6th Mar 2013 8:32 AM ANGER: A Masterton father charged with truancy said he is angry at the stress his family have been put through. For legal reasons he cannot be identified. A Masterton father accused of failing to ensure his 15-year-old daughter attended school says his family has been put through hell. Truancy charges against the parents of the Kuranui College student were dropped in Masterton District Court yesterday. The father of the girl said the stress over the case had led to his wife suffering from a nervous breakdown, while legal bills have run into thousands of dollars. After court the father said he believed their treatment had been "disgusting". But his daughter had several medical problems including self-harming, suicidal tendencies and other mental health issues. She is still not attending school, but at age 16 is no longer legally required to attend. "I'm very angry ... My wife has suffered a nervous breakdown and has had to take three months off work. This is worse than a physical assault, this is a psychological assault." The father, who has name suppression to protect the daughter's identity, said they had done everything in their power to ensure their girl attended school. He said the case had had a devastating effect on the family, and was "the straw that broke the camel's back". The father of three said Kuranui College had not written or communicated with them about the truancy. He said they were only made aware of the situation when they received a summons to attend court. The school strenuously deny this claim. | Principal Geoff Shepherd said they followed all relevant procedures before taking the last course of action open to them, which was to prosecute parents for the first time in 35 years. The girl frequently failed to attend school last year, which led to her parents facing a rare charge under the Education Act. Mr Shepherd said the school wrote to the family as well as making regular contact. He said they also suggested the family attend family group conferences and community agency intervention. "We had nowhere to go apart from prosecution because the girl's attendance had not come back up," Mr Shepherd said. "Her attendance was never satisfactory, however, we wouldn't have went to the final stage of prosecution had we known some of the medical circumstances." Mr Shepherd said the school had decided to drop the charges because they were not aware of the medical issues. In a statement released yesterday he said: "New information was presented to us which that had we been aware of in advance would have stopped us from ever getting as far as prosecution. "We have followed the process of dealing with truancy as prescribed by the Ministry of Education. "It's a lengthy process and prosecution often takes place too late to be effective." (Wairarapa Times) COMMENT: I found this an interesting read as our past service CTDTS (Central Taranaki) and STDTS (South Taranaki) had developed strict protocols regarding mental issues with students and fees with Lawyers and agreements with Court Judges. All these seemed to have been missed?....sd |
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Prior to being made redundant I operated the Central & South Taranaki District Truancy Services and was going to apply as a provider for the (new) Attendance Service for Taranaki.
In doing this I noticed, through my contacts that the YMCA was also going for the same contract so rather than competing I collaborated with them in applying for the contract. I believe that I am an expert in my field (Then Truancy) and after meeting with their CEO and senior staff, I believed that they could provide a lot to our wayward truanting youth in Taranaki through their service links. Unfortunately we missed the contract and it was given to an inexperienced Maori organisation. The reason that the YMCA did not get the contract for the Taranaki (new) Attendance Service. Reason your tender was unsuccessful Your proposal met most of the requirements requested under the RFP but was not ranked overall as the preferred respondent for the service in question. Specifically the evaluation considered that your proposal failed to demonstrate your cultural capability for Maori and Pasifika. Does that say that they are NOT culturally sensitive? Or is it saying you have to be Maori/Pacifika to operate a Truancy Service in Taranaki? I am European and successfully operated two District Truancy Service's in Taranaki for 12 years. Many of my clients were Maori. all of those families would rather work with me that their own Iwi. So the (new) service is given to an organisation who has little understanding or sympathy with any European Culture, they didn't want to use any of the existing services (Experts in the work of Truancy over the past 18 years), did not want any files relating to historic families etc. It also needs to be understood that Taranaki has a 50/50 Euro/Maori Attendance problem with very few Pasifika. Pasifika has a small church in New Plymouth which is the only link to that particular culture base. And thats NOT mentioning the Iwi problems that are going to evolve (North Maori vs Central & South etc) I believe that once again the Ministry of Education has made a hash of things. A bit like NO(va) Pay. But as usual we are 'dictated to' by the powers that be. I can really relate to the Principal that accused the Ministry of Education in New Zealand of being like Nazi' The way they implement their agendas has a familiar ring to it. sd :) From - Malcolm
