weeks and Street Appeals

February

March

April

We welcome any contributions pertinent to our newsletter and provide a wide platform through which your organisation can be heard.  Please do not hesitate to be in touch with any material you would like to see published in Network News.  The next issue of Network News is scheduled to go to press at the end of April.  Therefore, please submit any articles or information you wish included, by 24 April 2012.  Also, any and all feedback from you would be greatly welcomed. Our aim is to continue to improve content and format of this newsletter, we'd love to know what's working for you........and what (if anything), isn't!

With thanks to Wellington City Council for their support via the Betty Campbell Assistance Grant.

Network News is available in hard copy and on the NZCOSS website

The opinions expressed in Network News are not necessarily the opinions of New Zealand Council of Social Services.  While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of information published, NZCOSS does not assume responsibility for factual errors.

NZCOSS is a collective voice supporting local communities

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