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Social Development Minister Paula Bennett today launched the Social Media Innovations Fund with five projects to focus on improving youth mental health.

The Social Media Innovations Fund supports organisations to relate to young people through innovative projects, so they build resilience and get help when they need it.

“These projects will use social media in a smart, savvy way, encouraging young people to reach out and share their worries and concerns and stay connected to those who can help,” says Mrs Bennett.

With a focus on helping people off welfare and into work, benefit numbers have remained below predictions despite the economic conditions.

The number of people on the Unemployment Benefit was predicted to rise to 90,000 as a result of the recession, but peaked at 68,369 in January 2010.

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says Work and Income, backed by the Government has maintained a strong focus on jobs.

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

Thank you Prime Minister for your introduction, and thank you also to Peter Clare and Westpac for hosting this event.

It’s great to see you all here, especially those from the Phobic Trust, Youthline, and ZEAL, whose innovative social media projects I’ll be talking about tonight.

It’s also great to see people here from organisations working with young people day in, day out. Thank you for coming.

I’m excited by the Social Media Innovations Fund.

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says policy changes introduced through staged welfare reforms are seeing real gains for New Zealanders.

Future Focus, implemented in 2010 as a pre-cursor to major reforms introduced clear obligations and greater fairness to the benefits system.

Future Focus changes include requiring:

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett has taken Ministerial leadership of the sexual violence sector which currently sits across several portfolios.

It’s an important step reflecting the importance of the work sexual violence service providers do and the difficulties they face.

“The sector has struggled and I think a big part of the problem is that they don’t have a single Minister to look to for leadership, so I’m prepared to take on that responsibility,” says Mrs Bennett

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett leaves for Washington DC today where she is the keynote speaker at a home visiting conference next week.

“It’s a real privilege to be asked to talk about the New Zealand experience with home visiting programmes like Family Start,” says Mrs Bennett.

Family Start is New Zealand’s most intensive and expensive home visiting programme designed to help at-risk children and families.

“It’s vital we get this service right for our most vulnerable children.”

More than 8150 people went off welfare into jobs in Work and Income’s Southern region over the last year.

The Southern Region includes South Canterbury, Central Otago, Otago and Southland.

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says the number of people on Unemployment Benefits in the Southern region dropped by 18 percent over 2012, down to 4,086.

“The Southern region has continued to show resilience in the face of a difficult job market nationwide,” says Mrs Bennett.

More than 6450 people went off welfare into work in Waikato last year.

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says the number of people on Unemployment Benefits in the region dropped 3.5 percent to 3699 in 2012.

“The job market has been patchy since the global recession, but Work and Income staff have worked hard to get people into jobs.”

The Future Build Programme run in partnership with Wintec, the Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation and local employers, helped 19 Waikato beneficiaries into jobs.

More than 4800 people went off welfare to take up jobs in Work and Income’s Central region over the last year.

The Central Region covers Kapiti, Horowhenua, Wairarapa, Tararua and the Manawatu.

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says the number of people on Unemployment Benefits in the region dropped by 7.8 percent over the year in 2012, down to 3,765.

The Crown today signed a Social Development Accord with Te Hiku o Te Ika as part of the iwi Treaty Settlement.

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says this Accord commits the Crown and government agencies to work with Te Hiku to improve social outcomes for the iwi hapū and whanau.

The Ministry of Social Development is the responsible agency for implementing the Accord which was signed by Prime Minister John Key.

“Ten Government agencies will be working alongside Te Hiku to determine what intervention is needed before doing the work together.”

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett has acknowledged Carl Davidson’s contribution to families as Chief Families Commissioner.

Carl Davidson steps down from the position he has held since August 2010 to focus on his own family and work in Christchurch.

Mrs Bennett says Carl Davidson has done an outstanding job as Chief Families Commissioner, bringing a level of professionalism to the organisation and elevating its role publicly.

“I thank him for his valuable contribution and wish him well in the future.”

