The programme
In 1999 the New Zealand government allocated funding for caregiver training. The training was to be cross-sector (ie, all agencies and individuals caring for other people’s children). The programme was established in a partnership between the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services, and the New Zealand Family and Foster Care Federation.
The programme delivers nine two-day packages to groups throughout the country.
Government specified the programme’s outcomes for caregivers as:
- enhanced skills
- enhanced morale and task satisfaction
- improved recruitment and retention
- reduced placement breakdown.
For children and young people, these should lead to:
- enhanced quality of care, and
- enhanced future life chances.
Course delivery promotes the development of caregiver networks to provide support, particularly for those who are not associated with any agency. An underlying theme is the cooperation between the caregiver family and the child’s own family into an extended whanau that recognises the consequences for all concerned when children are placed in alternative care.
Programme partners
The Department of Child, Youth and Family Services
Child, Youth and Family is the New Zealand government agency that has legal powers to intervene to protect and help children who are being abused or neglected or who have problem behaviour. |
New Zealand Family and Foster Care Federation The New Zealand Family and Foster Care Federation works towards constantly improving the situation for all foster/kin/whanau/carers and children through providing advocacy, information, support and training. |
