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April-May, 2016

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Content

3 Editor’s message

5 Young people to have voice in new CYF set up

6 Government agrees to overhaul sexual violence support services at budget

8 Healthy babies for healthy futures

9 Childhood obesity 'an exploding nightmare'

10 Government loses major House of Lords vote to redefine child poverty

11 11,000 disabled children lose welfare benefit

13 Getting in the Inzone: tackling Auckland's grammar zones

15 Dr Ranginui Walker: Devoted to the truth

16 Flood of prisoners expected to cost more than $500m in next five years

17 Pillars opens new Manukau hub

21 Substance abuse laws look set for radical overhaul

21 Health and Safety at Work Act Presentation

22 Shortage Of Addiction Counsellors Further Strained By Opioid Epidemic

23 Health agencies offer support to teen dads through art

24 Being a Family Planning nurse

29 Why sleep could be the key to tackling mental illness

31 Sleepbus: shelters for homeless people

32 Clean streets: the mobile laundry service helping Australia's homeless

34 Homelessness 'a national problem'

35 Neuroscientist explains why crafting is great for Mental Health

36 Snippets

Front page photo provided by Ngapuhi Photography Thanks to Miriama (front) Kimiora (rear) Rautao, and their whānau for allowing us to use this image

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Editor’s message For those with excellent observation skills, you may have noticed that this edition covers April—May. This is a change from the usual 3 month

timeframe. With so much information to share, The Thread will now come to you every two months! I encourage all agencies and groups to be a part of the editions. It’s your work that we all want to hear about, and your perspective on health, social and education issues. With a reach throughout New Zealand (and overseas), the readership is waiting to know more about your mahi! Similarly, if you have any workshops or conferences coming up, please send through a pdf advert. It’s all for free so why wouldn’t you? Now on to the topics of the day. There are some BIG changes afoot. Anne Tolley’s announcement regarding Child, Youth & Family has promised a lot: "A new system will be in place by the end of March 2017

which will have high aspirations for all children and address their short and long-term wellbeing and support

their transition into adulthood.

"It will focus on five core services - prevention, intensive intervention, care support services, transition support

and a youth justice service aimed at preventing offending and reoffending."

Source

The overhaul may bring positive change but how will the workers be supported in their duties? Will it differ from what has been offered in the past? Changing just one aspect of a system won’t necessarily provide a complete turnaround. CYF isn’t the only area of Social Services that will change. We are heading into that tumultuous time of contract renewal - or contract termination (fondly put by Murray Edridge at a recent Hui, as “exiting”). I wish you well during this stressful season and hope that your reporting is robust, your feedback positive and your future bright!

Charlie Saunders

Youth Week, 21-29 May 2016 celebrates Aroha Atu, Aroha Mai - Giving Back is Giving Forward. This year's theme is all about giving: acknowledging the contributions young people make and the role

older people and organisations have in supporting young people to thrive.

Want to get involved? Get your young people engaged in Ara Taiohi’s first ever Youth Week Spoken Word Poetry Competition! Open to anyone aged 12-24. Entries close midnight 15 April 2016.

Organise a Youth Week event to acknowledge the young people you work with. Promote your event here. Want some resources? Get in touch with Ara Taiohi for posters and more.

Ara Taiohi Youth Week is an annual nationwide series of activities organised by young New Zealanders and people working with young people to celebrate the talents, passion and successes of young people

and promote positive youth development.

Youth Week is organised by Ara Taiohi, the peak body for youth development. Find out more

Page 5

C hildren and young people in state care will be involved in governing a new independent advocacy

service aimed at giving them a voice. The new service, announced in early April, by Social Development Minister Anne Tolley, is being designed jointly by a youth advisory panel, the Government, the Tindall Foundation, Todd Foundation, Vodafone Foundation and Foundation North (formerly the ASB Trust). Tindall Foundation manager John McCarthy said the four philanthropic foundations started planning an independent advocacy service before the Government set up the review panel led by Dame Paula Rebstock last year, but decided to work jointly with the panel when it was set up. "Government has said it will core-fund the new service, and the philanthropics are open to whatever else might be required to support the service," he said. "We have co-funded the business case that the review panel's interim report recommended last September, and we are co-funding the development of the

implementation plan." Tupua Urlich, a 20-year-old who was in state care from age 5 to 16 and served on the review panel's youth advisory panel, said the main goal of the new service would be to give a voice to children and young people in care. "I see it as being a really powerful voice in terms of the implementation [of the child protection reforms], and making sure things are going as they are supposed to be," he said. Mr McCarthy said young people in care would be on the governing board. "My expectation would be that it would have a board that would have a strong representation of young people on it, and young people with an experience of being in care," he said. "It may have other people on that board with experience of government and financial manage-ment, as you would expect." Tracie Shipton of the Dingwall Trust, which set up a network of children in care in 2010, said Dingwall was supporting young people involved in designing the new service, but would

not have an ongoing involvement in running it. "When it happens, it will stand on its own feet. It can't be part of another agency," she said. Mr McCarthy said its "first function" would be to connect children and young people in care with one another so that they could share their experiences and support one another. A recently published Cabinet paper says the new service will advocate both for individual children and "at a systems level", while the Children's Commissioner would still have a role focusing on "well-being for all children and the monitoring of care services". The paper does not provide any costings for the new service and Mr McCarthy said a financial plan was "still in design". An implementation plan is due to go to the Government on April 30.The Cabinet papers are online at http://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/work-programmes/investing-in-children/index.html Source

Young people to have voice in new CYF set up

Page 6

T he Government has agreed to boost the funding it gives to specialist sexual violence services. On 31st March it

released its response to the recommendations of the Social Services Select Committee, following an inquiry into sexual violence services sparked by Green Party women's spokesperson Jan Logie. It accepted all 32 recommendations to develop a coherent plan of response to sexual violence complaints. Among those was the need for a national network of coordinated sexual violence social services to be developed, and significantly more funding to be invested. But how much funding it was prepared to give would not be made public until the budget. In the response, which was tabled in Parliament today, the Government said it "welcomed the committee's report". It recognised the need to set up and maintain a

"minimum level" of specialist sexual violence services throughout the country. Logie said it was an "enormous win" for victims of sexual violence. "It is a huge relief that the inquiry I initiated, with the help of the committee chairman Alfred Ngaro, will see real change in sexual violence services for victim survivors." But it was a "wait and see" scenario to discover what was delivered in the budget. "I look forward to a substantial budget increase in this year's Budget, and for the Government to collaborate with the sector to deliver a new model. "While indications are good overall for the sector, the Government qualified their support for three important recommendations: accessible services, remuneration for staff, and strengthening existing kaupapa Māori services. I will be continuing to advocate for these crucial outcomes," she said.

Over the past few years, services like Rape Crisis and Women's Refuge had been forced to cut hours and reduce services because funding had been cut or not increased to meet demand. The inquiry received nearly 1000 submissions and more than 100 people were heard by the committee over two months last year. In 2014, the Government dedicated $10m over two years for services for sexual violence victims. The Ministerial Group on Family Violence and Sexual Violence was set up later that year, led by Justice Minister Amy Adams and Social Development Minister Anne Tolley. The group has already initiated a number of reforms within the courts and legal system. That includes a full legislative review, and inquiries into establishing a stand-alone set of family violence offences. Tolley was overseeing a major overhaul of Child, Youth and Family as well as pushing a bill to establish a child sex-offender register through Parliament. Source

Government agrees to overhaul sexual violence support services at budget

Page 8

E poki Fo’ou Gounder admits she was a “junk food” junkie who never gave much thought to what she

ate. When she gave birth to Zephaniah she knew that had to change. “I lived on snacks and chocolate bars and never really watched or cared about what I ate,” recalls Epoki, whose family is from Ha’apai in Tonga. Bringing a child into the world and finding out about the Healthy Babies Healthy Futures Pacific Programme coordinated by The Fono, where she is a patient, made her realise how much she should care. Epoki started by gradually substituting soft drinks for water.

