Rotorua youth orgs to get $500,000 as part of $7.4m Govt Covid-19 response package

Youth Minister Priyanca Radhakrisnan with students from Western Heights High School on Wednesday. Photo / Andrew Warner

A community youth organisation in Rotorua will receive more than half a million dollars to deliver a service aimed at empowering and re-engaging young people no longer in school.

The funding is a slice of a $7.4 million Government package aimed at helping young people affected by Covid-19 to engage or re-engage in education and is divided among almost a dozen organisations nationwide.

It's expected about 4000 young New Zealanders will benefit from the funding, an extension to the Ākonga Youth Development Community Fund set up in November last year.

However, the National Party says the Government is "very good at making announcements and allocating money" but has failed to actually get results.

At the announcement at the Rotorua Community Youth Centre on Wednesday morning, Youth Minister Priyanca Radhakrishnan said rangatahi (young people) faced many difficulties as a result of the pandemic.

"This has been particularly evident in young people's education, where alert level changes and associated school closures have presented learning challenges for ākonga and their whānau.

"This fund represents a great opportunity for iwi and community-based youth development organisations to work with ākonga [students] to support them to stay connected and committed to their education, while also being active members of their whānau and community."

According to the Ministry of Youth, the fund had a particular focus on rangatahi Māori, Pacific young people, rainbow young people and disabled young people.

The fund sought tenders from community-based programmes that used a "strength-based youth development approach, providing holistic support to ākonga" that also worked with young people's whānau and the wider community, including education providers.

The results of an open tender would see 23 organisations across Aotearoa New Zealand receive the more than $7.4m.

They will be delivered outside of traditional education settings such as schools and kura and support ākonga/learners aged 12 to 21 years with wraparound services, from comprehensive mentoring and career navigation, to mental health and wellbeing assistance.

Initial funding last year of $2.6m went to five organisations, bringing the total after Wednesday's announcement to $10m.

Radhakrishnan's office said this meant the total number of youth assisted by the funding was about 5500.

The groups included the Graeme Dingle Foundation and the Salvation Army, as well as Rotorua's Te Waiariki Purea Trust.

The trust will work in collaboration with the Rotorua Community Youth Trust, Te Papa Takaro o Te Arawa and government agencies to deliver Te Hiringa.

Rotorua Community Youth Trust chief executive officer Jennifer Murray said Te Hiringa was aimed at helping people as young as 15 who were no longer in school to identify their aspirations and empower them to pursue them.

"When kids push themselves to do something they haven't done before, they see themselves in a different light."

She said the programme would begin with 10 rangatahi in the first intake, and would go for 10 weeks intensively.

Support would continue for another six months after that. It's expected to deliver 70 graduates.

Workshops would include barista training, radio training, cooking, film and music, as well as emotional resilience, mental health and employability.

She said the funding meant the organisations could work together and work more effectively, with longer contact with the young people.

Te Waiariki Purea pautahia (manager) Nick Chater said the longer organisations had contact with young people the more effective programmes were.

He said the approach was different to the traditional education system, which had not been effective for some people.

"We're not teachers. We're kaiako, or whāea, or mātua."

Te Papa Takaro o Te Arawa representative Paora Te Hurihanganui said his organisation's work was based on research from Canada that looked 20 years ahead and helped people plan the course to their aspirations.

Those in his programme would either self-refer or be referred by organisations like Whānau Ora or GPs.

At the announcement Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick said outcomes for youth was something that "worries us terribly" and said she was excited the announcement was made in Rotorua.

"We do deliver in Rotorua because we care."

Lakes District Health Board system integration manager Kathy Rex said the health of the population wouldn't improve unless "wider determinants" were addressed.

She said the DHB's goals included improving equity and it was "wholly supportive" of the work at the centre.

"We look forward to 70 graduates being strong members of the community."

National Party youth spokesman Simeon Brown. Photo / Supplied

On Wednesday afternoon, National Party youth spokesman Simeon Brown told Local Democracy Reporting the Government had "good intentions" but failed to deliver.

"The reality is that the Government has been very good at making announcements and allocating money towards programmes but has failed to actually get results.

"For example the $50m the Government has spent on the Māori Trades and Training fund has so far only got four people into jobs.

"Announcements and funding mean nothing if we don't see the results.

"Young people have been particularly affected by the impact of Covid-19 with support for young people to retain in employment and education being critical to their future during uncertain times.

"The Government needs to ensure this funding delivers the results which are promised for our young people."

Green Party spokesperson for youth Chlӧe Swarbrick was not available to comment.