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Social Development Minister Anne Tolley says that the Nitbusters programme, which provides free head lice treatment to families in low decile schools, is to continue in 2016.

Funding of $1.1 million is being provided to KidsCan to deliver the programme to 111 schools and 24,000 children.

“As a mother and grandmother I know all families will be aware that nits can quickly infest a household and can be an expensive nuisance to eradicate,” says Mrs Tolley.

Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Steven Joyce and Minister for Social Development Anne Tolley have welcomed the launch of the Canterbury Farm Capability Society Group Employment and Training Scheme for farm workers.

“The scheme is a collaboration between Government and industry to address the skills shortages in dairy farming and increase employment opportunities for New Zealanders,” says Mr Joyce. 

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley has congratulated 24 young people in care who have been acknowledged in the ninth annual William Wallace Awards in Wellington.

“I wholeheartedly congratulate today’s winners – they are achieving well in their chosen field and have overcome many challenges to do so,” Mrs Tolley says.

The William Wallace Awards recognise outstanding young people in care and provide scholarships of up to $4,000 to help them pursue tertiary study, vocational training or leadership development.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley says the legislation enabling the first rise in benefit rates in 43 years has passed its final reading in Parliament.

The Support for Children in Hardship Bill, announced as part of Budget 2015 will increase work obligations for Sole Parents, increase benefit and student allowance rates for those with children, increase Working for Families tax credits for low income families and increase Childcare Assistance.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley says Child, Youth and Family is improving its operations and partnerships with other agencies following a review by the Chief Social Worker into CYF’s involvement in the “Roastbusters” case.

The Minister asked for the review to ensure that lessons were learned from CYF’s response to the allegations from the young people involved, and that any necessary changes to the agency’s operations would be implemented.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley has launched the country’s ninth Children’s Team in Canterbury, which will work with around 1,300 vulnerable children in its first two years.

The team will ensure that at-risk children have an individually tailored support plan to address their multiple and complex unmet needs, and will work with families and agencies to implement it.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley says the successful 3K to Christchurch employment initiative has now been expanded to other regions to assist job seekers to relocate for full-time employment.

Since the $3,000 incentive payment was introduced under 3K to Christchurch in July 2014, more than 1,700 clients have taken advantage of the scheme. 92 per cent of those remained off a benefit for longer than 91 days, 33 per cent were aged 24 or younger, with 53 per cent employed in the construction sector.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley says that an amendment Bill introduced into Parliament under urgency clarifies Work and Income’s benefit stand down periods in line with how the policy was intended to work.

It has always been Government policy that a benefit will commence the day after a stand down period ends, for example after a seven day stand down benefit commences on day eight, and this has always been operational practice for Work and Income.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley has officially launched the Whanganui Children’s Team, which will support 400 vulnerable children from Whanganui, Waiouru, Taihape and Bulls in the first two years.

Children’s Teams ensure that children with multiple and complex needs have a single point of contact and an individually-tailored and co-ordinated support plan, with agencies working together to provide the best outcomes for kids, so they don’t need state intervention.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley has announced that $500,000 in extra funding is being made available to assist Whanganui and South Taranaki with the continuing clean-up operation following severe flooding in June.

In response to the flooding, the Minister activated Enhanced Task Force Green (ETFG), a temporary employment programme which has seen local beneficiaries employed to assist with the clean-up and repair of local infrastructure.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley says the Support for Children in Hardship Bill has passed its second reading in Parliament.

“This Bill raises benefit rates for the first time in 43 years, while continuing to balance increased support with increased expectations and obligations,” Mrs Tolley says.

The Bill supports the Government’s Budget 2015 Child Hardship package which:

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley says an additional 40,000 places for work focused case management are being made available for beneficiaries this year, following a funding boost of $8.5 million in Budget 2015.

The number of clients who will be able to receive intensive support from Work and Income will increase from 80,000 to 120,000, with the additional places focused on sole parents and jobseekers with health conditions and disabilities, who want to work but need extra advice and guidance. 

