Palmerston North / Manawatu / Horowhenua / Tararua Community Response Forum

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Palmerston North / Manawatu /

Horowhenua / Tararua

Community Response Forum

First report to the Minister:

A work in progress

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6 The Forum is not in a position yet to make recommendations for change. There is an in-depth engagement plan to enable deeper exploration by territorial authority until December 2012. The in-depth analysis will involve testing the information received to date about what works and what needs to change. Preliminary conclusions include:

 Multiple benefits of service / information hubs

 Exploring the feasibility of establishing local entities that hold a primary relationship with government funders for the whole territorial authority

7 The Forum is working to the following engagement plan to enable in-depth analysis on a per territorial authority basis:

 Horowhenua – June 2011 (underway)  Tararua – December 2011

 Palmerston North – June 2012  Manawatu – December 2012

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1B

The Forum and its Region

8 The Minister appointed the Forum Members in October 2010. The members for the Palmerston North / Manawatu / Horowhenua / Tararua CRM Forum are:

Community Members

 Maureen Reynolds (Tararua & Co-chair)  Barbara Robson (Manawatu)

 Mike Haddon (Palmerston North)

Government Agency Members

 Jane Hopkinson (Outgoing Chair), Family & Community Services  Tony Moore (Incoming Chair), Family & Community Services  Rhonda Taylor, Child Youth and Family

 Sam Bishara, Te Puni Kökiri

9 The Forum has become increasingly aware that we are a relatively small group charged with covering a widespread geographic area. Extensive travel involved to attend meetings has, at times, challenged our capacity, due to our other work commitments. Simultaneously we are committed to undertaking the task before us in a way that reflects quality, genuine engagement and analysis – which will take time.

10 The Forum has identified a need to have an additional community member, from the Horowhenua area, appointed to the Forum. We are working with the Horowhenua District Council and members of the community to identify suitable candidates for the Minister’s consideration for appointment.

11 The Forum agreed to meet twice a month from November 2010 to the end of June 2011. The first four meetings were set aside to:

 get to know each other and establish our roles within the Community Response Model (CRM)

 work through the CRM Handbook to gain a collective understanding of what we have been tasked to do

 plan how best to engage with stakeholders, communities, families and local government in a respectful and meaningful manner.

A number of engagement meetings have also been undertaken as outlined later in this report.

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12 The Forum covers four territorial authorities as illustrated in the map below.

2B

Sources of Information

13 The Forum has begun to utilise information from a number of sources to inform the first level of exploration into the issues and priorities for our region. These include (but are not limited to):

 Local Services Mapping community reports and / or Results Based Accountability Result Cards

 Atlas of Social Deprivation in NZ Maps

 Ministry of Social Development (MSD) Contract Mapping Tool / website  Long Term Council Community Plans (LTCCP)

 Common Priorities Across Government Summary Report (FACS)  Statistics NZ data

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Family and Community Services (FACS) Funding

14 The Forum is aware that the issues raised in communities will span across government agencies and sectors. Part of the information provided by the Forum in our introduction to Councils and communities is what funding goes into the community from Family and Community Services (FACS). The FACS funding is summaried in graphs to highlight:

 Total FACS funding allocation per territorial authority (TA)

 Percentage of funding by FACS funded programme, across the region

Total Funding Distributed in Horowhenua, Manawatu, Palmerston North

and Tararua for 2011

Please Note: Funding by territorial authority shows only where the service is delivered, not the location of the service provider. Also where the service is delivered across territorial authorities the funding has been apportioned across those areas.

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Total Funding in Horowhenua, Manawatu, Palmerston North and Tararua by

Service for 2011

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3B

Our Progress – The First Tier of Engagement

15 The first tier of engagement has been completed. The main focus in this first phase has been to introduce ourselves as the Forum, introduce the Model, provide communities throughout the region with a proposed timeline for deeper engagement with them, and ask for their feedback about the best ways to engage.

7BEngagement with Local Government

16 We met with the Mayors and their key Council staff first. This was a deliberate step to broker positive working relationships so that the Forum and Councils can work together in a collaborative way.

17 To date we have met with the following Mayors with Council officials:

 Horowhenua District – 8 February 2011 - met with Mayor Brendan Duffy and David Clapperton, Manager, Strategic & Corporate Services

 Palmerston North – 17 February 2011 - met with Mayor Jono Naylor and Cathy McCartney, Projects Coordinator

 Manawatu District – 22 February 2011 - met with Mayor Ian McKelvie  Tararua District – 10 March 2011 - met with Mayor Roly Ellis

18 The purpose of these meetings was to acknowledge their work and to hear the views of the Mayors and their officials on:

 what is working well in their district

 what is making the most impact on families in their area  are they aware of any gaps or overlaps in services

 any ideas or solutions on things that may need to change.