“I never liked water, but I started drinking it because the body needs it and I found out how much sugar is in soft drinks.” Then came her appreciation for vegetables. Epoki admits she only thought of vegetables in their raw form and “would never go near them”. But learning how to prepare and cook them while retaining their nutrition and goodness at the classes has changed her eating habits for good. “When I ate things like chocolate bars, I’d get an energy buzz, but that wouldn’t last long. It’s different when I eat fruit and I don’t get so hungry,” she says.

“I’m even teaching my parents how to eat better. I wouldn’t have even tried to do that if I hadn’t been part of these classes.” The Best Start in Life Salota Pou thought buying babies formula milk was the best option when she was pregnant. But after attending Healthy Babies Health Futures classes run by The Fono, she

soon discovered otherwise. “I learnt that all the goodness a newborn baby needs is in the mother’s milk,” says the young mother to Deasheigh. “Even better, it’s always at the right temperature, not too hot and not too cold … and it doesn’t cost anything.” Salota, who is originally from Lefaga, Samoa, is also making meals at home more often, with vegetables now a staple part of their diet. “We still like corned beef, but I drain the oil from it and use a lot more vegetables like carrots, cabbage and potatoes. I now know that it’s bad if you keep using the same cooking oil over and over again.” To satisfy her sweet tooth, Salota is also eating apples instead of soft drinks and snack bars, knowing they are rich in vitamin C, low in calories and contain enough fibre that helps satisfy the hunger pains. While Salota originally joined The Fono’s Healthy Babies Health Futures Pacific programme for the benefit of her newborn baby, she’s pleasantly surprised that she has benefitted, too. Source

Healthy babies for healthy futures

Page 9

T he number of children un-der five who are overweight or obese has risen to 41 million, from 31 million in

1990, according to figures released by a World Health Organisation commission. The statistics, published by the Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity, mean that 6.1% of under-fives were overweight or obese in 2014, compared with 4.8% in 1990. The number of overweight children in lower middle-income countries more than doubled over the same period, from 7.5 million to 15.5 million. In 2014, 48% of all overweight and obese children aged under five lived in Asia, and 25% in Africa. The expert panel, commissioned by the WHO, said progress in tackling the problem had been “slow and inconsistent” and called for increased political commitment, saying there was a “moral responsi-bility” to act on behalf of children. Peter Gluckman, a co-chair of the commission, said childhood obesity had become “an exploding nightmare” in the developing world. He added: “It’s not the kids’ fault. You can’t blame a two-year-old child

for being fat and lazy and eating too much.” The report’s authors said that addressing the problem must start before the child is conceived and continue into pregnancy, through to infancy, childhood and adolescence. They pointed out that where a moth-er entering pregnancy is obese or has diabetes, the child is predisposed “to increased fat deposits associated with metabolic disease and obesity”. Many children are growing up in environments encouraging weight gain and obesity, they observed. “The behavioural and biological responses of a child to the obesogenic environment can be shaped by processes even before birth, placing an even greater number of children on the pathway to becoming obese when faced with an unhealthy diet and low physical activity,” they said. The commission threw its weight behind a sugary drinks tax, which has been implemented in Mexico and proposed by a number of experts elsewhere. But it said there was no single measure that could halt the growing epidemic. It also proposed restricted the marketing of unhealthy food and drink and a standardised global nutrient

labelling system that would be simple and understandable to all. The experts called for schools to promote health and nutrition literacy and physical activity and said provision and sale of sugary drinks and unhealthy foods should be banned from the school environment. They also recommend-ed issuing guidance on appropriate sleep time, sedentary or screen time, and physical activity or active play for children aged between two and five. Gluckman said: “Increased political commitment is needed to tackle the global challenge of childhood overweight and obesity. The WHO needs to work with governments to implement a wide range of measures that address the environmental causes of obesity and overweight, and help to give children the healthy start to life they deserve.” The commission was established in 2014 and consulted with more than 100 WHO member states. It said obesity “has the potential to negate many of the health benefits that have contributed to increased life expectancy”. Source

Childhood obesity 'an exploding nightmare'

Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

Conference Aotearoa/New Zealand 2016

Later this year, Family Planning will be joining with the New Zealand Sexual Health Society and the Abortion

Providers Group Aotearoa New Zealand (APGANZ), to host the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

Conference Aotearoa New Zealand 2016. The conference theme is, ‘Improving access and advancing equity’

and will run from Thursday 10 November until Saturday 12 November at Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington.

The call for Abstracts is now open at www.familyplanning.org.nz/about/our-events/conference and will open shortly

at www.nzshs.org.nz or www.apganz.org.nz (APGANZ members only) for more details.

Page 10

T he Government has suffered a major defeat in the House of Lords over its plans to change the way

that child poverty is measured. Peers voted 290 to 192 in favour of an amendment to that will force the Government to publish annual figures on income-related child poverty. Ministers had wanted to scrap income-related measures and replace them with other indicators, including the numbers of children living in workless households. The plans were opposed by child poverty charities, and have been

challenged by the respected social mobility commis-sion, chaired by for-mer Labour minister Alan Milburn, which said last month that it was “not credible” to tackle child poverty without acknowledging “the most obvious symp-tom of poverty, lack of money”.

The Government’s reforms to the 2010 Child Poverty Act, which is to be renamed the Life Chances Act, passed in the House of Commons, but have now been derailed in the Lords, where the Government does not have a majority. Alison Garnham, chief executive of the Child Poverty Action Group, said that the Government was in “a mess” over the issue. “It’s needed the House of Lords to act and insist that, yes, the government should continue to report to parliament on what’s hap-pening to child poverty and, yes, that when you talk about poverty and life chances, you cannot simply ignore

income,” she said. “The Lords is on the side of the experts and the public here. “MPs now have a chance to demonstrate their commitment to tackling child poverty by holding on to the Lords amendment when the Bill comes back to them.” Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Owen Smith said it was “shameful” to attempt to remove income as a measure of child poverty. "It should be a national mission to ensure every child has a decent start in life and measuring relative wealth and narrowing the gap in incomes must be central to that task,” he said. A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: “These measures are the foundation of a new, comprehensive approach to child poverty and will drive effective Government action. Today’s vote in the House of Lords is a routine part of the legislative process and next steps will be announced in due course.” Source

Government loses major House of Lords vote to redefine child poverty

Page 11

11,000 disabled children lose welfare benefit

A n 8-year-old Manurewa boy is one of 11,000 disabled children to lose a welfare benefit, even

though his asthma is so bad that he missed one in every four school days last year. More than 11,000 disabled children have lost access to a welfare benefit that is supposed to support them, as officials try to rein in previously-ballooning costs. A Child Poverty Action Group report on disabled children, launched in Auckland today, said children supported by the child disability allowance almost trebled from 17,600 in 1998 to 45,800 in 2009, but were then cut back to just 34,500 last June. The cut has been achieved both by tightening criteria and by simply not publicising the allowance. Zachtavian Reid - who has had severe asthma since birth - is one child whose family lost access to the benefit. His specialist at the Manukau super-clinic applied for the allowance for him when he was 2. It was stopped when he was 5 on the grounds that he no longer met the criteria of needing "attention and supervision substantially in excess of

that normally required by a child of the same age and gender". Instead, his mother Noelene Reid was awarded the princely sum of $1.30 a week as a disability allowance for Zach. The disability allowance is an income-tested payment of up to $61.38 a week to cover the actual medical and other costs of a disability. It can be paid in addition to the child disability allowance, which is a non-income-tested fixed amount of $46.25 a week to recognise the extra care and attention required for a disabled child. Zach's asthma has got better as he has got older. In his early years he often had to go to hospital, but last year he went only once. But he still needs two puffs a day on Ventolin, which costs $18 a month, and two adult doses of asthma preventer Serevent, at $5 a month. In winter, he gets wheezy two or three times a month. He then needs to take steroid medication Redipred, at $10 a month, and a daily tablet, Singulair, costing $96 a month. "He's supposed to take Singulair every day but I don't give it to him every day because I can't afford it," Ms Reid said.