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett is delighted young people have given the go-ahead for 49 youth programmes around the country.

“I decided young people themselves should consider applications for programmes aimed at their peers and recommend which should receive funding.”

“The panels of young people have made really good decisions to support initiatives to develop leadership skills and community engagement.”

A further 80 schools will be covered by the expansion of Social Workers in Schools (SWiS) when students return to classrooms from this week.

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett announced the expansion of SWiS to all decile 1-3 schools last year, with coverage planned to increase from 285 to 673 schools.

There will be 35 new full time social workers starting the 2013 school year at primary schools in Kaipara, Greater Auckland and the South Island.

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says while Labour rehashes its own underwhelming policies from last year, the Government continues to make a real difference.

“Labour is a bit late with its scheme to effectively pay the Unemployment Benefit to employers to take on beneficiaries, when the National Government has been helping beneficiaries into work through job subsidies for years.”

The new flexible, business-focused Job Streams was announced last June and prior to that there was Job Opportunities and Community Max.

Youth Affairs Minister Paula Bennett congratulates the 100 young people accepted onto the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme which is running this week.

The number of people on benefits in New Zealand is the lowest it’s been at the end of a December quarter since 2008.

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says the number of people on benefits decreased by nearly 12,000 in the last twelve months.

“But with 339,095 people on benefit in New Zealand, there is much more work to do.”

“We are very much in a transitional phase with the first stage of Welfare Reform currently being implemented and the second stage yet to begin,” says Mrs Bennett.

Children in care are benefiting from a life-changing government initiative to ensure health, mental health and educational needs are addressed.

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says the $43.7 million Children in Care package has been well justified.

Children come into State care because they have been seriously abused or neglected and their life experiences often include exposure to domestic violence, drug abuse, gang culture and criminal behaviour.

The Government has received the Children’s Commissioner’s Expert Advisory Group’s report “Solutions to Child Poverty”, and will consider its 78 recommendations, Finance Minister Bill English and Social Development Minister Paula Bennett say.

“The Government acknowledges that many families are finding times challenging, and I thank the group for its report, which feeds into a great deal of work that is already underway,” Mr English says.

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett today announced the launch of a new contestable fund to improve youth mental health information for parents, families and friends.

“We need better information for those closest to young people, who’re often the first to notice signs of mental health problems but don’t always know when to be concerned and what to do,” says Mrs Bennett.

Minister for Social Development Paula Bennett today met with Auckland Sexual Abuse Helpline (ASAH) and agreed to an interim funding arrangement with contributions from Health, Social Development and Police.

“I met with ASAH today, I’ve heard their concerns and the Government is prepared to step in to keep the service running without interruption,” says Social Development Minister Paula Bennett.

They have also committed to a sustainable three year contract with negotiations to be finalised in April 2013.

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett is delighted to announce that former Governor General the Rt Hon Sir Anand Satyanand will lead the Expert Advisory Group on Information Security.

The Group will oversee implementation of the Vulnerable Kids Information System (ViKi) and new Risk Predictor Tool which have the capacity to better protect children from abuse and neglect.

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett today announced two new appointments to the Families Commission.

Sir Peter Gluckman and Belinda Milnes have been appointed to the Board of the Families Commission for a period of three years.

The Families Commission is currently undergoing a restructure to assume its new role providing independent monitoring, evaluation and research.

“We’ve appointed the best people for the job to oversee a major change programme within the Families Commission,” says Mrs Bennett.

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett has announced the second Vulnerable Children’s Team will be rolled out in Whangarei.

“Children who are at risk of abuse or neglect need professionals who bring their expertise to the table and work in a coordinated manner putting the child at the centre of all decision making.”

“Professionals from a range of disciplines can act before children suffer serious abuse and prevent the worst from happening,” says Mrs Bennett.

Foster Care Awareness Week begins with excellence awards for foster carers today, culminating with the William Wallace Awards on Friday.