Parent Help Reply Budget

In today’s Budget a total of $642 million, to be spent over four years, has been allocated to a range of initiatives within the social investment package. One such initiative includes ongoing investment in New Zealand children and their families.

Parent Help acknowledges the Government’s commitment to ensuring wrap-around services for vulnerable children and in placing the needs of children at the centre of policy decision-making, in particular those children and their families most at risk.

While our vulnerable children must always be the priority, at Parent Help we hope that during the Budget’s four year funding period more resources can be directed to programmes which focus on both prevention and early intervention. Research has shown that the outcomes for children are greatly improved when effective early intervention takes place. This applies to both vulnerable families and those who do not yet meet this threshold, particularly in families where there may be incipient family violence or parents are in need of support in their parenting role.

At Parent Help our family therapy service places high importance on working holistically with the whole family to not only improve parenting skills but, most importantly, to strengthen relationships within the family to provide a continuing safe and nurturing environment for children as they develop and grow into adulthood. We provide timely intervention aimed at supporting parents with information and strategies, maintaining family relationships and working towards a better long-term outcome for all.

The national parenting and child abuse prevention Helpline which Parent Help has provided for many years is also considered to be a valuable prevention and early intervention service for parents and family/whanau needing crisis or other support. The Helpline is available between 9 am and 11 pm, seven days a week. Where risk is identified callers to the Helpline will be referred direct to Child, Youth and Family, to the Children’s Action Plan triage centre The Hub or to appropriate services in their area.

Parent Help is a community agency that has been offering services to families since 1989. Our vision is to support parents to ensure children and young people live in families/whanau free from the impact of family violence abuse and neglect. We provide help with all parenting issues from the smallest to the most serious issue of child abuse. Parents can call the telephone helpline on 0800 568 856, or access our Wellington-based family therapy, counselling, mediation and parent education services.

ENDS

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