02/14/2013 12:56 I am part of a trust that employs two youth workers under the 24-7 scheme. When the first hint came out that the 24-7 organisation was being canvassed over their willingness to help with truancy within the school they worked, there was immediately the thought of conflict around the core duties of the youth workers and the uplifting of truants. There was also an issue around the contracts that the youth workers have signed with their respective employer who may or may not be the 24-7 organisation. Of concern is the rule of law that engages anyone to deal with truancy issues. Clearly there is a requirement for the school to appoint a truancy officer and this can't be done when the person they are using is not going to be an employee of the school. What is clear though is that the Ministry is very forthright in telling everyone what to do particularly Truancy or NETS Officers when they are not the employer and have no legal standing over those people. They only have immediate contact with the provider who employs the Truancy or NETS Officer. So there are issues around who the employer of the youth workers might be, who appoints the 24-7 youth workers to truancy issues as is required by law, because the 24-7 collective can't and neither can any other trust or organisation that is not an education facility. Under the education act any appointment must come from the BOT and not the MOE. I can assure you that any form of truancy that comes by way of our youth workers will NOT be dealt with by them. There is a serious conflict of interest and the MOE cannot direct them to do so as they do not pay them. Comment This is something I had out with the MoE a few times, but as usual I was not given the respect of a reply. When I asked them at the Road Show Wanganui they said that the (new) attendance service will be working under Section 31 education Act 1989 (that was my query) I also challenged that tagging Truancy onto a Social Worker (In schools) was an emotional 'conflict of interest' Their reply on their website was NO! It was very clear to me that these people know nothing of the work of truancy which is a 'specialized' job. Stephan ANNA LOREN/ Fairfax NZ TRUANCY SWITCH: Otara Boards Forum CEO Bill Takerei and chairman Maiava Faavae are calling on the Ministry to explain why they have lost the truancy contract for South Auckland schools. The number of truants in South Auckland will ''climb to record highs'' now the Otara Boards Forum has lost its truancy contract for the area, its chairman claims. Maiava Faavae has had to lay off six staff and is pondering the organisation's future after the Ministry of Education announced two other organisations will deliver the new Integrated Attendance Service in the area. The nationwide service, which will receive $9.1 million in annual funding from the ministry, combines the previous District Truancy Service and the Non-Enrolled Truancy Service. It aims to raise attendance rates and enrol those who are not enrolled. It cuts the number of truancy service providers from 76 to 18. But Faavae and Otara Boards Forum chief executive Bill Takerei said the new service will have dire effects on students not only in South Auckland, but nationwide. And they are ''baffled'' as to why the forum missed out on the new contract, especially after the part it played in a successful ministry-directed pilot for the new service. The pilot, which ran from March 2011 to December 2012, received ''regular, positive, glowing'' feedback from the ministry, Takerei said. An evaluation of the pilot rated the forum and pilot partner Datacom's results as ''excellent''. But a ministry spokesman said those results had no bearing on which organisations were selected for the new contract. The two organisations awarded the contract for the South Auckland area - Strive Community Trust in Mangere and Manurewa private training establishment Solomon Group - demonstrated ''a stronger connection with the communities they are to serve'', he said. Takerei rejects that. ''It is arrogant and incorrect of the ministry to suggest that either Strive or Solomon Group have stronger connections in Otara than an Otara provider like Otara Boards Forum,'' he said. Information released to the forum by the ministry under the Official Information Act shows potential providers were not required to have established relationships with specific schools, district