Social Investment Package to help vulnerable Kiwis

Budget 2017’s $321 million Social Investment Package will be targeted at improving the lives of some of our most vulnerable people, Social Investment Minister Amy Adams says.

“From reducing youth offending to contraceptive access for low income women, these are 14 high-quality social investment initiatives that evidence shows will help make a difference in the lives of their target group,” Ms Adams says.

“Our Social Investment Package means we can target integrated services at those individuals, families and communities who face the highest long-term social and economic costs. We want to get in earlier with the right interventions to get their lives back on track.”

The 14 initiatives across seven portfolios are:

• $100 million for a mental health social investment fund to trial new innovative approaches to those battling mental health and addiction issues (Health).
• $34.7 million for behavioural services for children with behaviour difficulties to improve their self-control and support learning (Education).
• $32.9 million for burglary prevention and reduction to target offenders and reduce their motivation to commit burglary as well as provide support to victims (Justice).
• $28.1 million for national coverage for Family Start, an intensive home visiting programme (Vulnerable Children, Oranga Tamariki).
• $19.5 million for intensive client support for clients aged 25-39 who entered the benefit system before the age of 20 (Social Development).
• $18.6 million for enhancing industry, treatment, and learning interventions to reduce prisoners’ risk of re-offending and improving their broader social outcomes (Corrections).
• $17.5 million for increasing long-term contraceptive access for low income women (Health).
• $16.5 million to expand Housing First to provide social housing places and support services to address issues underpinning chronic homelessness (Housing).
• $13.9 million for reducing youth offending through specialist services such as professional youth mentoring, cognitive behavioural therapy, and functional family therapy (Justice).
• $13.1 million for creating positive pathways for people with a corrections history who are participating in an applicable reintegration programme  (Housing).
• $11.6 million for transforming intervention, support and care for at-risk prisoners (Corrections).
• $6 million for early identification and removal of communication barriers to the curriculum to support three and four year olds with oral language difficulties (Education).
• $4.2 million for the Incredible Years Programme to be delivered to children aged 2-5 on the autism spectrum (Education).
• $4.1 million for individual placement support for clients with mental health conditions in Christchurch and Waitemata to find and maintain employment (Social Development).

“These 14 new initiatives will be backed up by the new Social Investment Agency and a data exchange to share anonymised data and insights,” Ms Adams says.

The new Social Investment Agency will receive $25.8 million operating funding over four years to deliver social investment tools, analysis and advice to support the on-going implementation of the social investment approach.

$12 million operating funding over two years and $4.8 million of capital funding will fund the new data exchange infrastructure, which will be a robust platform to provide a safe and secure exchange of data for agencies.

“The new data exchange means using information and technology to better understand the people who need public services, and what works, and then adjusting services accordingly. What is learnt through this process informs the next set of investment decisions,” Ms Adams says.