8BEngagement with Communities

19 The first level of engagement has occurred through a series of community meetings held in each territorial authority. We introduced ourselves, explained our role and responsibilities and asked the following questions:

 what are the main issues they are facing currently  what is working well in their community

 what is making the most impact on families in their area  awareness of gaps or overlaps in services

 ideas or solutions on things that could change

 how the Forum can engage with communities moving forward.

The community meetings were advertised through invitations posted to local providers and other stakeholders on the FACS database and through any other and relevant email networks and contacts of the Forum members, Mayors and their officials and FACS support staff. The invitation was open to everyone (not just

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providers). Meetings were held in the following communities and attracted a range of people, groups and organisations:

 Levin Public Meeting - 10 February 2011 - 40 participants

 Palmerston North Public Meeting – 17 February 2011 - 30 participants  Feilding Public Meeting – 24 February 2011 - 20 participants

 Dannevirke Public Meeting – 10 March 2011 - 40 participants

20 In addition to the community meetings listed above the Forum has presented to and had initial discussions with:

 the Levin Youth Network Hui - 8 March 2011

 the Community Wellbeing Forum for Horowhenua District – 22 March 2011

21 There has been an overriding sense of goodwill and enthusiasm from the respective communities. They are keen for genuine consultation and collaboration, and have provided useful initial feedback. This has enabled us to get a good feel for the overarching issues in the communities and the best ways to engage with them.

9BChallenges and Limitations

22 Christmas and New Year holidays occurring soon after the Forum was established significantly hampered the ability for the Forum to start engaging in a planned and structured way, across the communities in our region. We effectively lost two months.

23 Findings to date are based on conversations with Mayors and key Council staff and representatives of community groups. Information gathered is not yet tested and substantiated. We are aware that the next level of engagement will need to be wider reaching, drilling down to hear the voices of families and service users. 24 There are other government agencies competing for community interest for their

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4B

Key Themes and Findings

25 From early observations the Forum noted that many issues raised in the first level of engagement align to the core work of other Ministries and/or government agencies responsibilities. We have also found from our initial engagement that there a number of issues common to all communities. These are noted in the table below.

10BCommon Issues and Critical Gaps across the Region

Remove competitive model, replace with cross-government integrated funding contracts, recognise existing collaboration when it works well Greater collaboration needed across government agencies / funders Funding Model

Review age barriers on contracts and other barriers to accessibility Share resources, strengthen coherency, know what we do well and stick to it

Better

Collaboration

Quality information about available services / information hubs

Support all young people transitioning into training, further education or employment upon leaving school (particularly Maori youth)

Resource truancy services and ways to keep children in school Positive role models / leadership / mentoring

Structured activities day and night

Youth justice needs to be better supported Children and

Young People

Oral health services for children and adolescents

Grandparents raising grandchildren not well supported and removed from volunteer base

Elder abuse

Access to essential social and health services Older People

Aging population – need positive aging strategies and planning

Employment Impact of the recession on employment levels across the board and

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Seasonal work filled by people from outside the area

Transport Public transport within and between communities impacting on

accessibility

Emergency housing, safe houses and housing for teen parents needed

Low Income, Emergency and Safe Housing

Quality low cost housing for older people and low income families Alcohol and drug / addiction services needed

Mental health services and associated support services across all age groups

Health

Access to primary health services, including GPs, and after hours services

Family support and

counselling

Counselling and family support services are often over subscribed

Support for families who stay together (including men’s groups)

Refuge services and support – sometimes out of area (links to Housing & Rural Communities)

Family Violence

Anger management programmes (for young people too)

26 Some issues raised were unique to specific areas or communities of interest. These are summarised in the table below.

Unique Issues and Critical Gaps

Poor internet / cell phone access across the region but especially in rural communities

Rural

Communities

Locally based services needed – rural areas keep missing out Advocacy

Services

Assistance with benefits and negotiating the system

Clarity needed between Public Health Nurses services and school based health services

Health

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Alternative education or Kaupapa Maori education services Education

Homework programmes Sexual

Offending

Sexual violence prevention and sexual abuse counselling services over-subscribed and / or provided out of area

Early Childhood

Access to consistent, quality child care needed

27 Once again the first tier of exploration with communities and territorial authorities highlighted a lot of similarities across the region in terms of what people want for their communities. The main themes are summarised in the table below.