Doctor's visits cost another $10 a visit about three times a month in winter. Ms Reid said the steroids Zach takes when he is wheezy makes him "hyper" and she is afraid to send him to school on those days after she found him with blood all over his face when he ran into a wall. "He takes probably a good 10 weeks off school a year," she said. For that reason Ms Reid can't get a job and survives on a sole parent benefit. She also receives a $60 a week disability allowance for her own asthma, which covers medical, heating and lawnmowing costs. Beneficiaries Advocacy and Information Service (BAIS) manager Karen Pattie said Zach's $1.30 disability allowance appeared to be an error based on the $61.38 maximum. She said parents and children were entitled to separate disability allowances of up to $61.38 each. What is the allowance? The allowance is unusual because it is not income-tested and pays a child's principal caregiver a flat amount, currently $46.25 a week, to recognise the "extra care and attention" that a disabled child needs. CCS Disability Action policy manager Sam Murray said the numbers on the allowance increased in the decade to 2009 because of growing recognition of conditions such as autism and dyslexia. The cost leapt from $28 million in 1997-98 to $102 million in 2009-10, and has been cut to $84 million this year. "So in 2007 they decided to review it," he said. "They only consulted the

Page 12

medical certificate, they introduced new guides for both doctors and case managers, and they required consultation with new regional health advisers. They said the level of care required is high." The new guide for doctors says, for example, that a 7-year-old with dyslexia can get the allowance if she is "unable to toilet, dress herself, play safely without supervision and doesn't recognise obstacles or dangers". But a 9-year-old dyslexic child who can take care of himself and avoid dangerous situations would not qualify. Wellington advocate Graham Howell said one family with an intellectually disabled son lost the allowance when the boy grew old enough to tie his own shoelaces. A child with eczema lost the allowance when he became able to apply his own ointment. "It's a very, very narrow definition of 'extra care and attention'," he said. Thames parent Jacqueline McGrath, whose son Cullen-lee was born with cerebral palsy and epilepsy, said she and her husband were shocked when another parent mentioned the child disability allowance when

Cullen-lee was in intensive care in hospital, aged 3. "We were just like, 'Disability what?'" she said. Auckland social worker Nicola Chapman said that despite her professional background she didn't hear about the allowance until two and a half years after her son Daniel was born with a severely disabling neuromuscular condition. Onehunga mother Emma-Rose Cottrell only found out about it last year when her son Jack was 8. His autism has been apparent since he was 3 or 4, Mrs Cottrell looks after him full-time and her husband works only part-time. "He's not allowed to do full-time, otherwise I'd die of stress," she said. "I have to do naps most days, I am just exhausted." When she finally heard about the allowance, it was "an absolute godsend". "I get about $90 a fortnight," she said. "That $90 is enough to stop us from starvation and poverty." Social Development Ministry manager Carl Crafar said the numbers of new child disability

allowances granted rose again in the past two years. Applications that were declined fell from 20 per cent in 2012 to 15 per cent last year. On the web: www.cpag.org.nz www.bais.org.nz Rise reversed Children with child disability allowances Number % of all children 1998 17,587 1.7% 1999 19,320 1.9% 2000 20,864 2.0% 2001 21,724 2.1% 2002 23,748 2.3% 2003 27,342 2.6% 2004 31,471 2.9% 2005 33,050 3.1% 2006 36,207 3.3% 2007 39,145 3.6% 2008 43,185 4.0% 2009 45,767 4.2% 2010 43,883 4.0% 2011 39,253 3.6% 2012 36,894 3.4% 2013 34,968 3.2% 2014 34,501 3.1% Source: Ministry of Social Develop-ment Source

Page 13

F razer Strickland often asks himself where he would be now if he wasn't living in a sprawling two-storey weath-

erboard villa with 55 other boys.

One thing the 18-year-old does know is he wouldn't be completing his final year at Auckland Grammar School. "I would've dropped out," he says.

Strickland is one of the students who live at InZone, a boarding hostel that takes Maori and Pacific Island teens and gives them a home and support inside the coveted boundaries of the Grammar school zone.

"I just know that through this place there's been times when I've wanted to drop out and take the easy way out," says Strickland. "But with having the boys around you and the mentors to support you – having that in place has kept me going for the five years here."

He says he feels blessed to be there but also for having parents that wanted him to go. "We're not really a wealthy family, but my parents have done a lot to get me here. I see my Dad working extra hours just so I

get this opportunity, which is one of my main motivators to stay so I can pay them back one day."

Strickland would not have had that opportunity if it wasn't for one person - American Terrance Wallace.

About five years ago, Wallace was sitting in his office on a typically windy day in Chicago, contemplating how settled he was in his life. He'd bought a new house and was enjoying his job as a youth pastor. It was then that he was overcome by what could only be described as a higher calling.

"I felt God saying that I had to go to New Zealand," he says. "So I looked at the globe in my office at this little bitty island and thought 'heck I don't even know how to swim!'"

Four weeks later, he was in New Zealand – even if he wasn't quite sure why." I knew God was telling me I needed to do it, but I didn't know what. "I was thinking 'what the heck am I doing here – this is paradise, what could I do to help?'"

Five long weeks later, he finally had his answer. "I saw this news story on the TV about Maori and Pacific Island underachievement and not having the qualifications to go to university and I then started seeing other stories as well and I thought 'I know, that's where I need to help'."

From that point, Wallace's plans fell rapidly into place. He initially, planned to help in after-school programmes – something he had experience with back in the US – but was shocked to find that they didn't exist in New Zealand schools. Dismayed, he embarked on a six-month tour of schools, predominant-ly in the Far North, he had identified as having "challenges".

"The challenges that kids faced were not from the decile ranking of the school, although some schools didn't have a lot of facilities and some of the teachers weren't all that motivated," he says. "But mainly the challenges those kids faced were the barriers in the community and at home."

Wallace cites peer pressure, lack of

Getting in the Inzone: tackling Auckland's grammar zones

Page 14

parental support and severely stretched teachers as the main factors. "Some of the kids had great parents, who were working hard to provide for their kids but couldn't provide extra tutorial support or monitor what they were getting up to. Then you have teachers trying to deliver a 40-minute curriculum but having to do 20 minutes of social service with kids."

The impact, he says, was children falling far behind in their education and then not having the confidence to sit their exams. He feels that was only made worse by a dumbed-down curriculum, thanks to NCEA's flexibility.

"Some educators aren't looking at subjects that help the students get into university, only subjects that just make up credits, but have no value."

The result of his research was the idea of giving Maori and Pacifica students access to the best schools, but with wrap-around support to ensure it worked. He had his mission, he had the confidence he could deliver it – he just needed the right school. Auckland Grammar was a good match: strong academically, good at sports, and a strong old boy's network. He visited the then-headmaster, John Morris.

"I said 'I'm Terrance and this is what I want to do', to which he replied 'how long have you been in the country and you've already figured out how to get around the law!', but I had no clue about the zoning law, I just thought they needed to be close to the school."

Grammar was already in the process of identifying ways to better engage the Maori and Pacific communities, so despite their scepticism at how new to the country Wallace was, they signed on. InZone was born.

"John Morris asked me at the start how many years it would take me to get it off the ground," smiles Wallace. "And when I told him it would be in the next six months he

said 'I admire your ambition Mr Wallace but things don't happen that quickly', and I said 'well, you just don't know my God'."

The InZone house opened six months later, in late 2011. Already, they've expanded from the original site on Owens Rd, in the wealthy suburb of Epsom, to a second house nearby for girls, who attend Epsom Girls Grammar. Students apply to be accepted into the house – a selec-tion process Wallace describes as tough, but essential to producing the right mix of motivated students.

"Regardless of how well off a family is, parents are working longer hours nowadays and when kids get home from school they need that extra tutoring support, they need that confidence building, inspirational role models and many parents today can't provide all that. On top of that the kids may be getting peer-pressured from others in the community."