truancy service providers or mana whenua, hapu and iwi in South Auckland. Alan Lyth, principal of Otara's Bairds Mainfreight Primary School, shares Takerei's concerns. Bairds Mainfreight is one of more than 90 schools throughout Otara, Papatoetoe, Otahuhu, Mangere and Manurewa that the forum has worked with since 2007. Lyth has been dealing with it since he became principal four years ago and said it had a wealth of built-up contacts and experience that new providers wouldn't. ''Our families are delightful but they're an interesting bunch. ''It takes time for them to open up and accept people so it could take the new people a while to come to grips with some of the families,'' he said. Both Minister of Education Hekia Parata and her former Secretary of Education Lesley Longstone declined to meet forum staff and refused to explain their decision-making process, Takerei said. The forum has now sent a letter to Prime Minister John Key and said it was prepared to take the case to court. By Kurt Bayer KurtBayerAPNZ
3:35 PM Monday Dec 17, 2012 Truancy officers have slammed a Ministry of Education shake-up of the truancy service, which will boost funding by $4m a year, as a "total waste of money". The service will be replaced by a new Attendance Service in the New Year, which the Government says will be "more responsive to the needs of learners and their families", particularly Maori and Pasifika children. It will "reduce fragmentation" of current services, and slash the number of agencies tasked with keeping kids in school from 79 to 18. But truancy officers are appalled at the move, which has resulted in job losses across the country, particularly of highly experienced truancy officers who have built up long-standing relations with children, families, schools, police and community groups. Jobs will be lost in Taranaki, Palmerston North, Wanganui, Hamilton and Christchurch, despite funding from the ministry increasing from $5.1 million a year, to $9.1 million a year. The National Urban Maori Authority has been awarded contracts for truancy services in northwest Auckland, Hamilton, and Wellington. Christchurch District Truancy Services (CDTS) will be wound up in February. The new contract has been given to Te Ora Hau, a local network of faith-based youth and community development organisations. Chairwoman of the CDTS charitable trust Dr Christine Kokay said neither Christchurch schools nor local Ministry of Education staff were consulted over the move. "You're not even asking the people you will be providing the service for," she said. Dr Kokay, who is also deputy principal at Riccarton High School, said it was a "total waste of money" and could not understand the thinking behind scrapping such a successful and established system. "We've got some highly skilled practitioners, with a vast resource of knowledge, very good links between, school and home, the police and wider organisations. Those contacts will have to be reformed and it won't happen overnight." The CDTS, which has been operating for 15 years, bid for the new contract but missed out. Its five truancy officers were told they could apply for jobs under the new regime but have all declined the offer. Truancy officer Hayden Mundy will be looking for a new job elsewhere after becoming disenchanted by the "messy" handling of the shake-up by the ministry. He said there had been a need to link the two existing truancy services - the District Truancy Service (DTS) one which dealt with enrolled students Non-Enrolled Truancy Service (NETS) - and because some kids were falling through the cracks. But he was "baffled" that the overhaul meant the loss of such experienced and knowledgeable workers. "All that work you've put in, will be lost. It's gutting," said Mr Mundy, had been with the service two years. "I've got 40 - 50 schools I look after, and probably have around 100 - 120 referrals a term on average of families I'll go out and work with. "A lot of it is working inside the home, which is hard because it feels intrusive, and now they'll have to tell their story to someone entirely new again. "When the new service comes in, they won't have 12 years of notes and histories of working with families, and will have to start from scratch." Pat Hay, a 12-year truancy veteran, was devastated by the move. "It's such a shame," she said. The Ministry of Education said the new service aimed to better target resources where they were most needed. "When learners are in school they are learning and achieving," a spokeswoman said. "The service takes the best of the former service and develops new ways to be more responsive to the needs of learners and their families/whanau and communities - particularly Maori and Pasifika learners." A 2009 truancy survey found more than 30,000 students are truant from school every day. - APNZ A new expanded attendance service will help to keep more students in school, learning and achieving, the Ministry of Education says.
