Enhancing our social sector leadership role and contribution, and working alongside the social sector
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New Zealanders are increasingly expecting social sector agencies to work together in different ways to make a bigger difference. Teaming up with our social sector partners is one of the ways we deliver services at both national and local levels
About the social sector
The social sector is complex. Agencies within the sector deliver a wide range of services to New Zealanders throughout their lives. Many people’s needs are met through the universal services provided by social sector agencies at key points in their lives. However, some people and communities require services where social sector agencies and communities need to work together in different ways to achieve results.
To deliver on these, we need a clear focus on priorities across the sector. This work is primarily done through the Social Sector Chief Executives and Vulnerable Children’s Board, both of which our Chief Executive chairs. We support our Chief Executive in his leadership of the sector.
Our role in the social sector
As one of the largest providers of social services, we play a critical role in the social sector. We have worked alongside our social sector partners to achieve the following priorities for 2014/2015:
- leading and contributing to the Government’s Better Public Services targets
- implementing the Children’s Action Plan
- reducing the impact of family violence
- focusing on youth mental health
- contributing to the Enabling Good Lives initiative.
Over the last year, the Social Sector Chief Executives revised their priorities so they are able to prioritise collective work on a small number of activities. These areas are:
- assessing progress against the Government’s Better Public Services targets and taking joint action where necessary
- focusing on the small proportion of New Zealanders for whom joint action is required to deliver sustainable results (eg. protecting our most vulnerable children by implementing the Children’s Action Plan)
- developing and implementing the Social Sector Investment Framework (including data analytics)
- advising on structural arrangements to support collective social sector action (eg. social sector integration and contracting).
Leading and contributing to Better Public Services[1]
Our work across the sector is vital to making a difference for New Zealanders. As part of this we have an ongoing focus on delivering the Government’s priorities for better public services.
We lead cross-government effort to achieve targets for Results 1 and 4 and support other agencies that lead cross-government effort to achieve targets for Results 2, 3, 5, 7, 8 and 10.
Result 1: Reduce long-term welfare dependency by reducing the number of people continuously receiving Jobseeker Support for more than 12 months by 30 percent, from 78,000 in April 2012 to 55,000 by June 2017.
Reducing welfare dependency is about supporting people into employment, managing the Government’s future liability, and supporting the New Zealand economy by ensuring we have a skilled and productive workforce.
We contributed to this by continuing to implement the investment approach to welfare and work-focused case management to ensure we invest support where it will make the biggest difference.
In the 12 months to 30 June 2015, the number of people receiving Jobseeker Support for more than 12 months fell by 1,976, or almost 3 percent, to 65,555.
Revised targets for Result 1
In February 2015 the Government introduced two new targets for this Result, to be achieved by June 2018:
- a reduction of 25 percent in the total number of people receiving a main benefit (from 295,000 in June 2014 to 220,000)
- a reduction of $13 billion in the long-term cost of benefit dependence as measured by an accumulated actuarial release.
To achieve the new target, we are increasing the number of clients in intensive case management services, with priority given to Sole Parent Support and Jobseeker Support clients with a health condition.
In the 12 months to June 2015, the number of working-age main benefit recipients decreased by 8,237, or 2.8 percent, largely driven by decreases in Sole Parent Support and Jobseeker Support numbers. The latest (June 2014) valuation of the benefit system put the liability at $69.0 billion. This forms the base liability and the forward liability projections from which an actuarial release will be measured.
Figure 1: Number of working age (18-64 years old) people on a main benefit, New Zealand, June 2014 to June 2018.
Result 4: Halt the rise in children experiencing physical abuse and reduce current[2] numbers by 5 percent
We continued to work with other agencies to halt and decrease the number of children experiencing physical abuse.
We contributed to this by responding to notifications, providing care and protection services and supporting the implementation of the Children’s Teams.
In the 12 months to June 2015, physical abuse was substantiated for 3,118 children, compared with 3,178 in the previous 12 months to June 2014. This decrease (of 1.9 percent) appears to follow the trend over recent years of substantiated findings of physical abuse of children stabilising and even slightly declining.
Figure 2: Children experiencing substantiated abuse (12 months to June 2015).
The Social Sector Board (SSB), which is chaired by our Chief Executive, has sector responsibility for leading results 2 and 3.
Result 2: Increase participation in early childhood education
We contributed to work led by the Ministry of Education to increase the rate of participation in early childhood education (ECE) to 98 percent by 2016.
