July 2014 – June 2015 Waitomo action plan Trialling New Approaches to Social Sector Change a A vibrant, inclusive, unified community that young people are proud to be part of and contribute to. Trialling new approaches to social sector change Contents The Social Sector Trials 02 The change for 2014–2015 02 Governance of the Social Sector Trials 02 About this Plan 03 The Waitomo District 04 Progress and priorities 06 The visual story 09 Implementing this Plan 10 The actions 11 1. Reduce truancy and improve participation in education 11 2. Reduce offending 16 3. Decrease alcohol and other drug abuse 18 4. Improve participation in further education, training and employment 20 5. Support collaboration, coordination and communication 21 Trialling New Approaches to Social Sector Change 01 The Social Sector Trials Social Sector Trials (SSTs/Trials) are operating in 16 communities around New Zealand. The Waitomo District was one of the first six SST communities and the Trial has been in place since March 2011. The term of these first six Trials has been extended and will continue operating until at least 30 June 2015. This document is the third SST Action Plan for Waitomo. Please refer to earlier action plans for SST background information, local data and progress information. This is available at www.msd.govt.nz/social-sector-trials The change for 2014–2015 The SSTs focus on improving outcomes that reflect the needs of the community. In the Waitomo District, the SST has been focused on improving outcomes for 12–18 year olds through: • reduced truancy • reduced offending • reduced alcohol and other drug abuse • increased participation in education, training and employment. From 1 July 2014, the focus population for these outcomes expands to 5–18 years old. This enables an increase in prevention and ability to address the underlying causes of poor outcomes earlier, in order to achieve more sustainable, positive outcomes for children and young people. Although measures of success have to date been focused on the progress of young people (12–18), a number of the actions under the SST have already included the 5–11 year old age group. Examples of the Trial working in this space include the Attendance Service, the Truancy Cross-agency Case Management Forum that covers both primary and secondary schools, the Youth Offending Team, Alcohol and Other Drug Forum, the Te Punanga Haumaru (cyber-bullying) project, which involved young people spreading the messages about bullying to children at a primary age, and the Breakaway holiday programmes involving more than 300 children a year. The age extension allows us to be more explicit about including services and stakeholders with specific expertise in dealing with the younger age group. It will allow us to explore the potential for improved support for these children and their families and to make a sustainable difference to the outcomes of young people. Governance of the Social Sector Trials National governance The Chair of the Cabinet Social Policy Committee (SOC) has ultimate responsibility for the SSTs. A Ministerial sub-committee provides oversight and decision-making for the SSTs. The Ministerial sub-committee is currently the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Justice, Chair of the Cabinet Social Policy Committee (and Minister of Health), Minister of Education, Minister for Social Development, Minister of Police and Minister of Youth Affairs. 02 Waitomo Youth Action Plan July 2014–June 2015 A Joint Venture Board, comprising the chief executives of the ministries of Social Development, Health, Education, Justice and the New Zealand Police, acts as a governance group for the SSTs. The Chair of the Joint Venture Board is the Chief Executive of Social Development. A Director: Social Sector Trials has responsibility for the day-to-day operation of the SSTs. Advisory group A local advisory group has been in place since March 2011 and will remain in place for 2014–15. The group acts as a mechanism for collaboration and communication and ensures the endorsement and ownership of the Plan. The advisory group in the Waitomo District is made up of stakeholders who represent decision makers and leaders. Local members include: • District Mayor • Principal, Te Kuiti High School • Head of Department Māori, Te Kuiti High School • Deputy Principal, Piopio College • Representative, Maniapoto Māori Trust Board • Representative, Tuia Rangatahi Roopu • Sergeant, New Zealand Police • Pastor, Journey Church • SST Manager • General Manager, Maniapoto FM. Regional support is provided by: • New Zealand Police (NZ Police) • Ministry of Education (MoE) • Ministry of Social Development (MSD) (Regional Commissioner and