MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release 24 March 2014

Community workshops on Youth Offending up and running in Kaikohe

On Tuesday March 18, an open public workshop on reducing youth offending attracted more than 30 participants to contribute to the development of a strategy on reducing youth offending in Kaikohe.

Ideas raised were delivered directly into a working group of providers and agencies in the Youth Justice area the following day.

A second open workshop has now been scheduled for Tuesday 15th of April, to be hosted at Ngāpuhi Iwi Social Services.

The Youth Offending strategy is part of the Kaikohe Youth Action Plan, which was officially launched Monday 17 March at Northland College in Kaikohe. Action Plan Project Manager Brennan Rigby says he was overwhelmed with the response which demonstrated real passion in Kaikohe for achieving better outcomes.

The Kaikohe Youth Action Plan includes 47 milestone actions developed by the Kaikohe community to support the aspirations of local youth through aiming to reduce youth offending, truancy, and harm from alcohol and drugs, while increasing participation in education and employment, and collaboration between providers.

Te Pae Aronga Taitamariki, a joint venture involving Youth Horizons, Otāngarei Trust and Ngāpuhi Iwi Social Services, is responsible for delivering the Youth Action Plan, and view the milestone actions as key ingredients in improving the lives of youth. Many valuable milestones have already been completed.

In June 2014, Miss Carina Aiken, Te Taitokerau Attendance Service Manager, will be delivering a new plan that brings together the Kaikohe business, school and community sectors in a coordinated response to the community truancy challenge.

Ms Aiken says the milestone action she is working on gives her the opportunity to really engage with the community on a wide scale, and help deliver something innovative, unique, and valuable to youth in Kaikohe.

Northland College truancy rates have improved greatly from very high rates in 2013, and it is now important to engage the entire community in maintaining and building on this.

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About Te Pae Aronga Taitamariki
Te Pae Aronga Taitamariki is a tripartite joint venture formed in 2012 comprised of Otāngarei Trust based in Whangarei, Ngāpuhi Iwi Social Services based out of Kaikohe and Youth Horizons based in Auckland. The joint venture was established to formalise a working relationship between the three parties to share clinical, cultural and local expertise, knowledge and experience, ensuring the best outcomes for the children and young people of the Northland/Te Tai Tokerau region.
The focus of Te Pae Aronga Taitamariki is the provision of clinically and culturally appropriate interventions for children and young people in Northland who are at risk of, or who have behavioural, emotional and mental health problems.

Otāngarei Trust
Otāngarei Trust provides structured youth programmes, family support, and family budgeting services.

Ngāpuhi Iwi Social Services
Ngāpuhi Iwi Social Services is a subsidiary of Te Rūnanga-Ā-Iwi-O-Ngāpuhi that provides programmes and skilled workers who support the social development and communities of Ngāpuhi.

Youth Horizons/Kia Puāwai
Youth Horizons/Kia Puāwai is a national specialist NGO providing services for Taitamariki with significant conduct issues and their families/whānau.

For the full Kaikohe Youth Action Plan please visit: http://bit.ly/1iavlri

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