Wallace says they are able to instil the sort of discipline into the students' lives outside of school that enables them to focus and achieve. For instance, mobile devices are taken away during study hours and again at bedtime, which is at 9.30pm. On the dot.

Wallace was alarmed at the large number of youth suicides in New Zealand. But he hopes to combat that by teaching students resilience.

"In the last three weeks, there have been three kids that have committed suicide that were friends of our boys and girls and they have been really impacted by it. It's a constant reminder that there's a vulnerability with kids that age.

"In the time I've been here never in my life have I known of so many young people choosing to take that route. I really think one reason is they don't have that resilience to cope with things, they're not necessarily taught it."

Warren Cook, the resident Senior

Housemaster, knows all too well about the pressures young people face: his own son is a student at InZone. He and his wife provide pastoral support to the boys around the clock.

"They come to my wife and I and we support them through the other stuff they're going through," Cook says. "The boys aren't numbers here, we know every boy, their background, their family makeup, every issue they have – without having to grab a file.

"I'm the 'grumpy one', the boys call it: I do the growling, but my wife is definitely the 'mum' of the hostel. The boys will go to her and tell her some pretty deep stuff."

Cook has a gleam in his eye when he tells of one of InZone's success stories: a boy who has defied all odds to achieve remarkable feats.

"Auckland Grammar classes are ranked from A to P [with A being the brightest], but in his first year he was put in a newly created class – Q."

Instead of being dissuaded by this, Cook says the boy "worked his butt off". He made the 1st XV in 5th form. By 7th form he was shortlisted for head boy, and although he missed out he was made a senior prefect and also captain of the 1st XV. He was also named as one of the top 53 rugby players in the country, made the U19 Barbarians side and captained it. Now, he's applying to university.

"This was against all odds, at any stage he could've just pulled the pin, but he found the drive." If InZone wasn't around, many of the students' lives could have turned out differently.

And it's Wallace's passion that's driven project, not that he's takin gthe credit: "It's the students. They are the authors of their own books – we just support them."

Source

Page 15

D r Ranginui Walker, the noted academic and writer on Māori issues, died, aged 83, in late

February, 2016. He was a leader in many of the debates and developments among Māori. Dr Walker became secretary and later chairman of the Auckland District Māori Council, and was appointed to the Waitangi Tribunal in 2003. An educator and historian, Dr Walker was also biographer of Sir Apirana Ngata and of the master carver Paki Harrison. He was also a commentator and his columns in the Listener ran for nearly 20 years. Dr Walker was born on 1 March 1932 into a farming family belonging to the Whakatōhea iwi of Opotiki. He was educated at St Peter's Māori College in Auckland and trained first as a primary school teacher, working in that profession for 10 years. When he embarked on a degree at Auckland University he was married with a family to support and was also building a house. He taught at both day and night schools, worked in the freezing works during the holidays and graduated with his Bachelor of Arts in 1962. He took up a temporary lectureship at Auckland University in 1967, the start of a 28-year academic career specialising in anthropology, education, and Māori studies. He took his doctorate in 1970, eventually becoming a full professor and head of the department of Māori studies. He retired from the university in 1998, having served at its first Māori pro-vice chancellor. He wrote numerous books, including

the classic study of Māori development,Ka Whaiwhai Tonu Mātou: Struggle Without End. Former Prime Minister Helen Clark described him as "one of New Zealand's finest people". In his earlier years, Dr Walker concentrated on his professional progress rather than becoming involved with Māori issues and organisations. "If you spend the major portion of your life getting educated, there's no time to engage in Māori committees or Māori communities," he told RNZ in 2009. "It wasn't until I'd finished my PhD that the Māori community crooked a finger at me and said 'come and help us' and I was delighted to put myself at their service." That change occurred in 1970 when he took up a role in the Auckland District Māori Council and was brought into direct contact with more radical opinion, treaty grievances, and the problems of alienated Māori youth in the cities. He understood their anger, having encountered racism during his student days, when looking for summer holiday accommodation while he worked at the freezing works. "We telephoned for accommoda-tion and we were accepted - but when we turned up to get the key the agent said 'no coloured people'. "Now, that is a

hell of a disappointment to a person growing up in New Zealand and believing that the world is our oyster." As a member of New Zealand Māori Council and a foundation member of the World Council of Indigenous People, he became involved in liberal causes, raising issues such as the lack of Māori content in the education syllabus, workplace discrimination, and land claims. The Nga Tamatoa movement grew out of a young Maori leaders conference he organised. In 2001, Ranginui Walker was made a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Ngati Hine chairman Waihoroi Shortland said Dr Walker was a fearless thinker and writer and his death would be felt throughout Māoridom as a huge loss. Mr Shortland said Dr Walker began his career as a school teacher in Ngāti Hine's rohe at Te Horo near Whangarei - and returned as a Waitangi Tribunal member for the Ngāpuhi sovereignty and land claim hearings. Source

Dr Ranginui Walker: Devoted to the truth

Page 16

A n expected flood of new prisoners will cost taxpayers more than half a billion dollars in the next

five years. Speaking at the launch of the AUT Centre for Social Data Analytics, Finance Minister Bill English announced the figures while stressing the importance of addressing the drivers of crime at their root. English, who in 2011 called prisons fiscal and moral failures, said the latest estimates put the cost of the increase at between $500-700m in the next five years. The prison population is at a record high, with 9310 prisoners behind bars. This grates against one of the Government's flagship targets to reduce reoffending by 25 per cent by 2017. At the start of 2014 Corrections had managed to reach halfway towards the goal, but since then re-offending rates have increased. Corrections Minister Judith Collins declined an interview request to explain how an increase in the prison population would be paid for, describing it as an "operational

matter". Earlier this year Corrections chief executive Ray Smith told Parliament's law and order committee that current numbers could be catered for as a buffer was built in to handle surges. But he declined to

comment on whether Corrections would seek any more money from the Government in the next budget. Labour Corrections spokesman Kelvin Davis said more resources needed to be put into rehabilitating people whose offending was driven by addiction. "One of the first things is whatever the Government is doing is not working, more and more people are locked up. "There are a number of things that can be done and one of them is that 80 per cent of crime is committed under the influence of drugs and alcohol so if we can get judges...to get people to undergo drug and alcohol counselling in the first instance it would go a long way." Many offenders' entry into the prison system was through repeated drink-driving or alcohol-fuelled assaults, but locking them up often only led to them falling victim to gangs. "It's just a vicious cycle that isn't working. I know all crime is crime but there is a lower level of crime...that should be dealt with in the community. Prison reform advocate Roger

Brooking said the main reason for the population jump was a large increase in remand prisoners following recent legislation changes. Rehabilitation programmes were clearly not working and New Zealand should look to Scandinavian countries that created prison policies based on research and evidence rather than scaremongering justice groups. "It was only two years ago the predictions were of a decline and were treated as a success. "They've now discovered that a quick reduction in offending is a bit of an illusion." Corrections national commissioner Jeremy Lightfoot said the rise was out of the department's control. Reasons included legislative changes, judicial decisions, policing trends and crime levels. More people were being held on remand and legislative changes meant prisoners were serving more of their sentence locked up. "While we have been able to manage muster pressure within our existing capacity by better optimising our use of prison accommodation through national oversight - deferring planned maintenance work and reconfiguring prison units - these initiatives are not sufficient to manage future projected increases. Predictions were for the prison population to keep increasing so options to deal with this needed to be looked at immediately, he said. Source

Flood of prisoners expected to cost more than $500m in next five years

Page 17

C hildren of prisoners need "as much support as they can get", Dave Letele says.

