Families are the fundamental unit of society

United Future believes that families are the foundation stone of society. We will ensure that all New Zealand families have the opportunity to participate fully in our society. We will therefore promote both the rights and responsibilities of families, as well as the rights and responsibilities of Government towards families.

Families have been neglected for too long and it is now time they were put first. We urgently need strong, sensible and supportive family policies.

There is a lack of co-ordination between social services in New Zealand. Many individuals and families have missed out on the support they are entitled to and, consequently, as a country we have witnessed far too many incidents of child abuse and death.

United Future advocates a Commission for the Family

A Commission for the Family will:

• Include a National Centre for Research into the Family to promote the status of the family and the role of parents.
• To raise public awareness of family issues
• To ensure all policy development reflects the fundamental needs of families and their children.
• To carry out research into youth suicide with an emphasis on prevention
• To research and monitor the role of the family
• To report annually to Parliament on the position of families in New Zealand
• To be a filter through which all legislation is passed
• To improve co-ordination of Government Departments
• To monitor and report on the effects of all Government polices and legislation upon families.
• To improve accessibility and coherence in the early childhood sector, Plunket, Parents As First Teachers, Public Health, Kohanga Reo, pre-school and primary schools to allow for early identification of learning health and social problems.
• To review inter agency protocols for the reporting of child abuse and neglect.
• To report on national and local levels of compliance of all agency protocols that impact upon the family, specifically protocols regarding general practitioners, hospital medical and specialist staff, midwives, Well Child providers and the education sector.

The Commission will include a Family Support Agency that will:

• Provide a family mediation service to support, promote and develop the provision of marriage and relationship counselling services.
• Facilitate family support and parental education programmes.
• Introduce a more streamlined approach for the funding of family voluntary and community organisations.
• Ensure that comprehensive services appropriate to that family's culture are available to their children.
• Fund 'by Maori for Maori' parental education programmes, in line with the principals of the Treaty of Waitangi.
• Provide increased funding and intervention for at-risk children

Children

Children are our nation's most important resource. They need to be nurtured, respected and loved. It is now widely recognised that the pre-school years of a child's life are the most important years for learning and development. We must ensure that, during these vital years, children receive the emotional, spiritual, intellectual and physical support that they deserve. By doing so, we will pave the way forward for a prosperous, fair and strong society for all New Zealanders.

United Future's Caring for Our Kids policy focuses on the important first ten years of a child's life. Success in these early years generally means success in later years. Failure in these years may lead to failure in later years, when not only the child and family suffer, but all of society suffers.

Most children in New Zealand are brought up in supportive homes and families, but too many children:

• lack the support needed for emotional development
• lack adequate nutrition for physical growth
• miss out on the stimulating environment needed for intellectual development.

We know that by not investing in our children today we will place much greater costs on society tomorrow. United Future wants action. The benefits of investment in the early years of a child's life are well documented in local and international research. We will promote a determined, coordinated and comprehensive programme which ensures that all children receive the care which they deserve and the start in life which they are owed.

The costs of early intervention and support are far less, to both the individuals involved and society as a whole, than the cost of supporting those who have fallen through the system. As a nation we need to shift from dealing with problems to preventing them.

Caring for Kids means involving communities. Healthy communities provide safe and stimulating environments for children. Local government, businesses and community organisations must work together to build the 'playground' that best suits the children and families of the community.

• · Fund Plunket to ensure all children receive the recommended eight well child health checks in the first five years of life.
• · Adequately resource the Parents as First Teachers programme to guarantee all at-risk children and their families a place on the programme and progressively expand the programme to include all families.
• · Establish new child health clinics within family service centres, to provide comprehensive health screening programmes.
• · Increase funding to ensure all children receive the recommended 8 Well Child health checks
• · Adequately resource the Department of Child Youth and Family Services to provide the needed assistance to families.
• · Require the Department of Child Youth and Family Services, Police and other agencies to take a co-ordinated and proactive approach in cases of physical, emotional or sexual abuse.
• · Guarantee all pre-school children over the age of three years the right to access up to 15 hours per week of early childhood education.
• · Expand the current vision and hearing tests in schools to include years 1, 3, 5 and 7.
• · Increase funding for the current study support centres in schools, for after school supervision and homework support, and examine ways in which this support might be extended to other groups. Many schools have assets which sit idle for a large part of the year and these will be offered to communities for their use during out of school time
• · Involve people receiving the 55 plus benefit or those who qualify for New Zealand superannuation to assist with early childhood, school, after school and school holiday activities. United Future will acknowledge participants' valuable contribution by providing a community volunteer rebate on taxes.
• · Give strong support for the advocacy role of the Commissioner for Children.
• · Encourage the corporate sector to support and participate in projects, which create stimulating environments for young people.