managers of Family and Community Services (FACS) and Child, Youth and Family (CYF)) • Te Puni Kōkiri • Waikato District Health Board (DHB). New membership may be sought to provide expertise due to the age extension. About this Plan This Plan represents a transparent commitment to the Waitomo District community of a work programme to improve outcomes for 5–18 year olds over the next 12 months. It outlines 43 actions that will be taken through the joined-up Trials approach, from 1 July 2014. Some actions are new, some remain as they were in 2014 (or earlier), and some are now going to be extended to a wider age group. These actions have been included on the basis that they were found to be effective in previous action plans and require continuation, are being further developed as identified or are new pieces of work that have been identified not just through the development of this Plan but from feedback and lessons learnt from young people, whānau, agencies and organisations over the last year. Trialling New Approaches to Social Sector Change 03 We have used the existing SST focus groups to develop the actions in this Plan for reducing truancy, offending and alcohol and other drug abuse. For each outcome, consideration has been given to not only what else can be done for young people over the next 12 months, but also how we can include the wider age group. Discussions were also held with the principals cluster group about the expansion of the Trial into younger years. It was identified that some time would be needed to understand the needs of the different schools and school communities. An action in this Plan is to work closely with this group to understand the greatest impacts on educational achievement for primary aged students and to identify where the SST may need to focus. In addition, any other areas that impact on the younger age group in relation to truancy, alcohol and other drug abuse, and offending will be explored. We still have a significant amount of work to do to embed strategies and actions that were identified by the community in the initial consultations. We are working to ensure these become sustainable. In addition, we have identified that key areas for us to focus on for the next 12 months are to build relationships/linkages that enable us to: • develop a more in-depth understanding of the barriers to educational achievement for 5–12 year olds • scope and coordinate training and employment opportunities for young people in Waitomo. The Waitomo District Children and young people in the Waitomo District live in small communities. While Te Kuiti is the administrative and main trading centre in the District and considered the central point for service delivery, there are a number of small settlements, including, but not limited to Mokau, Awakino, Te Waitere, Taharoa and Oparure. The main rural communities are Benneydale, Piopio, and Waitomo Village. The usual resident population for the District was 8,910 at the time of the 2013 Census. This is a decrease of 534 people, or 5.7 per cent, since the 2006 Census. Te Kuiti includes 47.4 per cent of the District’s population. Table 1: Usually resident population: By area unit, Waitomo District 2001, 2006, and 2013 Censuses Area unit Census usually resident population count 2001 2006 2013 Piopio 468 468 393 Taharoa 246 216 231 Mahoenui 538 480 399 Marokopa 1,569 1,572 1,536 Waipa Valley 960 984 1,050 Tiroa 72 81 51 Mokauiti 1,218 1,182 1,029 Te Kuiti 4,392 4,455 4,218 Total 9,453 9,438 8,910 Source: Statistics New Zealand, 2014 04 Waitomo Youth Action Plan July 2014–June 2015 Table 2: Breakdown of Waitomo District and Te Kuiti residents (according to age) Waitomo Te Kuiti Age 2006 2013 2006 2013 5 156 162 69 84 6 186 156 78 63 7 156 135 63 60 8 180 141 84 72 9 153 126 66 48 10 180 147 87 72 11 159 147 78 63 12 168 150 69 66 13 174 147 87 72 14 183 129 87 63 15 165 150 81 72 16 159 117 96 54 17 150 153 72 90 18 111 93 57 54 Total 2280 1953 1074 933 Source: Statistics New Zealand, 2014 Table 3: Breakdown of Waitomo District residents (according to age and area) 5–9 years 10–14 years 15–19 years Area 2006 2013 2006 2013 2006 2013 Piopio 48 27 45 24 27 33 Taharoa 30 21 24 24 9 18 Mahoenui 45 33 45 21 24 24 Marokopa 141 138 120 129 111 78 Waipa Valley 84 87 84 84 66 63 Mokauiti 117 81 129 96 75 69 Te Kuiti 363 327 411 336 372 321 Tiroa C 9 C C 6 6 Waitomo District 831 720 864 717 690 609 Source: Statistics New Zealand, 2014 Note: ‘C’ indicates very small numbers. Trialling New Approaches to Social Sector Change 05 ‘European’ is the most common ethnic group in Waitomo (65 per cent compared to 74 per cent nationally), followed by ‘Māori’ (41.8 per cent compared to 14.9 per cent nationally).