Information for whānau and family members

Our service brings together government agencies and others that work with your child or young person.

We then work with all involved to create a plan. The plan will deliver added support that your child or young person needs.

This added support will occur over a limited period of usually around 12 to 18 months. Part of the plan will also include transitioning back to support from government agencies and / or others when the time is right.

To access our help, your whānau / family must meet our full eligibility criteria. This ensures our resources are applied to: 

• those most in need
• where there is a clear gap for which services are needed.

It includes the following requirements:

Referral criteria

To be meet the referral criteria, your whānau / family must:

1. receive funded support from 2 or more of the following agencies for your child or young person:
   • Ministry of Education
   • Oranga Tamariki
   • Child and Adolescent Mental Health at Health New Zealand
   • Disability Support Services at Ministry of Social Development
2. be referred by practitioners in the following roles:
   
   • a specialist from the Ministry of Education such as a Special Education Advisor or Educational Psychologist
   • a Social Worker or Supervisor from Oranga Tamariki
   • an Adolescent Mental Health Services practitioner from Health New Zealand.
3. have the Ministry of Education or Oranga Tamariki as at least 1 of the referrers, alongside at least 1 other agency.
4. if there it is in relation to an educational need, the Ministry of Education must be one of the referees.

Child or young person criteria

Your child or young person must:

• have been formally assessed and there are reports that detail:
  • what their needs are
  • that agencies are already working together to provide support.
• show behaviours that create a risk to themselves and or others.
• have had many types of support tried that have not been successful for your whānau / family.
• be in a stable living situation.
• be between 6 - 14 years old at the time of referral
• have a legal guardian provide consent for their referral and if accepted, the HCN process.

If you have legal guardianship of a child or young person approved for our help, we must gain your consent to work with them, you and your whānau / family. 

Our service is not mandatory. But you need to be willing to receive and take part in the support.

If your referral is accepted, then whānau / family, and where possible, your child, take part in:

• creating an added support plan 
• reviewing and helping to make support decisions 
• monthly meetings to discuss how things are going.

Once we bring together agencies, whānau / families, the child or youth and any other partners, our role is to:

• develop an ‘interagency plan’ – this will detail what support will be put in place and for how long.
• coordinate added support and keep an eye on how the plan and the new supports are going.
• coordinate the team to ensure that the right supports are put in place and that any changes that are needed are made.
• manage funding for the supports that are being put in place.

Once engaged, we prepare an interagency support plan. This outlines what everyone involved needs to know to support children and young people to make positive progress. 

To prepare the plan, we:

• collect the views of child or young person and their caregivers
• document their strengths and what is working well
• name the barriers and gaps in services
• outline goals, interventions and progress measures.

Once drafted, the plan is reviewed by the regional Interagency Management Group. They will decide whether to approve it and any added supports proposed. If so, the supports are put in place and reviewed every 6 months.

The plan is discussed each month with you, and if possible, the child or young person and those agencies or providers that are supporting your whānau.

Plan and added support approvals

There is an Interagency Management Group for each region. Each Group is made up of managers from all our partner agencies.

These groups review and approve all plans and any added support proposed for children and youth in each region. They also review and check how things are going for you and your child or young person.

A good High and Complex Needs (HCN) Specialist should make you feel heard. They should help you feel supported and reassured that your family member’s needs are being taken seriously even when solutions take time.

You can expect your HCN Specialist to engage with you and your whānau / family with dignity, empathy, and without judgment. They will:

• build a relationship over the time they are engaged with you.
• listen to your lived experience,
• value your knowledge about what works
• see your child as a whole person – not just their high and complex needs
• help your family see what’s possible not just what’s ‘wrong’.

They will also consider your child’s physical, mental, emotional, cultural, development, and spiritual needs.