11. JONATHAN YOUNG (National—New Plymouth) Link to this
to the Minister for Social Development and Employment
What is the Government doing to support teen parents?
Hon PAULA BENNETT (Minister for Social Development and Employment) Link to this
I am pleased to update the House on the progress of the Government’s work on teen parents. We have put $15 million into teen parents, which is the biggest investment in one lot that has ever been made. As part of the package we have opened a number of supported homes for teen parents around the country. These supported homes are providing 24/7 support and supervision for these young mothers. The last one is about to be opened very shortly in Gisborne.
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
We also invested a lot in intensive case workers for the most vulnerable of teen parents, who need much more of a wraparound service and who have very complex needs in most of the cases. We so far have 19 of those case workers in very high-need communities, and we have also put additional support in for those intensive case managers so that they can do the work that is needed most.