At 30 June 2015 the prior ECE participation rate for children starting school was 96.2 percent, an increase of 0.3 percentage points from 12 months earlier.
Figure 3: Prior ECE Participation Rate.
We subsidise the cost of ECE for children in our care aged between 18 months and three years and for those that are enrolled in the Family Start programme. At 30 June 2015, 87.1 percent of children in care aged 18 to 36 months participated in ECE; and in March 2015, 70 percent of children participating in Family Start were enrolled in ECE.
Our social workers actively work with the parents and caregivers of children in our care who are not engaged in ECE to ensure participation wherever appropriate.
Result 3: Increase infant immunisation rates and reduce the incidence of rheumatic fever
We contributed to work led by the Ministry of Health to have 95 percent of eight-month-olds fully immunised, and to reduce the incidence of rheumatic fever to 1.4 cases per 100,000 people, by June 2017.
At 30 June 2015 the immunisation rate for eight-month-old infants was 92.9 percent, an increase of 1.3 percentage points from 30 June 2014.
Figure 4: Immunisation coverage for children at eight months.
The incidence rate for first episode rheumatic fever hospitalisations for the 2014/2015 year was 3.0 per 100,000 (135 hospitalisations). This is a significant decrease from the 2013/2014 rate of 3.9 (175 hospitalisations).
Figure 5: First episode rheumatic fever hospitalisations, annual rate per 100,000, 2002-2014.
We contribute towards the two target indicators for Result 3 through Gateway Assessments[2] for children in care and through the Family Start programme. At 30 June 2015, 80 percent of children participating in Family Start had up-to-date immunisations.
We also implemented the Dramatic Fever and Youth Ambassadors programmes in the Auckland and Northland regions to raise awareness about rheumatic fever through youth-focused and school events.
We also contribute to Results 5, 7, 8 and 10 which are led by other agencies.
Result 5: Increase the proportion of 18-year-olds with NCEA Level 2 or equivalent qualification
We contributed to work led by the Ministry of Education to increase the proportion of 18-year-olds with NCEA Level 2 or equivalent qualifications to 85 percent by 2017.
At the end of the 2014 calendar year this result had increased by 2.6 percentage points from the previous year to 81.2 percent.
Figure 6: 18-year-olds achievement of NCEA Level 2.
We contribute to this target through the Youth Service, which aims to assist disengaged young people back into training or education.
An evaluation of the Youth Service in June 2014 showed that 14 percent of Youth Payment participants and 7 percent of Young Parent Payment participants met the requirements of NCEA Level 2 within their first 12 months in the Youth Service.
Result 7: Reduce the rates of total crime, violent crime and youth crime; and Result 8: Reduce reoffending
We contributed to work led by the Ministry of Justice to reduce the rate of total recorded crime by 15 percent, the rate of violent crime by 20 percent, and the rate of youth crime by 25 percent between June 2011 and June 2017.
At 31 March 2015 the total crime and youth crime rates had reduced by 18 percent and 37 percent respectively.
Figure 7: Youth crime rate.
The cross-agency Youth Crime Action Plan (YCAP) entered its third year of supporting the achievement of Results 7 and 8. A review of YCAP is currently under way to identify new actions to incorporate into its work programme.
Figure 8: Reoffending rate.
By the end of 2014 the total crime rate was at its lowest in 35 years. In early 2015 the Government introduced a new target of reducing the total crime rate by 20 percent between June 2011 and June 2018, because the original targets for this measure had already been met.
Result 10: New Zealanders can complete their transactions with the Government easily in a digital environment
In the June 2015 quarter, 57.4 percent of applications for financial assistance were completed digitally.
Figure 9: Average rate of transactions completed in a digital environment.
Our future contribution to Result 10 will be supported by the Simplification work programme over the next two to three years, which will make it easier for clients to manage transactional services.
To further support Result 10, we encouraged clients to get a RealMe logon to make it easier for working-age people and seniors to apply for financial support.
Social Sector Investment Framework
The social sector needs to change the way it works together to focus jointly on the most vulnerable populations. Following a directive from Social Sector Chief Executives, a Social Sector Investment Framework has been developed.
The Framework supports the Government’s focus on social investment and putting clients at the centre of what we do. It is intended to provide a common basis for social sector agencies to identify shared populations of interest, assess options for new services or programmes, and support effective implementation.
