Henare Tau: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Henare Tau: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:675;Page:20615] 
7. 
Hon TAU HENARE (National) 
 to the  
Minister for Social Development and Employment 
: What announcements has she made that will invest in young people who are not in education training or work? 
Hon PAULA BENNETT (Minister for Social Development and Employment) 
: 
 We have announced radical changes for young people aged 16 and 17 and teen parents aged 18 as well which will transform the way the Government provides not just financial assistance but also services to these young people. We have anywhere between 7000 and 13500 young people aged 16 and 17 who are not in education training or work. It is estimated that up to 90 percent of this group will end up on an adult benefit unless we intervene. We will be intervening. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: What will be different for those receiving benefits particularly for teen parents and especially those living in the electorate of Te Atatu? 
Hon PAULA BENNETT 
: The other group we are concentrating on a lot are teen parents including those in Te Atatu. We are moving to a far more targeted supportive approach. It is of real concern to me and to this Government that we have young people with very small babies who are quite isolated on their own and need our support. We are determined to wrap more around them and also help them with financial assistance budgeting parenting courses and the like. 
Te Ururoa Flavell 
: Tena koe Mr Speaker. Kia ora tatou. What arrangements will the Government recommend to enable tertiary institutions and training providers to take on more students in order to truly invest in the potential of all of our young people to succeed in education training and work? 
Hon PAULA BENNETT 
: Actually work for teen parents is of particular importance for their education and training—and is also important for young Maori and young Maori mums. We are very keen to work with wananga polytechs and other organisations to make sure that some of those Youth Guarantee places are used for teen parents and that it is a wraparound service. We see some of it being in homes but I know that the Minister of Education and the Minister for Tertiary Education have a number of initiatives also encouraging more places for those most vulnerable. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: How will providers be working with these young teens especially in areas such as west Auckland? 
Hon PAULA BENNETT 
: How non-governmental organisations work with these groups particularly these teen parents will really be the measure of the success of the initiatives we announced on Sunday. We can envisage organisations such as the Waipareira Trust for example Presbyterian Support New Zealand or some iwi-based organisations having a wraparound service particularly with young mums ensuring that they have education and training. When it comes to the Youth Transition Service and making sure we have those organisations working with it we see that very much as an investment approach. Less is spent on those who are lower risk and we are spending more money on those who are higher risk to make sure there is value and to make sure that we do not see organisations just picking off the easy kids but that they are wanting to work with the more difficult ones as well. Those relationships are vital.