Whats NEW? the design is the same as the past DTS/NETS services. The same model is being used by most (new) providers though some are just tagging the position on to already existing public services. (more money to prop up their existing services). The service begins early this year and will receive $9.1 million annually. Hopefully money well spent. Will the services see this? Why was it not given to the past successful DTS/NETS service? It brings together district and non-enrolled truancy services into one - enabling providers to target resources where they are most needed. Inaccurate statement. Both the DTS and NETS were disbanded by the MoE to make way for what they call a 'new Service. Nothing is NEW! The ministry has encouraged those people employed in the former district and non-enrolled services who wanted to work for a new provider to register now with the ministry so their names can be passed on to the new providers.Deputy secretary, regional operations, Katrina Casey confirmed that, so far, about half had done so. Some (new) providers are NOT picking up past DTS/NETS workers even though their names have been put forward. Many ex Officers feel absolutely shafted by the MoE after years of dedicated service under very restricted funding and little support from the MoE. "The new service will take the best of the previous system and develop new ways so that it is more responsive to the needs of learners and their families - particularly among Maori and Pasifika communities," Ms Casey said. "A strong part of our requirements of the providers is that they have good connections with other agencies and services, and can work across agencies to provide the right type of support needed to not only get learners to school but ensure they stay there and are fully engaged in learning. This was successfully done by the past DTS/NETS services. Past Officers will be very surprised if they can find anything NEW. There was NO need to re-invent the wheel "It will enable agencies to build a better understanding of non- attendance - making it easier to identify trends and causes, and achieve a more consistent and effective practice, developing early intervention strategies to prevent non-attendance." Ms Casey said reducing the number of services from 78 to 18 will also simplify the system. The service providers have been selected following a robust tendering and contracting process over the last few months. "Schools will be able to build more effective relationships with providers and other key agencies like social services to intervene quickly to prevent problems arising." Again this was already done by the past DTS/NETS providers (the above report was from the Waikato Times) Comment To reduce the numbers of services was to reduce the workload for the MoE especially in collecting the Milestones. The wise thing to have done was to merge all services into one (they have done this) BUT! using the existing DTS and NETS. Putting the contract out into the Public Sector was a mistake. Some Public Services may have their own agenda. Query What Legal Act protects Services now? Past Officers worked under Section 31 Education Act 1989.....sd Greetings D P
We did talk about a debrief for those that missed the Attendance Service contracts. Is this still going ahead? When? and if not why? I was surprised that the contract went to Tu Tama Wahine o Taranaki for the Taranaki region. I am interested to know how that decision came about? I also see that the position for an Attendance Advisor in South Taranaki has been filled by a person who was not working for their organisation until very recently and I don't believe a job was advertised in the local papers. (as an Attendance Advisor). I guess they have tagged it onto another position within their organisation. This tells me that the work of the Attendance Advisor in Taranaki is not a specialised position any more and I do wonder the wisdom of that. With my limited dealing with them, but on first impressions I don't have a great lot of faith in their service in supporting our young people in returning to school. Once they eventually contacted me, TTWOT had NO interest in the past District Truancy Services in Taranaki as a supportive service or their historic data. In comparison YMCA was supportive and transparent and willing to work and support the existing services. First impressions stick! In the end I guess what is done is done and time will tell the rest of the story. I am keeping the Truancy nz website open and will be recording as much of the history as I can. Kind Regards Stephan P Dyer The Government has allocated an annual $9.1 million to the new attendance service, which the ministry (MoE) says will help providers target resources to where they are most needed.
Query - Will the attendance services see any of this money? Deputy secretary regional operations Katrina Casey said the reduction in service providers around the country from 78 to 18 would simplify the system. Schools would be able to build better relationships with providers and other key agencies such as social services to intervene and prevent problems. Query - Will this happen? - Only if the attendance services do this as the MoE were never good communicators with the past District Truancy Services. It was the DTServices that kept up the communication. Often I would have local MoE Staff contacting me for information and contacts. Of the 153 truancy officers employed nationwide under the former services, about 65 had asked to be considered for roles with new providers. Query - will the MoE pay out the extra redundancy money to schools that had Officers under the NZEI union cover. This was never covered in any payment from the MoE and was a 'direct cause' of their change of policy - they may be queried this one from some BoT's. The service would take the best of the previous system and develop new ways to be more responsive to the needs of learners and their families, particularly Maori and Pasifika communities. Query - How different is this so called (new) Attendance Service from the previous DTS? its operation is designed from the past DTService and its operation the same (whats NEW?) Query - (Particularly Maori/Pacifica) Is it not a breech of the Human Rights Act to be targeting a minority group = Maori/Pacifica? It is NOT the race but the system which is failing them. Truancy is also a Family/Whanua problem. It is NO respecter of Race, Religion or Creed. Some people do NOT fit into the current Education System and it is NOT helped by the ridiculous restrictions on entering any form of 'Alternative Education' Final Comment: Here we go again. Lets change everything in New Zealand because a minority group is failing. This country seems to have an inferiority problem big-time! or is that the Politicians who are ruling us? Important message to ex or current Truancy Officers
If you are aware of any past (operating until closure) Truancy Officers who are in financial hardship due to redundancy who operated in the Central North Island Please contact me through the site ASAP Stephan Dyer (site Author) May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back, May the sun shine warm upon your face, The rains fall soft upon your fields and, Until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of His hand. |
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