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| August 2001 |
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A work challenge gets results... - From Your Mayor
The first partnership group to pick up this challenge was the Canterbury Development Corporation and the Department of Work and Income. Together they put together the Actionworks programme that is aimed at helping us towards this goal. Recognition of the progress so far came recently when Employment Minister, Steve Maharey announced that the programme is to get an extra $700,000 a year in funding. When Steve Maharey announced the extra funding he said that it had been given to us in part because of the strong support for solving youth employment problems shown by local government leadership, Canterbury business leaders and by the Canterbury community in general. He also said that Actionworks was a great working example of the partnership idea in action. He pointed out that the main partners, the Canterbury Development Corporation and the Canterbury office of the Department of Work and Income, were already putting in jointly $1.8 million a year towards working with youth in the region. Actionworks was making possible intensive case management for all young people who were not in education, work or training by the age of 18. It made good sense to put in an extra effort with this group, as it is an incredibly important time in developing the shape of their future lives. Thanks to this extra $700,000 funding we will now be able to expand Actionworks further with more specialist youth workers, moving the programme into more contact with high schools and building on our links with the business sector and employers. It will enable us to move ahead in an area for which Christchurch has developed a wonderful reputation-tackling our community problems in a positive and productive way. The programme has got to the point where one of the main goals lined up in our collective sights is to have all 18 and 19 year-olds in work, training or further education by the end of 2002. It will enable us to start to move on youth employment — one of the most pressing problems our society faces at present. At present youth unemployment accounts for 33 per cent of those getting the unemployment benefit in Christchurch. That adds up to about 5000 young people under 25 years, and includes about 1000 in the first target range of those aged 18 and 19 years. With extra funding, and a more flexible approach combined with beefed up staffing, we will be able to help drop caseloads from the present average of 280 cases to each Work and Income staff worker down to a more manageable average of 100 to 125 each case manager. In other words, Christchurch young people will start to be able to get the attention they deserve to help them develop a positive and productive future in their working lives. It’s another uniquely Christchurch success story in the making and I’m delighted my challenge helped get the resources that I believe our young people deserve. |
