Our three year strategy >Our vision >Children and young people in families and communities where they can be safe, strong and thrive. >Our mission >Embed quality, child centred practice throughout our service >Our goal >Engage children, their families / whanau, iwi and multi agencies in protecting and caring for New Zealand’s most vulnerable children and young people.

Children are the taonga of New Zealand >2004 = 40,000 notifications >2012 = 150,000 notifications….. and growing >Domestic Violence >Emotional Abuse (12K) and Neglect (5K) >Care numbers stable (5K) >Half with family / whanau >National debate – White Paper >Joined up services >Growing relationships with iwi. >Focus on working with the NGO sector

1. Quality social work practice >Deliver excellent Family Group Conferences >Establish a new Outcomes Framework >Enhanced Practice and Knowledge system >Reduce number young people in the youth justice system working with them, whanau and agencies >Multi Agency Strategy for children in care

2. Working together with Māori >Strengthen culturally responsive and sensitive practice and services for Māori >Build strong and positive partnerships with hapū and iwi >Incorporate the values, culture and beliefs of Māori and promote te reo in our everyday work >Build capacity and innovation within iwi partnerships

3. Voices of children and young people >Ensure children’s wishes and feelings shine through all our work >Involve children and young people in service enhancements at a national and local level >Ensure children’s voices shape the knowledge and skills of our workforce >Uphold and protect children’s rights by establishing a systematic, real time complaints and feedback system.

4. Connecting communities >Build a network of organisations with shared strategic interests e.g Care, Domestic Violence >Identify areas of priority need and any gaps and work with the provider sector to address these >Review and revitalise the way we involve communities, so we can respond safely and consistently to reports of concern >Work with our partners to establish cross agency training and local training ‘hubs’.

5. Leadership Our people: >Focus on supervisors and practice leaders, to coach, lead, challenge and support quality practice: >Clearer roles and accountabilities >Professional development >100 percent registered professional workforce >Work with Universities and develop a social work graduate programme, learning and research intiatives.

5. Leadership Our caregivers: >Improve the quality of caregiver recruitment, assessment, training and support >Develop Specialist fostering >Develop Iwi and kinship placement >Raise profile of caregivers and celebrate their achievements through local and national recognition.

Achieving year one

A set of achievements that: >are clear and measurable >take us one third of the way towards our three year goal >balance of national and locally lead activity >Use Self Assessment framework and action plan

1. Quality social work practice >New Family Group Conference practice standards and an enriched training curriculum >Embedded the self assessment framework: >completed annual self assessments >Benchmark quality and local action plans >Worked with young people who’ve offended, their siblings, and the family >Implemented a new care and protection assessment plus: >100 percent uptake of gateway assessment >audits and review on quality

2. Working together with Māori >Practice that reflects tikanga Māori with a focus on: >well facilitated, supported whānau hui >a new cultural assessment framework for young people in residences >Every site and residence with an active relationship with local hapū or iwi >An effective learning framework for all staff, lifting confidence and engagement with Māori >Partnership agreements with iwi – particularly Assessment, FGC and Care

3. Voices of children and young people >Children more visible in assessment and greater participation in Family Group Conferences >Improved service for children and young people by consulting with them in collective forums: >two per site and residence >five regional forums >A learning and development programme on children’s participation >Reviewed and redesigned our complaints and feedback system, so it is child friendly and responsive.

4. Connecting communities >Host site planning meetings with our community partners on shared topic of concern or interest >Regional plans that clearly describe the services we want to purchase, and the results we want to achieve >Develop a clear and consistent pathway of response for families experiencing family violence or needing help from the community >Engage local partners in training and briefings

5. Leadership Our people: >Implement a clear set of accountabilities for site managers, practice leaders and supervisors, and an induction programme that supports it >New standards and training for quality supervision >A graduate programme linking with Universities and offer experience across a range of our services – from front line, to youth justice, residences, and national office projects.

5. Leadership Our caregivers: >Launch a new caregiver strategy and standards >Develop a range of specialist foster care provison >Introduce annual awards for our outstanding caregivers.

Self assessment and action plan

Getting to know our self assessment >Self Assessment at local level based on 5 key strategic priorities >Self Assessments must be self critical, accurate and evidence based, including: >Feedback from our key stakeholders – children and young people, community partners and our staff >Complete an audit of our own casework using a random sample >Review of Performance and Outcomes for Children >Identify strengths and areas for improvement - develop a local action plan setting out our key areas of focus

Roles and responsibilities >Everyone contributes to our self assessment and development of our action plan >Practice leaders will provide a practice quality focus, and complete the case audit >Site managers are responsible for leading out the self assessment and action plan >Operations managers will oversee ensuringe consistency and evidence in self assessment >Regional Directors will approve all action plans