Helping Coast youth stay in school

As the school year comes to an end, the Mana Up programme launched by Hibiscus Youth Hub, Whangaparāoa College, Ōrewa College and NZ Police is showing promising results.

The programme works with youth who are struggling to stay engaged with school.

Hibiscus Youth Hub general manager Helen Roderick says the programmes put in place are working well.

“We have a good mix of cultures, and we are getting positive results, and good attendance,” she says.

Each week about 30 students from Ōrewa and Whangaparāoa colleges attend two sessions through a gym-based mentoring programme that incorporates fitness training and team-building activities.

There is no time limit, and each student is assessed on a case-by-case basis, says Rodney Police Youth Aid Sergeant Jon Williams.

“You work with a child for as long as it takes for them to get fully engaged in school. Some kids struggle with what’s going on in life, and it can be any number of things that’s making it harder for them to engage.”

Williams says the programme tracks results closely to ensure it remains effective, particularly for reporting back to the Ministry of Education and the schools.

“We have very good data on the kids so they are measured constantly on attendance, attitude, improvement, in team environments, attitude with staff, engagement in the program, even strength improvements, physical improvements because that’s also important.”

However, engagement is still one of the most important measures, even though visible changes can take months.

“We don’t want to be doing something that is a waste of time, we want to make sure it’s working. From when we started, we have been fine tuning it, adapting the programme to make sure it is relevant and achieving its purpose.”

The programme pauses during the school break, which Williams admits is not ideal but reflects funding constraints, however Roderick is working hard to build a sustainable funding stream so they can eventually run holiday and after-school programmes.

Williams says the work of the Youth Crime Unit has contributed to a reduction in youth crime locally, but Mana Up is designed as a prevention programme to support youth before they offend.

“Unfortunately, the youth justice system tends to put resources into youth once they become entrenched into a life of crime,” Williams says. “So the Mana Up programme is about getting in front of that.”

He says a growing challenge is that offending is occurring at younger ages, “and the youth justice system is not set up to deal with them”.

“The national crime statistics show that there has been a big increase in crime in the 11 to 13 age group, and the rate of being excluded from school [in that age group] has doubled over the past ten years.”

From his experience, supporting youth through these years can help them develop more stable behaviour.

“I really believe if you keep these kids in school and engaged, they will come through it and most of them will grow out of it, but if you fire them out into the community with no support, they might not come through and they will go onto to be a real challenge for the community because they will become hard-core offenders.

“The programme gives kids positive people in their lives, mentors in their lives that support them and encourage them, tell them when they are doing good but also create boundaries for them.”

For information about supporting the programme, visit www.hibiscusyouthhub.org