'Better pathways' to address disengagement

The Government has announced more support for a number of community-led programmes to help more children and young people back into education, training and employment, and to help keep them out of the youth justice system where Police partner agencies believe this approach is warranted.

The main features of the announcement include:

  • Support for up to 1,100 more participants in Youth Guarantee. This will be achieved by a combination of an age extension from 19 to 24 years, allowing part-time enrolment, reducing  entry-level credit expectations and increasing wellbeing and transport subsidy assistance.
  • An extension of the Ākonga Fund to support up to a further 2,750 learners (aged 12 -24 yrs.) to stay engaged, or to reengage, in education. Around 5, 500 ākonga are already involved in Fund programmes. 52% of those who have exited have gone on to achieve an education, training or employment outcome.
  • The extension of Kotahi te Whakaaro (a joint agency response to young people involved in crime) to West Auckland. This initiative brings together government and non-government agencies and iwi to review cases involved with Police in the preceding 24 hours. Other agencies provide a ‘wrap around’ service for the young person and the whānau as required. It is designed to prevent escalation into or through the youth justice system.
  • An expansion of He Poutama Rangatahi (HPR) to benefit up to 1,400 more rangatahi. This initiative provides bespoke community-led support for young people (15-24 years old) most at risk of long-term unemployment, who need support into education, training, and employment. Through collaboration with local organisations, HPR has supported almost 4,000 young people into employment, education and training, underpinned by intensive pastoral care.
  • The scaling up of Oranga Tamariki and Police enabled initiatives, including Functional Family Therapy, Oranga Rangatahi Youth Inclusion Programmes and the Intensive Mentoring. Together, these scale-ups will support up to an extra 232 families with children most at risk. One programme has seen a reduction in youth offending of between 25% and 60%. Another saw 59 of 61 participants more fully engaged into education and/or supported into employment. 

More details of this package can be found in this factsheet [PDF, 220 KB].

Read more information on the analysis behind the package [PPTX, 566 KB].

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