We contributed to the initial development of the Framework, and are now providing significant input into the work of the Social Sector Investment Change Programme team to develop it.
Implementing the Children’s Action Plan
We continued to support the Children’s Action Plan Directorate to change how government agencies, non-government organisations and iwi work together to identify, support and protect our most vulnerable children.
Two new Children’s Teams were established in Horowhenua/Ōtaki and Marlborough[4] during the year, and we began planning for another six[5] teams in 2015/2016.
We helped to set up the first urban Children’s Team in Hamilton. This site went live on 1 September 2015 and is expected to reach an estimated 1,370 vulnerable children in its first year.
To support the Children’s Team in Hamilton to work with more children, we are trialling the Vulnerable Kids Information System (ViKI) and The Hub, which is based on a new Approved Information Sharing Agreement (AISA).
ViKI is an information management system used to record, access and manage data to improve services to vulnerable children.
We have set up The Hub to serve as a central contact and triage point for all notifications from professionals and practitioners about children for whom they have concerns. For the initial six-month trial the service is being implemented within Child, Youth and Family’s (CYF) national contact centre to maximise the use of existing information, infrastructure and resources. The Hub will collate information from a range of sources to allow a high-level assessment of need to be made and the most appropriate response pathway for referred children to be determined. Service response options include escalation to CYF, or referral to a Children’s Team, universal service or community provider.
The AISA will support information sharing between professionals and practitioners in Hamilton and will guide information sharing to and from The Hub.
These tools give the Children’s Teams a more comprehensive picture of each child that will allow services to be tailored to their individual needs.
Children’s workforce
The Children’s Action Plan Directorate continued implementing the Vulnerable Children Act 2014 and components of the workforce programme. Work has included:
- introducing new safety checking regulations that will be phased in over four years from July 2015
- releasing two sets of guidelines: on how employers of the children’s workforce can consistently recruit safe people to work with children, and on how to develop good child protection policies that help their workers identify and respond to the needs of vulnerable children more effectively
- consulting on the development of a Core Competency Framework, which will offer consistency in standards and practice to the different roles in the children's workforce to ensure child safety and good outcomes.
Social Sector Trials
The Social Sector Trials are a social change model focused on improving outcomes by testing an alternative approach to delivering social services in communities. The Trials are community-based and focus on increasing participation in education, training and employment for youth. They also help reduce truancy, offending, and alcohol and substance abuse. The Porirua Trial is focused on improving health outcomes.
Throughout the year, we continued to work with the social sector to deliver the Trials in 16 communities[6] across the country.
Some of the notable successes for the year included:
- 165 young people going off benefit in South Dunedin between March and June 2015
- a decrease in truancy levels in Taumarunui (the lowest in four years based on local data) and a steady decline in youth offending in Waitomo.
Family and sexual violence
Family and sexual violence is a serious and complex issue that can span multiple generations. It affects families from all cultures, classes, backgrounds and socio-economic groups. No single agency can address this issue alone.
The Ministerial Group on Family Violence and Sexual Violence has oversight of a whole-of-government work programme to respond to family violence and sexual violence. The Ministerial Group has commissioned a cross-agency work programme to explore options for improving responses at the levels of whole-of-system and service delivery, with advice to Ministers to be provided by the end of 2015.
We are leading three of the five workstreams:
- the system framework
- primary prevention
- identification and initial response, with advice on service development.
In 2014/2015, we continued to work on the primary prevention and the identification and initial response work streams. This work will continue in 2015/2016 as part of the wider work programme, which will focus on reducing the long-term harm caused by family violence, by:
- gaining a better understanding of current gaps and duplication in services, and looking at what initiatives are delivering results, so that better investment decisions can be made
- determining how services are linked together across government, with a view to appointing lead agencies to focus on particular areas of work
- ensuring services are focused on clients’ needs
- ensuring the workstreams led by the Ministries of Justice and Social Development are linked to each other.
As well as supporting the ministerial work programme, we continued to deliver our existing approaches to addressing family violence through the It’s not OK campaign, the E Tu Whānau Programme of Action and the Pasefika Proud Programme of Action.
E Tu Whānau has been endorsed by the Iwi Chairs Forum following the launch of a Charter of Commitment in 2014/2015. The Charter is a first for an indigenous people.
Evaluations of the It’s not OK and Pasefika Proud campaigns have shown an increased awareness about family violence in communities and what actions they can adopt to address this.