He should know. The boxer, known professionally as 'The Brown Buttabean', saw his father go to prison when he was just 5 years old. The experience left him confused and struggling to cope, he says. "It's a miracle I didn't end up in jail as I was pretty angry as a teenager." Letele is now an ambassador for Pillars, which works with the children and families of prisoners to break the cycle of offending. He was on hand to help the charity open its new hub in central Manukau. It has had an office in the area since 2010 but the new space has much more room for social workers and support groups, marketing executive

Tracey Mouat says. It will also allow the charity to increase its mentoring service tenfold. Fifty children of prisoners are being mentored right now and the aim is for that number to reach 500 in the next five years. Pillars founder Verna McFelin says the opening of the new Auckland South Corrections Facility in Wiri is already having an impact on demand for the group's services. The charity is working with prison operator Serco to figure out how it can best support the families of the men housed there. Pillars patron Sir Pita Sharples was on hand to open the new building. The work the charity does is "amazing", he says. "It's giving these kids a chance and stopping the cycle repeating within the family group."

Pillars estimates 20,000 Kiwi kids have a parent in prison and 5000 of those live in South Auckland. Eighty-seven per cent of the kids the charity works with are Maori. Research shows the children of prisoners often face stigma and mental and physical health problems, as well as the grief of los-ing their parent. They are more than seven times more likely to go to prison than other kids. * Call 0508 PILLARS if you have a family member in prison and need help.

ROLE MODELS NEEDED

Pillars Manukau has 20 boys waiting to be matched with male mentors and is seeking men to answer the call. Mouat says mentors come from all walks of life - "builders to business owners to university students" - but must be able to provide stability and commit for a minimum of one year. Call 262 2639 to volunteer or find out more.

Source

Pillars opens new Manukau hub

http://www.autismnz.org.nz/conference-2016

Page 21

Substance abuse laws look set for radical overhaul

The amount of time people with severe drug and alcohol addictions can be held for compulsory treatment, is being drastically shortened. The current law allows for such people to be detained for treatment for up to two years. MPs have now passed the first reading of a Bill that would allow authorities to sequester people for up to eight weeks, or 16 weeks if the person is brain damaged, so they can be treated for their addiction. Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne said the proposed change is not a means of social control, it's to provide treatment to those who have no other option. "The bill is not designed to cure people of their addic-tions, but it does provide a mechanism by which they can be bought to a point where they can begin to engage in longer-term treatment." Dunne said it's a long overdue reform of the current law. "We've moved on from incarceration and isolation as the best way of treating people with substance abuse prob-lems, to understanding that they do better now when they receive their treatment close to their homes and families." Source

Health and Safety at Work Act Presentation

The Working together on health and safety presentation provides you with the basic facts you need to know about the Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA). The video below, presented by WorkSafe CE Gordon MacDonald, is a great resource for getting the message across to your business. Watch the video Download the presentation This presentation covers the main concepts of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA), at a high level. The presentation was last updated on 31 March 2016. It may be further updated in future, so please check the WorkSafe website for the most up to date version. Note that on the last slide of this presentation, you can click through to the Home Time TV ad. You must be connected to the internet for this to work.

Download the Working together on health and safety

presentation [PDF; 2.7 MB]

Download the Working together on health and safety speaker notes [PDF; 5.7 MB]

Page 22

A s the drug-related death toll rises in the United States, communities are trying to open more treat-

ment beds. But an ongoing labor shortage among drug treatment staff is slowing those efforts. Each year, roughly one of every four substance-abuse clinicians nationally chooses to leave the job, according to recent research. And that's not just turnover — leaving one job for another in the same field. As an Institute of Medicine report documented in 2006, there's been a shortage of addiction workers for decades. And the demand is only increasing; the Affordable Care Act and other federal laws have given millions more people insurance to help them pay for those services. If only there were enough counselors to treat them. Amelie Gooding runs Phoenix House in Keene, N.H., and says she's been short a full-time counselor for a year and a half. "Everybody thinks, 'Oh, there aren't enough beds!' " Gooding says. "But there's not enough treatment staff to open more beds." Because she's understaffed, Gooding has to leave three of her 18 residential beds empty, and she cut her outpatient groups down to 50 percent capacity. So where have all the counselors gone? "For me, it got to be too

heavy," says former counselor Melissa Chickering, who used to work for Gooding at the Phoenix House and still lives in the area. Clinical directors would give their right arm to hire someone with Chickering's long resume, Gooding says. She has a master's degree in social work and 10 years of experience. Instead, the valued counselor now spends her days teaching courses in psychology and health sciences at local New Hampshire colleges. The problem with addiction treatment, Chickering says, is you take on your clients' pain. Plus, she says, she found the lack of funding and coordination from the state criminal. She remembers a particularly bad time when she was running an addiction program for teenagers. "I had open beds," she says. "But a girl came in and was on the waiting list — she just didn't have the right funding." Because of the rules, Chickering had to reserve empty beds for clients who had a different kind of health insurance than the girl in front of her had. "So she died while she was sitting on the waiting list," Chickering remembers. "And I went home that night, and I was like, 'I had an open bed!' How do you sit with that and be OK the next day?" The problem isn't just burnout, other

addiction counselors say, though the job entails many late nights and loads of paperwork. The biggest problem, they say, is the low pay — addiction counselors earn an average of about $40,000 a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Anne Herron leads workforce development for the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration — the agency that oversees services for the treatment of substance abuse. Federal officials are well-aware of the counseling shortage and are working on it, Herron says. Her agency is reaching out to high schools and colleges, developing training curricula. Those initiatives are a start, she says, adding, "We would like to see more." Becky Vaughn, an executive with the National Council for Behavioral Health, an industry group for state associations of addiction services, says she would like the federal government to reimburse tuition for people who are taking courses in addiction treatment. In the meantime, the directors of a few clinics in New Hampshire say that the expanded coverage for addiction services that has come with Obamacare is already boosting counselor salaries. Staff will come, these employers say, if the clinics have the money to pay them.

Source

Shortage Of Addiction Counsellors Further Strained By Opioid Epidemic

Page 23

A blessing has marked the completion of a group art project completed by a group of predominantly

teenage fathers. The project between Te Ora Hou and Manaia PHO saw five teen dads, two older dads and a few youth create a three layered mural. The mural was placed on the front entrance of 'the hut' at The Pulse and blessed on March 2. Facilitator Mike Tupaea, from Te Ora Hou, says the group started with 12 participants but due to changes in circumstance was reduced to eight. During the time spent creating the mural, they engaged in discussions around mental health, drugs and alcohol and other issues they experience as part of their daily lives. Tupaea says it was about offering a different approach to understanding the concerns.

They also focused on whakawhanaungatanga (establishing relationships) and gaining understanding and awareness about the wheku (carved face) which is an integral part of their mural. "We chose certain symbols because they relate to the spaces and situations these people are in," Tupaea says. The project was facilitated by Tupaea and counsellor Karl Burns. He says the project created a safe environment where they could learn about the symbols, drawing, cutting, painting and hanging. Tupaea says when the men started, they didn't know it would end like it did. "To see them value what they've done ... the sense of achievement for them... it has been a really good to journey with these guys." "They consistently came back, that's

usually a good indicator they're enjoying it." Tupaea says he was humbled by the donations of materials and paint from local businesses. Manaia PHO youth mental health clinician Lucy Treadwell says from their perspective the aim was to build resilience and encourage mental health wellbeing. "Utilising art as a medium while these gentle messages come through." She says the project grew so much from when it started on October 29. "The beauty about this group and what we're doing is having a major effect on their families, and feeding back to the communities." She believes the project will lead into other art projects to support young people. Source

Health agencies offer support to teen dads through art

Want to work as a nurse at Family Planning? This article explains the education and work experience you need, and what Family Planning National Nurse Advisor Rose Stewart looks for when hiring new nurses.

Education You need to study a Bachelor of Nursing (3 years full-time) at a university, polytechnic or institute of technology to be-come a registered nurse. Depending on where you choose to study, there will be different requirements before you start: Universities will ask for University Entrance, including 14

or more credits at NCEA Level 3 Biology, or in other approved subjects

Polytechnics and institutes of technology might ask for University Entrance, or an approved Level 4 pre-entry programme with a B-grade average, or proof of literacy and numeracy. There might be other requirements.