What People Want For Their Communities

Opportunities and support for greater levels of collaboration and sharing of resources, provision of integrated services

Collaboration and Hubs

Cross-sectoral service and / or information hubs

A long term (10 year) strategic funding framework / transparency / seamless contracting / longer term, cross-government contracts / robust accountability / reporting on outcomes

Funding Hubs – exploring the feasibility of developing a solution for the district to set up an entity that applies for government funding for the whole territorial authority

Funding levels recognise rural and demographic costs Long term

Strategic Funding and Services Planning

Quality services supported to have adequate capacity and quality staff

Quality childcare and access to regular oral health services / support Earlier access to mental health and drug and alcohol services / support

Early

Intervention

Parenting support (including parenting programmes for men by men) Connected

Older People

Better regulation of and / or access to services and recreation – want older people to be a valued part of the community, not isolated and lonely

Well Supported Young People

Resourcing and integrated service provision to keep children / young people in school and well transitioned beyond school

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Valued Volunteers

Well supported and valued volunteers whose goodwill is not exploited

People / neighbours know each other and aren’t afraid to offer support

Strong agency and community networks that foster good healthy relationships

Connected, Friendly Communities

Diversity of service and agency types – have efficient, integrated support systems without losing uniqueness

What Is Working Well

28 A number of broad themes have emerged about what works well now in communities throughout the region. These are unsubstantiated at this stage and will be explored and tested in greater depth in the next, second phase of engagement, starting within the Horowhenua. The stand-out successes identified so far include (but are not limited to):

 Life To The Max and Youth Service Networks

 Hubs where social services are co-located and work together well  The Health Shuttles to Palmerston North

 Existing collaborative projects and processes (eg Strengthening Families, Family Violence Networks, Police and Schools in Levin)

5B

Preliminary Conclusions

29 The Forum has completed the first broad-brush level of enquiry with the communities within our region. We are not yet in a position to make recommendations to the Minister for change. Rather, this Report provides an overarching summary of what has been achieved to date, and our plan through until December 2012 and some preliminary conclusions noted below, that will be explored fully in the next level of engagement on a per territorial authority / area basis.

30 Following on from the previous point the Forum is unable to provide recommendations for use of the Quality Services and Innovation (QS&I) Fund. It is expected that the second tier of engagement will stimulate exciting conversations and collaborations that will be suited to the type of support the Forum can provide through recommendations to the Minister on the best use of this fund.

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31 Develop hubs (service / information) for health and social services to enable better linkages between services and improved accessibility of services. Create a model that encourages and develops shared back-office systems (ie shared IT systems, strategic planning across sectors / services, shared training, H.R, Audit) where appropriate and feasible.

32 First tier discussions have identified that service / information hubs are expected to address issues around barriers to collaboration including inter-sectoral collaboration, boost diversity of ‘resident’ services, address service duplication and fix gaps. The hub model could be based on expanding some existing facilities (eg Early Years Hub, Heartlands) or services that have been identified (but as yet unsubstantiated) as working well (eg. Life To The Max, Youth One Stop Shop). Exploring initiatives in other sectors (eg Integrated Family Health Centres) will be an important step in the second level of engagement.

33 Exploring the feasibility of developing a local entity for the territorial authority that takes responsibility for funding relationships with government agencies (developing over time, a streamlined, integrated contracting for outcomes model) that local organisations can apply to, for funding. This will help facilitate a local regional strategic funding and service planning model.

6B

Future Planning – Timeline for Engagement

34 The Forum has developed an engagement plan for the Palmerston North / Horowhenua / Manawatu / Tararua CRM through until December 2012. The timeframe allows us time to develop a balanced and in-depth view for each territorial authority. The second phase of engagement will identify critical issues and what is required to improve services and support systems. This will include identifying organisations that are already, or are proposing to work in innovative ways to better support families in their respective communities.

35 In-depth analysis of each are will include asking and answering questions such as:  What does a good support system look like

 What is working well now, and what is not  What needs to change

 What are the best innovative ideas we can support going forward  Identifying opportunities to utilise the QS&I Fund to support innovation

36 The Timeline for Engagement is set out below, showing when each in-depth community engagement will be completed:

 Horowhenua – June 2011 (underway)  Tararua – December 2011

 Palmerston North – June 2012  Manawatu – December 2012

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Forum Signatories

37 This Report has been developed and agreed by the Palmerston North / Manawatu / Horowhenua / Tararua Forum Members. It is being signed by Community Member and Co-chairperson, Maureen Reynolds on behalf of the Forum.

Maureen Reynolds

Forum Co-chairperson and Community Member

Signing on behalf of the Palmerston North / Horowhenua / Manawatu / Tararua Community Response Model Forum

30 March 2011

Barbara Robson Community Member Mike Haddon

Community Member

Jane Hopkinson (Outgoing Chairperson) Family & Community Services

Tony Moore (Incoming Chairperson) Family & Community Services Rhonda Taylor

Child Youth and Family

Sam Bishara Te Puni KöKiri

Palmerston North / Manawatu / Horowhenua / Tararua Community Response Forum