Enabling Good Lives
Enabling Good Lives is a partnership between government agencies and the disability sector. It transforms how disabled people and their families are supported to have greater choice and control over their lives in the long term.
Enabling Good Lives demonstrations in Christchurch and Waikato are exploring ways to connect up services across multiple government agencies. This gives participants the opportunity to access a wider range of support to ensure their independence.
The focus of the Christchurch demonstration has been on supporting school leavers who have been classified as having High or Very High Needs.
At 30 June 2015 the Christchurch demonstration was working with 147 participants and their families/whānau.
Youth mental health
Launched in 2012, the Prime Minister’s Youth Mental Health Project aims to prevent young people from developing mental health issues and seeks to improve access to youth mental health services. By July 2016 the project will have delivered 26 initiatives. Key highlights for the 2014/2015 year include:
- launching the Supporting young people with stress, anxiety and/or depression guidelines on our website
- ensuring 19 youth workers are in place in secondary schools in Northland, Auckland, Wellington and Hawke’s Bay regions and actively working with 335 young people
- achieving the national waiting times target where 80 percent of 12 to 19-year-olds who contact a youth alcohol and drug service are seen within three weeks, with 85 percent of district health boards meeting this target.
All-of-Government
Property Management Centre of Expertise
The Ministry hosts and supports the Property Management Centre of Expertise. The Centre of Expertise has led and assisted government agencies to meet the goals set by the Government for efficient and effective management of Crown properties. This improves the delivery of better public services to all New Zealanders. Highlights from the year include:
- agencies producing biennial strategic property plans
- delivering accommodation projects in Wellington and Christchurch
- starting accommodation projects in Gisborne, Whanganui and New Plymouth
- implementing and trialling new ways of collaborating and sharing infrastructure in Christchurch
- publishing of standards for Workplace Design, Lease and Facilities Management, and Asset Management
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reducing estate costs by $2 million per year and footprint by over 55,500 square metres.
Supporting Canterbury
We are committed to supporting the recovery of Canterbury. In 2014/2015, we introduced the $3k to Christchurch initiative to address shortages in the labour market by providing financial assistance to those who are able to relocate to Christchurch for work. Over the year we helped 1,520 applicants move to Christchurch to take up full-time employment. Just over half of these people were employed in the construction industry.
We also provided short-term emergency housing services and assistance for vulnerable families and individuals. This included providing temporary accommodation assistance to more than 580 homeowners.
Throughout the year, we continued to support the psychosocial recovery in Canterbury as part of the multi-agency Community in Mind strategy and its shared Programme of Action.
In 2014/2015 we funded over 6,600 trauma counselling sessions and Earthquake Support Co-ordination Services for those affected by the earthquakes. Our support of the 0800 Canterbury Support Line continued to help people connect with free counselling services or organisations. Nearly 2,000 calls were made to the 0800 number.
Cross-Government Accreditation and the Social Sector Accreditation Standards
The Ministry, as Chair of the Social Services Procurement Committee, continued to work with other government agencies to reduce duplication and compliance for social service providers working with government. This helps ensure providers have the time, capacity and capability to deliver to communities the services required of them rather than being burdened by compliance.
As part of this process, social sector agencies developed a number of shared standards known as the Social Sector Accreditation Standards. A trial of the accreditation standards showed a significant reduction in the time spent on accreditation activities. Findings from the trial included a 40 percent decrease in the cost of accreditation activity and an estimated reduction of 10 days’ face-to-face contact between the provider and government agencies over a three-year period.
Agencies will continue to work together to streamline the accreditation process.
Footnotes
[1] Other than for Results 1 and 4, all Better Public Services results in this section are the most recent published results at the time of preparing this Annual Report.
[3] The Gateway Assessments aim to ensure every child or young person entering care receives an assessment that helps build a complete picture of the child or young person's needs, and sees that they get access to the right health and education services to address their needs.
[4] The first two Children’s Teams went live in Rotorua and Whangarei in 2013.
[5] Hamilton, Tairawhiti, Eastern Bay of Plenty, Christchurch, Whanganui, and Clendon/Manurewa/Papakura.
[6] Taumarunui, South Waikato District, Waitomo District, Kawerau, Horowhenua District and Gore (since 2011); Kaikohe township, Rānui (Auckland), Waikato District, Rotorua District, Whakatane township, Gisborne City, South Taranaki District, Wairarapa (Masterton, South Wairarapa and Carterton Districts), Porirua City, and South Dunedin (since 2013).