You can read more about becoming a nurse at the Nursing Council website. Work experience Family Planning National Nurse Advisor Rose Stewart (right) says once you have graduated, you need to work as a registered nurse for at least one year before you apply for a position at Family Planning. “When we are hiring, we usually give priority to people who have previous experience as a nurse in a general practice, for example nurses with experience taking smears,” Ms Stewart says. “That doesn’t mean you can’t be hired without this experience. If you’re the right person for the role, we provide thorough training for your position at Family Planning.” You and your interests “What’s most important for us when hiring, is that our nurses have a non-judgemental approach to sexual and reproductive health and rights. We work a lot with young people, and being approachable, and understanding of their needs is so important,” Ms Stewart says. For this reason we also look for nurses who are keen to learn about adolescent development and the issues facing teenagers, and who can appreciate that it’s different working with young people. Family Planning nurses also have a real interest in sexual and reproductive health and rights. This extends beyond contraception and STI tests – Family Planning offers a huge range of services, particularly relating to women’s health. “Sexual and reproductive health and rights is an area of public health which is often judged and marginalised, and is

under closer scrutiny than other health services. You need to truly believe in and support sexual and reproductive health and the public’s right to access these services.” Career development If you want to work in sexual and reproductive health care long-term, there are also great opportunities for career development. “We encourage and support our nurses to practise to the top of their scope of practice. This means our nurses are doing procedures, carrying out treatments and doing clinical assessments, at the changing boundaries of nursing practice. Family Planning employs nurse practitioners and also supports post-graduate study for nurses who have the drive and potential to become a nurse practitioner. It requires further study to gain a Master of Nursing (2-4 years). Being a nurse practitioner requires you to practise more independently, and it gives you greater responsibilities within your clinic, such as prescribing. “We’re also working hard to obtain more prescribing rights for registered nurses,” Ms Stewart says. Family Planning nurses are hugely valuable to the organisation, carrying out 80 per cent of all Family Planning consultations. Work place Being a Family Planning nurse can offer a range of workplaces – you could be in a big clinic with a large team of doctors and nurses, or you could work in a small, rural clinic with no permanent doctor. Our outreach clinics could see you working in schools, or sharing facilities with hospitals or other health services, or you could work with our team of nurses offering phone consultations. “You work in a really nice collaborative way with doctors, medical receptionists, regional managers and of course, other nurses,” Ms Stewart says. Final advice You must first and foremost want to be a nurse. Job opportunities may not appear in your region for some time, but gaining valuable experience as a practice nurse can help prepare you for a nursing role at Family Planning. “Being a Family Planning nurse is a really satisfying and great job. You work with a huge range of people, from about age 13 upwards and you can become specialised and very knowledgeable in your field,” Ms Stewart says. More information: You can keep an eye on nursing vacancies at Family Plan-ning, which are advertised on the Family Planning website. Ministry of Health - Studying Nursing Nursing Education in the Tertiary Sector

Being a Family Planning nurse

http://www.auntydee.co.nz/

Page 29

W e are only beginning to unravel the ge-netic and biochemical basis of mental illness – a vague term including conditions as diverse as anxiety, depression, and

mood and psychotic disorders. With millions of people suffering from such conditions, it is crucial that we find ways to improve diagnosis and treatment. But an increasing body of scientific evidence is now suggesting that we should turn our attention to one of our most basic functions: sleep. Studies suggest that disrupted sleep such as insomnia could actually help us predict episodes of mental illness and that fixing sleep problems may help treat them. Despite this, the effects of sleep on mental illness have been largely ignored in the clinic so far. But how is sleep and mental health actually linked in the brain? To understand this, let us first consider the biology of sleep and circadian rhythms. Circadian rhythm and health There have been over a trillion dawns and dusks since life began some 3.8 billion years ago. The physiology, metabolism and behaviour of organisms, including us, are aligned to this daily cycle through internal clocks which enable us to effectively “know” the time of day. This clock also stops everything happening at the same time and ensures that biological processes occur in the appropriate order. For cells to function properly they need the right materials in the right place at the right time. Thousands of genes have to be switched on and off in order and in concert. Proteins, enzymes, fats, hormones and other compounds have to be absorbed, broken down, metabolised and produced in a precise time window to allow important processes such as growth, reproduction, metabolism, and cellular repair. These take energy and all have to be timed to best effect by the millisecond, second, minute and hour of the 24-hour day. Circadian rhythms are innate and hard-wired into the genomes of just about every living thing on the planet. In humans, our physiology is organised around the daily cycle of activity and sleep. In the active phase, when energy expenditure is high and food and water are consumed, organs need to be prepared for the intake, processing and uptake of nutrients. During sleep, although energy expenditure and digestive processes decrease, many essential activities occur including cellular repair, toxin clearance, memory consolidation and information processing by the brain.

Disrupting this pattern, as happens with jet-lag, shiftwork, and mental illness breaks down the internal synchronisation of the circadian network and our ability to do the right thing at the right time is greatly impaired. This can have a major impact on our health, with some of the effects described in the table above. Sleep disruption in mental illness The relationship between mental illness and sleep and circadian rhythm disruption was first described in the late 19th century by the German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin. Today, such disruption is reported in as many as 80% of patients with schizophrenia, and is increasingly recognised as one of the most common features of the disorder. Yet despite its prevalence in mental illness, sleep disruption has been largely ignored, dismissed as a consequence of either social isolation, lack of employment, anti-psychotic medication. However, our team has explored this assumption and showed that sleep and circadian-rhythm disruption in patients with conditions such as schizophrenia persists independently of anti-psychotic medication and that it cannot be explained on the basis of social isolation or lack of employment. These results led us to suggest that mental illness and sleep disruption may share common and overlapping pathways in the brain. The sleep and circadian timing system is the product of a complex interaction between multiple brain regions, neurotransmitters and hormones. As a consequence, abnormalities in any of these neurotransmitter systems will likely have an impact on sleep and circadian timing at several levels.

Why sleep could be the key to tackling mental illness

Emotion Cognition Physiology & Health

Increased:

Fluctuations in mood

Depression and psychosis

Irritability

Impulsivity Frustration

Risk-taking

Stimulant use (e.g. caffeine)

Sedative use (e.g. alcohol)

Illegal drug use Dissociated mental

processing

Impaired:

Cognitive perfor-mance

Ability to multi-task

Memory

Attention Concentration

Communication

Decision-making Creativity

Productivity

Motor performance

Increased risk of:

Drowsiness

Micro-sleeps Unintended sleep

Sensations of pain & cold

Cancer

Metabolic abnormalities

Diabetes II

Cardiovascular disease

Reduced immunity Altered endocrine

function

Page 30

Similarly, psychiatric illness arises from abnormalities in the interacting circuits and neurotransmitter systems of the brain, many of which will overlap with those regulating sleep and circadian rhythms. Viewed in this way, it is no surprise that sleep disruption is common across the mental illness spectrum, or that disruption of circadian biology might worsen a fragile mental health state. Very significantly, many of the health problems caused by sleep disruption are common in mental illness, but have almost never been directly linked to the disruption of sleep. These insights enable us to make important predictions. For example, genes linked to mental illness should play a role in sleep and circadian rhythm generation and regulation and genes that generate and regulate sleep and circadian rhythms should play a role in mental health and illness. To date a surprisingly large number of genes have been identified that play an important role in both sleep disruption and mental illness. And if the mental illness is

not causing disruption in sleep and circadian rhythm, then sleep disruption may actually occur just before an episode of mental illness under some circumstances. Sleep abnormalities have indeed been identified in individuals prior to mental illness. For example we know that sleep disruption usually happens before an episode of depression. Furthermore, individuals identified as “at risk” of developing bipolar disorder and childhood-onset schizophrenia typically show problems with sleep before any clinical diagnosis of illness. Such findings raise the possibility that sleep and circadian rhythm disruption may be an important factor in the early diagnosis of individuals with mental illness. This is hugely important, as early diagnosis offers the possibility of early help. It is also plausible that treating the actual sleep problems will have a positive impact upon the level of mental illness. A recent study managed to reduce sleep disruptions using cognitive behavioural therapy in patients with schizophrenia who showed persecutory delusions and found that a better night’s sleep was

