Boosting skills and employment

We support young people to be involved in education, training and employment. Young people are most successful when they are purposefully engaged and contributing to New Zealand’s economy and society.

What we want to achieve

The Government Theme of Boosting Skills and Employment has two specific result areas. The Ministry contributes to the cross-agency response to Government Result Area Number 5 Increase the proportion of 18 year olds with NCEA Level 2 or equivalent qualification.

We are targeting young people at risk of long-term welfare dependency. This means being clearer about expectations for young people to be in work, education or training, and wrapping-around services and support to ensure they achieve. We will help young people make positive life choices and encourage them to be active citizens with a voice in decisions which affect them.

Specifically, in our context, we will deliver on Ministry Outcomes: 

• More young people are in education, training or work
• More young people contribute positively to their communities.

More young people are in education, training or work

Linking it all together

Government Theme	Boosting Skills and Employment
Ministry Outcome	More young people are in education, training or work
Ministry Intermediate Outcome	More young people are engaged in education, training or employment without needing a benefit
Ministry Interventions	Contract third-party providers to mentor and provide support for young people to reduce their chances of needing a benefit in the future	Provide youth-focused employment programmes to move young people out of the benefit system	Introduce stronger obligations for young beneficiaries and work more closely with disengaged youth
Ministry Output Expenses that Contribute	Vote Social Development Administration of Trialling New Approaches to Social Sector Change Development and Funding of Community Services Family and Community Services Management of Student Loans Management of Student Support excluding Student Loans Planning, Correspondence and Monitoring Social Policy Advice (MCOA) Tailored Sets of Services to Help People into Work or Achieve Independence Vocational Skills Training Youth Development

More young people are in education, training or work

We will work with young people to keep them engaged and active in their communities by supporting them to be involved in education, training and employment.

The next three years

reforming the youth system…

Alongside our sector partners, we are making changes to our approach for how we work with young people. This means clearer obligations, better support and opportunities to get young people into work, education or training.

Intervening early and targeting our services to disengaged 16 and 17 year olds will help them get back into education, training or work. We want to stop young people drifting onto welfare and increase the proportion of 18 year olds with NCEA Level 2 or equivalent qualifications.

More money has been put into services targeted to 16 and 17 year olds and 16-18 year old teen parents on benefit, and teenagers aged 16-17 who are not in education, employment, or training (NEETs). To support young people back into education, training or work-based learning, third party providers will work with these young people so that they can gain the skills to get a good job. 

working together…

The Ministry of Education, schools and other tertiary providers continue to be our key partners to identify further opportunities for keeping young people engaged in education and training. We know we need to bolster our relationships with our sector partners to deliver the most effective service to young people.

The Social Sector Forum and other cross-agency collaborations are key levers in helping us to strengthen our relationships with NZQA and the Ministries of Education and Corrections to improve outcomes for youth at risk.

Better partnering with Youth Services providers will mean that we can purchase more specialised services with a greater scope for young people. We will continue to work with contracted specialist providers with a focus on results, clear outcomes and greater flexibility. A substantial part of the funding for Youth Services providers will be milestone and outcome based so there will be incentives to deliver the results we need. Through ongoing evaluation we will identify what works and how we engage with providers in the future. 

supporting teen parents…

We know that more than a third of those on the Domestic Purposes Benefit became parents as teens. Almost half of all those on the Domestic Purposes Benefit have no formal school qualifications.

Education is an important lever towards independence. We expect teen parents to resume or continue their education and we will provide support for them to do so. Contracted specialist providers will work with young parents to help them into settled accommodation and to learn to budget. Providers will also help young parents access education or training and meet their obligations. 

accessing childcare…

Access to childcare can be a barrier. To support the policy changes the Guaranteed Childcare Assistance Payment was introduced in August 2012 to make sure that childcare costs for teen parents with children under five will not prevent them from studying. The changes allow both parents and their children to connect to education. These young people will receive extra money for staying in education for a sustained period of time. 

keeping children healthy…

From July 2013 new requirements will be introduced that require young parents to enrol their child with a primary health care provider and complete Well-Child/Tamariki Ora checks.

accessing tertiary education is easier…

Today’s students expect good online access. We will find ways to improve our online services to help students make good decisions as well as make the system easier to use.