Parental Support

Becoming a parent is one of the most important, demanding and complex times in a person's life. We must not give the impression that the Government is any better than the rest of the population in meeting the challenge of family life. However, we do need to change the culture so that seeking advice and help when it is needed is seen not as a failure. but the action of concerned and responsible parents.

United Future will ensure that the taxation system takes into account the costs of raising a family by:

• · Introducing income splitting for families
• · Introducing a home carer's allowance for parents at home caring for children under the age of five.
• · Increasing tax rebates currently available for child-care costs.
• · Freezing interest on student loan repayments for parents for the first two years of their child's life
• · Adjusting parents' student loan repayment threshold to better reflect the extra costs of child-rearing.
• · Requiring the Inland Revenue Department to ensure that families fully access all tax rebates and family support entitlements.

Many programmes aim at helping parents. Most provide an excellent service, however, they are fragmented and must be organised better. Parenting programmes and other support services provided in the first years of a child's life also need to be linked into the early childhood school system. United Future will:

• · Encourage all new parents to enrol in a home visiting programme, from the birth of the child
• · Promote culturally appropriate parenting programmes with a strong emphasis on child education, health and parental responsibility.
• · Establish family service centres in communities where parenting and family support needs are greatest, with emphasis on local solutions for local problems.
• · Support child health clinics and provide comprehensive health screening programmes
• · Increase support and encouragement for the voluntary agencies who provide services to help people prepare for marriage
• · Promote family mediation services to offer support and guidance to marriages and partnerships in difficulty and appropriate counselling as necessary.
• · Introduce a family literacy programme to enable parents to learn the essential skills necessary to understand much of the printed material encountered in everyday life.
• · Offer incentives to providers of approved budgeting services so that families are able to access quality budgeting advice.

Youth

United Future believes in working with families to enable them to support their children through adolescence. Young New Zealanders are the key to a prosperous, fair and strong society. Their rights, interests and needs have to be fostered and respected. Their individual needs vary enormously and may change over time. For many New Zealanders these years are the most confusing and testing. They need strong leadership and sensible guidance to ensure a smooth transition to adulthood.

Families, schools and the wider community must be at the forefront to providing a strong sense of self-esteem, community participation, values and goals for teenagers.

United Future will:

• Fund youth clinics in schools that will:
  • Offer advice and guidance on planning, to achieve their educational and life goals, including careers information.
  • Give information and advice where required on health, lifestyle, budgeting, financial support and other personal issues to assist them in achieving their goals.
  • Offer access to personal development opportunities to broaden their horizons and develop talents, such as community service activities, sports, and the arts.
  • Offer access to specialist advice and services where needed, including properly trained school chaplains, to remove barriers to participation in learning and achievement.
• Establish regional youth forums involving health, education, police, justice, welfare agencies and youth representatives and parents, to:
  • Review current policies and the delivery of programmes affecting young people.
  • Determine priorities for action and the effectiveness of existing programmes available.
  • Review current research and assess priorities for future research.
• Establish links and incentives with the business community to mentor and support adolescents.
• Support successful community programmes for the prevention of youth suicide
• Increase fines for selling alcohol to young people under the age of 18 years and further strengthen enforcement of identity arrangements.
• Encourage safety on the roads by:
  • Instituting driver education programmes in schools
  • Setting zero blood alcohol levels for all drivers under 25 years
• Implement a comprehensive education strategy relating to all aspects of the use and misuse of drugs in contemporary society.
• Oppose the decriminalisation of cannabis due to the significant health risks and the massive social costs it imposes.

United Future Parliamentary Office: Bowen House, Lambton Quay, Wellington
Email: Phone: (04) 471 9410