associated with a decrease in paranoid thinking along with a reduction in anxiety and depression. So the emerging data suggests treating sleep problems can be an effective means to reduce symptoms. So where do we go from here? It is now abundantly clear that sleep problems in mental illness is not simply the inconvenience of being unable to sleep at an appropriate time but is an agent that exacerbates or causes serious health problems. Understanding the nature of sleep disruption in mental illness, and developing evidence-based therapeutic interventions using cognitive behavioural therapy, appropriately timed light exposure and some exciting new drugs to stabilise circadian rhythms is a major focus of the work currently being undertaken in Oxford. It is time we began to take seriously the importance of sleep across all sectors of society, and particularly in mental illness. Treating sleep problems in mental illness will not only improve the health and quality of life for countless individuals and their caregivers, but will also have a massive impact on the economics of health care. Source

Page 31

A Melbourne entrepreneur is fundraising to build a giant bus to provide overnight accommodation

for people sleeping rough or homeless people. Entrepreneur and chef Simon Rowe is the founder of the SleepBus – a giant blue bus with sleeping pods for individuals and families that he said would provide safe overnight accommodation for people until they get back on their feet. “Using my 20–plus years of business experience, I set about developing a simple solution with a mission; to provide people sleeping ‘rough’, a safe overnight place to sleep,” Rowe said. “The more I developed and researched a solution, the more I discovered what a good night’s sleep can do for a person’s physical and mental health. Just being able to sleep through the night, warm and safe, can give a person a whole new outlook on life. “Sleep Bus is distinct, yet complementary, to existing efforts from other organisations supporting Australians experiencing or at risk of ending up on the streets. Our work aims to fill a ‘gap’, rather than overlapping or replicating activities that support the urgent needs of people in Australia. Rowe set up a gofundme crowdfund-ing campaign and has raised almost $16,000 in just four days. He said the bus design was completed and ready to go.

“The bus design includes 22 individual sleep pods, two toilets, 22 personal items lockers, under bus storage, eight pet kennels, security system, lighting system inside and out and an intercom system for family sleep pods with parental control locks. The toilet’s have been strategically located at the front of the bus to assist with the safety of guests within the bus,” he said. “Each sleep pods comes with single bed inner spring mattress, pillows, sheets and blankets (washed daily). The pod has USB charging for mobile phones, personal light, lockable roller door, climate control and television with auxiliary channel running adverts for available services in the area to help with pathways out of homelessness. “Each pod can be adapted for families, with parents able to control their child’s door lock and intercom for communication between designated family members only. “We want at least one bus on the road by this coming winter. That one bus will provide 8,030 safe sleeps per year and can last up to 10 years before it needs major work or replacement. One bus costs approximately $50,000 to buy and build.” He said Sleepbus had a huge goal to end the need for people to sleep rough in Australia. “We will be just in Melbourne to start with, where I am based. We will be conducting our first trial in an outer suburb of Melbourne to test our systems and make sure we

address any issues that may arise that we haven’t accounted for. “Then two buses will be taken into Melbourne CBD and we will test our systems in the heart of a city where many will need our help. Both these trials run for 90 days each. After this, we have a massive seven bus initiative which I will provide more detail about at a later date.” Rowe said he would be re-engaging with various councils as the project developed. However he said he hoped to launch at the end of May. He said safety was always a concern for people who wanted to fund the project. “We have three levels of security to help ensure everyone is safe and can enjoy a safe and quiet night’s sleep. A caretaker will stay on the bus through the night. The bus doors are closed after 8:30pm, should a guest leave after this time, they can not return, this is for safety and for the quiet enjoyment of others,” he said. “The toilets are at the front of the bus, where the caretaker is located to ensure everyone is safe when leaving their sleep pod. The next level of security will be CCTV cameras which will be monitored by a central monitoring location and can call for assistance in an emergency. The last level of security is working with the local police.” He said his plan was for each bus to be designated a location each night, where it was needed most.

Source

Sleepbus: shelters for homeless people

Page 32

F or two young men from Brisbane who admit to not being very good at doing their washing, launching the

world’s first free mobile laundry service for the homeless was perhaps a novel idea. But Nicholas Marchesi and Lucas Patchett, the 21-year-old co-founders of Orange Sky Laundry, say their initiative is not just about providing freshly cleaned clothes, something most of us take for granted. The service also aims to give rough sleepers the basic human right to hygiene, and restore their dignity and respect. “We had this crazy idea to chuck a couple of washers in the back of a van,’’ says Marchesi of the project, which kicked off in October 2014. “Our goal was to connect communities, raise health standards for the homeless and improve the lives of others.” The laundry-on-wheels now pulls up at parks and drop-in centres in six cities across Australia: Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Gold Coast and from this week Adelaide, too, as well as

areas of southeast Victoria. The idea was “very simple and in some ways obvious”, says Marchesi. As students, he and Patchett helped out with their school’s charity food vans, where they were exposed to a growing social problem. There are at least 105,000 homeless people across Australia every night, according to ABS 2011 census data. Sydney alone has seen a dramatic rise in the number of rough sleepers in the city centre, from 365 in February 2015 to a record 486 in February of this year, according to a local government street count. “Homelessness is a hidden issue across Australia,” says Patchett, “but our eyes were open to it very early on.” Taking the name from British musician Alexi Murdoch’s Orange Sky, a song about helping those in need, the two men fitted out their first van, dubbed “Sudsy”, with a pair of industrial washers and dryers, a generator and water tanks. “A lot of people thought we were

crazy, that it was impossible,” Marchesi says. “We were told that putting a washing machine in the back of a van would never work ... With all the moving parts, they’re not designed to be there! Then there was the issue of bringing water and power to different locations, and making the whole thing easy for volunteers to operate. We also heard things like, ‘Homeless people will never wash their clothes in a park’.” The pair were determined to overcome all obstacles, however. “We’re both pretty impatient guys,” Patchett says. “No one had done it yet, so we thought, let’s give it a red hot crack.” After barely 18 months, and with the backing of private and corporate donors and a state government grant, Marchesi and Patchett have grown Orange Sky Laundry to a six-van operation, staffed by more than 450 volunteers. Each van costs around AUD$100,000 to revamp and launch. “Sudsy” has been joined by

Clean streets: the mobile laundry service helping Australia's homeless

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“Tubsy”, “Bubbles”, “Jelly” and co in servicing 46 different locations throughout Australia. The bright orange vans roam the streets of the Orange Sky Laundry locations six days a week. “We’re on site for three to six hours, so we’ll do up to 16 or 17 loads of washing during that time,” Patchett says – that’s several hundred loads across the country each week. Rolling out with other local homelessness service providers, such as food vans, has helped. The reception has been “fantastic”, they say. People have not only been generous with their time, but have also dug deep into their pockets. For the homeless people who use the service, it’s a welcome alternative to expensive laundromats or queue-ridden hostels, where clothes can go missing. But it’s also a conversation starter, Marchesi says. He recalls a moment from Orange Sky’s early days. “We were in Logan (an outer suburb of Brisbane), trialling the service for the first time. I met Grant, who was in his early thirties. He had to beg for clothes from op shops or sometimes washed his clothes in the river. After handing back his clean laundry, he told me that he hadn’t spoken to another human being in three days. That’s when I was reminded of the power of conversation ... I’ll never forget it.”