Students who need more assistance or who have complex needs will continue to have access to our services by phone and face-to-face.

Guiding prospective students to make good decisions about their tertiary courses, and financing their study is important. In 2013 we will continue to deliver our Sussed education programme online and in person. This includes advice around career opportunities, remuneration and market needs now and in the future.

How we will demonstrate success

We will know that we have achieved our outcome when more young people have increased qualifications.

We will contribute to Government Result Area Number 5 Increase the proportion of 18 year olds with NCEA Level 2 or equivalent qualification.

To be accountable and demonstrate our progress, we will use short and long-term measures to track our achievement. Our short-term performance will be measured against the performance measures in our key accountability documents.

*New indicator for 2013/2014

More young people contribute positively to their communities

Linking it all together

Government Theme	Boosting Skills and Employment
Ministry Outcome	More young people contribute positively to their communities
Ministry Intermediate Outcomes	More young people are engaged in and contribute to their communities	More young people are invovled in decision-making
Ministry Interventions	Provide youth development programmes and services for young people including the Young Enterprise Scheme, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Hillary Award, Stage Challenge and youth development programmes	Create opportunities for young people to contribute to and influence decision-making including youth consultations
Ministry Output Expenses that Contribute	Vote Social Development Administration of Trialling New Approaches to Social Sector Change Management of Student Loans Management of Student Support excluding Student Loans Planning, Correspondence and Monitoring Promoting Positive Outcomes for Disabled People Social Policy Advice (MCOA) Tailored Sets of Services to Help People into Work or Achieve Independence Youth Development

More young people contribute positively to their communities

We support young people to play a positive role in their communities and become active citizens.

The next three years

speaking up…

Young people need to have a voice in decisions that directly affect them. We will train and support young people to contribute effectively to local, regional and national decisions. Working alongside central and local government agencies, we will create more meaningful decision-making opportunities for young people. 

We will facilitate Youth Parliament 2013 which connects young people directly into the parliamentary experience. This will provide an opportunity to have their views heard by key decision makers and the general public. It also exposes young people to government as a vehicle and grows public servants of the future. 

growing leaders…

We give young people the opportunity to be the best they can be. We support programmes that promote leadership, grow confidence, and teach self-management skills and make leadership a possibility.

Through our assistance this year, up to 30,000 young people will benefit from the national programmes we will support over the year. These include the Young Enterprise Scheme, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Hillary Award, Spirit of Adventure Trust, Smokefree Rock Quest, Stage Challenge and the Break-Away School Holiday Programme.

acknowledging right choices…

Through the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme we will continue to reward and foster achievement for young people aged between 14 and 17 who have overcome adversity, turned their lives around and made positive choices for their future. 

addressing mental health issues…

Mental health is a big issue for teenagers. Around one in five will experience some form of mental health problem during this crucial time in their lives.

Through the Prime Minister’s Youth Mental Health Project, we will continue delivering initiatives which support young people’s mental health and wellbeing. This includes two new funds:

• Social Media Innovations Fund – will improve young people’s mental health and wellbeing through the innovative use of social media technology

• Information for Parents, Families and Friends Fund – will improve the quality of, and access to, information for families and friends of young people with mental health issues.

How we will demonstrate success

We will know that we have achieved our outcome when young people are positively engaged in their communities and are involved in decision-making.

We will contribute to Government Result Area 5 Increase the proportion of 18 year olds with NCEA Level 2 or equivalent qualification.

To be accountable and demonstrate our progress, we will use short and long-term measures to track our achievement. Our short-term performance will be measured against the performance measures in our key accountability document.