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley has today officially launched the Eastern Bay of Plenty Children’s Team in Whakatane, the seventh to be rolled out across the country.

The new team will ensure that children with multiple and complex needs have a single point of contact and an individually-tailored and co-ordinated support plan, with agencies working together to provide the best outcomes for kids, so they don’t need state intervention.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley has welcomed the announcement that the Bank of New Zealand is to increase its support for the Community Finance initiative, which provides interest free and low interest loans to New Zealanders on low incomes.

The Ministry of Social Development partnered with BNZ, Good Shepherd NZ and the Salvation Army last year to develop the new pilot programme in South and West Auckland, which offers affordable and sustainable credit to individuals and families who have the ability to repay, alongside budgeting advice.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley has spoken to teen parents and service providers about government initiatives at an event promoting youth participation in education.

The aim of the Supporting Teen Parents Hui, organised by MSD and held in Wellington, is for providers to share practice innovation and understand the potential of teen parents and their children.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley says the latest benefit numbers across all main benefit groups are down on the same period last year and are the lowest September quarter since 2008.

“At the end of the quarter there were 287,167 people on a main benefit, a drop of 7,154, or 2.4 per cent, compared to last year,” Mrs Tolley says.

The largest drop compared to last year was for those receiving Sole Parent Support, which fell 4,700 or 6.5 per cent.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley has today officially launched the Tairawhiti Children’s team in Gisborne, which will provide support for an estimated 430 at-risk children and their families over the next two years.

The Tairawhiti Children’s team, which is the sixth of ten teams to be rolled out across the country, will ensure that children with multiple and complex needs have access to the right services at the right time.

E nga mana, e nga reo, e te iwi o te motu, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa

I’d like to acknowledge your Chief Executive, Linda Surtees, my parliamentary colleague and your MC, Ron Mark, all of the foster carers, social workers, NGO representatives and CYF and MSD staff here today.

Good morning everyone and thank you for the invitation to speak with you and to officially open your conference. 

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley has released an interim report from an independent expert panel which shows that the Child, Youth and Family system is not delivering effectively for vulnerable children and young people, and that transformational change is required at the agency.

The expert panel has started work on a multi-year future operating model for the agency which addresses the findings in the report by prioritising the needs of children. This includes developing proposals for a new advocacy service to represent the voices of vulnerable children and young people.

A Bill which will enable the establishment of New Zealand’s first child sex offender register has passed its first reading in Parliament says Social Development Minister Anne Tolley.

Under the Child Protection (Child Sex Offender Register) Bill, Police and Corrections will be able to better identify and manage child sex offenders in the community.

Registered child sex offenders will be required to provide a range of up-to-date personal information, which will allow Police and Corrections to assess, monitor and manage any risks to public safety.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley says nearly 600 studying sole parents are accessing higher accommodation support following changes on 1 July.

Sole parents who take up full time study are now eligible to receive the same rate of accommodation support they would on a main benefit. The new rate applies once students apply for their next period of study.

“598 applications have been approved in the first two months and the majority of these students are now receiving between $60 and $225 per week, depending on their circumstances,” Mrs Tolley says.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley has officially launched the Hamilton Children’s Team, the fifth of ten approved Teams to be rolled out across the country.

Children’s Teams ensure that at-risk children have an individually-tailored support plan and single point of contact to work alongside the child and their family and other social services, as well as health and education agencies.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley says the State of Care report from the Children’s Commissioner provides a valuable resource for the independent expert panel leading a radical overhaul of Child, Youth and Family.

“I welcome the release of this report, which makes for grim reading for those involved in child protection, and have met with the Commissioner to discuss his findings,” says Mrs Tolley.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley says the South Dunedin Social Sector Trial is showing positive results helping young people off benefits and into employment and training.

“The latest figures from Dunedin show the Work and Income Youth Link team has helped 210 young people, aged 18-24, off a benefit between March 2015 and the end of July, with 170 going into employment and 40 into study,” Mrs Tolley says.