With mental health and loneliness two of the key issues in homelessness (alongside domestic violence, lack of affordable housing and poverty), providing places where people can connect and exchange with one another is crucial. The number of homeless people with a current mental illness soared to 25% (63,000 people) in 2014-2015, up from 19% (44,800 people) three years earlier, according to a report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The issue can be partly linked to isolation. “There’s a mood of negativity and hostility towards the homeless community,” Patchett says. “We try to provide a more social, uplifting experience, and I think having fresh faces for our homeless friends to talk to helps.” Although services like Orange Sky Laundry address the immediate needs of homeless people, there is widespread acknowledgement of a lack of long-term, strategic solutions to prevent people from falling into the homelessness cycle. Patchett and Marchesi say theirs is by no means the complete answer to the problem. They are keen to provide the homeless with training and employment opportunities: “Right now it’s a small part of our operation,” says Patchett, “but we want to scale up. That’s the next step.”

In the meantime, the two social entrepreneurs are looking ahead: they hope to reach 1,000 volunteers and have another four vans by the end of the year. The service recently expanded to Adelaide and will arrive in Canberra in April – but they also have ambitious plans to go global. No doubt being named Young Australians of the Year last January (they’re the first ever joint winners) will give them a boost in their bid to keep the conversation about homelessness alive. Patchett describes meeting a homeless person named Jordan through Orange Sky. “He went to school up the road from me. I found out that we did the same uni degree – he was only a few years ahead of me. A fully qualified engineer. But a few tough life turns, and a lack of a family network, and he was on the streets. We’ve learned that everybody’s story is unique.” “We want to challenge the perceptions people have of our homeless friends,” Marchesi says. “We don’t want to make a distinction, we’re all just people.” Source

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A national approach to solving homelessness is needed, says the Auckland Council, with many people

living on the streets outside the central city. The Council's latest efforts to address people sleeping rough will be detailed in a report to a council committee at the end of March, 2016. Cathy Casey, a city councillor and Community Development and Safety Committee chairperson, says homelessness is an increasing problem in the city because of the housing shortage. The Auckland City Mis-sion found 147 people sleeping rough around the Sky Tower in 2014, up 116 percent on the year before. Dr Casey said the council was playing its part in combating the problem with funding allocated in its long term plan to support emergency housing and various initiatives and looking at improving public amenities. "We have limited ratepayers funds, but we're using it wisely to increase opportunities for homeless - obviously to bring them out of homelessness and into a wrap-around service and housing - but also into a job." But she said the issue was wider than that. "This is not an Auckland ratepayer problem, it's a taxpayer problem. "We only ever talk about the homeless in the city centre but homeless people are everywhere

and, that being the case, it is a much bigger problem than Auckland's. We need to have a national strategy, we need to have a national target to end homelessness in New Zealand. So it's good that we're doing our part in Auckland and we're inviting the government to help. As well as a national plan Dr Casey said information on the extent of the problem was not enough. "We really do need some figures, we need the evidence of homelessness. We need to make sure that we know who is sleeping rough, who is living

in cars, who is double bunked, who is sofa surfing. We all know people who do that, but to actually get a handle on the size of the problem is difficult and for that we need the government to help." A member of the National Coalition to End Homelessness, Wilf Holt, said the number of people living on the street was growing relentlessly and could not be solved by the council alone. "At the end of the day if we can't provide sufficient affordable good quality accommodation we will always have rough sleepers in the CBD. "Even if we, for instance, accommodated everybody who was

rough sleeping yesterday, by the end of not too long a period of time you've got all of those who are new to the streets or new to homelessness, new to rough sleeping, new to sleeping in their cars, new to sleeping under cars and in doorways. You've got that population starting to grow again." He said it was more than just a housing issue with services such as health, mental health, drug and alcohol services needing to be brought to bear. Mr Holt said the council needed to

bring together a number of groups in-cluding the government to solve the issue. "One of the things that the Auckland City Coun-cil can do is to offer leadership that brings local and national government together. Leadership that brings local government, national government, the NGOs, the people

who might fund any initiatives, anyone who might be able to manage it, the services that would need to be bought to bear, once we do get quality affordable accommodation. "They are in a position to provide, and have done in the past, good quality leadership that brings good solutions to the table with the right people sitting around the table. "It would be impossible to imagine a good workable solution being created without Auckland Council, national government, government agencies, in the city being all part of one process to start solving this in a meaningful way. Source

Homelessness 'a national problem'

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K nitting therapist Betsan Corkhill surveyed 3,545 knitters, and more than half of them said they felt

“very happy” after knitting. Many of them stated that they knitted specifically for relaxation and stress relief, and those who knitted more frequently reported more mental and emotional relief than those who did it less frequently – they reported feeling calmer, happier, less sad, less anxious and more confident. Crafting with friends can aid in mind and brain wellness by improving problem-solving and mindfulness and helping in the development of hand-eye coordination and spatial awareness. It can also give you a sense of pride and achievement, teach you patience and perseverance, encourage active creativity, and facilitate memory formation and retrieval. Corkhill’s study concluded, “Knitting has a significant psychological and social benefits, which can contribute to well-being and quality of life.” An interesting add-on from the study was that it found people who knitted as part of a group were even happier than people who knitted solo.

Corkhill explained, “Using knitting to achieve a meditative state of mind could enable a much wider population to experience the benefits of meditation, as it does not entail having to understand, accept or engage in a prolonged learning period of the practice. It happens as a natural side-effect of knitting.” Some have even referred to knitting as the “new yoga.” Research shows that knitting and other forms of crafting including sewing, weaving and crocheting have a lot in common with mindfulness and meditation. They are also reported to have a positive impact on mind health and well-being. The good news: if knitting is not your thing, these great effects are not just limited to a piece of thread and a nee-dle. Neuroscientists have been studying other forms of creativity and finding that activities like cooking, drawing, photography, art,

music, cake decorating and even doing crossword puzzles are beneficial to your health. When we are being creative, our brains release dopamine, which is a natural anti-depressant. Creativity usually takes sincere concentration, and it can lead to the feeling of a natural high. Many scientists believe there is a link between creative activities and the ability to reduce cognitive impairment associated with aging. Participating in creative activities may even help to alleviate depression. Think about the time you spend doing something creative that you love – maybe it is reading, cross stitching, taking pictures or creating a scrapbook – doesn’t it always make you feel great? Taking the time to activate your creativity and do something that you enjoy allows you time to de-stress and relax while feeling great because you are doing something you love. Research shows that creative practices improve depression, anxiety and coping skills while enhancing the quality of life and significantly reducing stress – all vital for maintaining brain health and well-being. Source

Neuroscientist explains why crafting is great for Mental Health

Our Children, Our Choice: Priorities for Policy

The report on Supporting Learning in the early years for children

learning in more than one language is now out. Click here for the full report

Guidelines for Pasifika media launched Pasifika media can play a key role in leading safe messaging in re-porting suicide to our Pasifika communities. Alongside Pasifika me-dia, Le Va is delighted to launch the Pasifika Media Guidelines for Reporting Suicide in New Zealand. These guidelines were co-created with and for Pasifika media organisations and outlets to support safety and shared understanding when reporting suicide prevention. More than 50 reporters and staff from Pasifika media were involved in the development process over the course of three workshops. Please download your free copy of the guideline from our website, where you can also view our 90-second whiteboard video which accompanies the guidelines. You can also read more about the development process for these guidelines.

Delivering psychological services for children and families in Early Years mental health and

emotional wellbeing settings

Summary: Good psychological services for families with babies and preschool children will: Have good connections with antenatal services to support

the identification and referral of families where there is a lack of positive relationship with baby in utero, and to support maternity services in managing the emotional processes in pregnancy and birth.

Have strong working relationships with health visiting, child care and social care services to share expertise at considering the social and emotional needs of babies and toddlers.

Provide a range of interventions (with individual families and groups, helping parents process past relational trauma and connect with their baby), always with a focus on the relationship with baby, using video feedback and behavioura interventions amongst others, taking the family’s cultural background into account.

Have accessible services offered in children’s centres and families’ homes.

Have ways of evaluating services according to professional and service user perspectives, and including parents’ views in service development and delivery.

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