With West Auckland burdened with one of the country’s highest rates of notification to Child Youth and Family around care and protection concerns, a child welfare trust has launched an initiative to help stem the tide.
 

Youthlink Family Trust’s community family pilot project provides intensive assistance to young people in crisis, based in their community. West Auckland was chosen because of support from the local Child, Youth and Family office and the fact that there are many families who could benefit from intensive family therapy work.
Youthlink CEO Alan Newman says its expertise is in structural family therapy and community building to transform divisions within the family and co-ordinate the influences affecting the young person's life.
Participants are 11-16-year-olds with anti-social behaviour and significant emotional and behavioural problems. They may have been subject to a history of domestic violence, difficulties at school and may already be in trouble with the law.
The therapy project adds to Youthlink’s primary residential, educational and therapeutic programme at Tuakau. This provides a national residential and educational service for at-risk children and young people referred by CY&F.
The children come from around the country when their behaviour problems or safety concerns have exhausted local placement options.
“On a scale of 1-10, with 10 equating to custodial placement in an institution, we are dealing with young people at the 7-8 level of difficulty.” Alan says. “These are children whose behaviour is somewhat out of control. Their home environment is likely to be dysfunctional with drug addiction, alcoholism or mental health issues. Often the children have suffered physical and sexual abuse, neglect and have been in multiple placements.”
They stay with the Youthlink programme for an average of nine months.
“We look to measure progress, for example the level of violence and bad behaviour, and we can assess, in conjunction with family and CY&F, when they are ready to move on.”
The programme includes regular visits home, so the extended family can see the improvements, family can be engaged in the changes being sought and the children can maintain links to their own community.
“It’s not good having them here for nine months and then popping them back where they came from,” Alan says. “It won’t work unless there has been the opportunity to meaningfully engage family in the outcomes being sought.”
http://www.youthlink.org.nz

  • In December 2006 ASB Community Trust granted Youthlink $30,000 toward running costs at its family therapy service for West Auckland.