Yesterday, the government announced the first organisations to receive funding from the Social Investment Fund.
The $190 million fund, part of the 2025 budget, was managed by the Social Investment Agency.
Chief executive Andrew Coster, a former police commissioner, is on leave amid an investigation into his handling of allegations against former police deputy commissioner Jevon McSkimming.
Dunedin community-based kaupapa Māori provider Te Hou Ora Whānau Services (THO) is one of the seven organisations nationwide to share $50m in funding.
THO general manager Desiree Mahy said the first round of funding attracted about 300 applicants and it was ‘‘privileged to have been successful’’.
Its pitch was for a ‘‘mentoring programme’’ aimed towards at-risk youths aged between 7 and 12.
‘‘We have a gap in the system for one-on-one service particularly with young people who are aged 15 and under ... so before they are at an age where they get attention from the courts.’’
At the moment, the only way for Dunedin youth to get one-on-one mentoring was if they were already in trouble with the justice system, she said.
THO, along with the Dunedin Youth Aid police team, had already identified a cohort of at-risk teenagers and children.
‘‘This has been a gap in our community for a long time and a lot of the social services have been highlighting as necessary.
‘‘It's definitely not something that we would have been able to run without this funding,’’ Ms Mahy said.
They will receive about $3m over four years and expected to be operational by term 2 next year.
The priority for the fund was to support children in the care system, whose parents are in prison and children who have been stood down from school before turning 13.
Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis said the organisations showed they could make the best overall impact and were able to measure that success.
Successful organisations
• Te Hou Ora Whānau Services Limited: Support for 120 children for individual and group sessions to reduce school drop-out rates and justice and care system involvement - Dunedin.
• Tākiri Mai te Ata Trust: Support for counselling and trauma therapy for 200 young people in care, have parents in prison, or have been stood down from school - Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt.
• Te Puawaitanga ki Ōtautahi Charitable Trust: Support for 200 children for health, safety and life skills - Christchurch and wider Canterbury.
• Ngāti Awa Social and Health Services Trust: Support for 450 children, providing support for families dealing with historic trauma, and building specialist forensic nursing for child sexual abuse - Eastern Bay of Plenty.
• Barnardos New Zealand Incorporated: Support for 100 for family mentoring, and parenting support to help children reach developmental milestones, such as early childhood education attendance - Māngere.
• Horowhenua New Zealand Trust: For more than 400 children for a behaviour change programme - Levin
• Kaikaranga Holding Ltd: Support for 150 disabled and neurodiverse children who have been suspended or stood down from school. Services include tutoring, sensory tools and short-term behavioural guidance - Auckland.
