Parent of youth at risk

Return to The People

Their Stories

Six users' stories were selected for inclusion in this report:

• Returning New Zealander
• First-time importers
• Person who used mental health services
• Parent of youth at risk
• Participant in local democracy
• Genealogist

Skip to Common Themes

Parent of youth at risk

Each story is represented pictorially, underscoring salient features and bringing into relief both the positive and negative experiences of using government services. The accompanying narrative, incorporating the user’s own words, highlights key points and possible implications.

Marianne is a self-employed New Zealander in her forties. She is legally separated from her husband but has "never bothered with a divorce", and is currently living in a de facto relationship. She has three children living at home: Jimi, who is 16, Laura (14), and June (11).

Since he turned 11, Jimi had repeated encounters with the law for theft and burglary. Attempting to take control of the situation, Marianne sought help from a range of governmental and non-profit providers of social, legal, and educational services, and joined a parent support group.

She was especially concerned because Jimi was soon to turn 17, when the law would no longer regard him as a minor. Furthermore, the State services he had used, such as psychological consultations through Child, Youth and Family (CYF), would no longer be provided free of charge and could pose a significant financial burden on her family.

As a working mother with three children and her own business, she had many parental needs which were not sufficiently acknowledged or met as she navigated the system to get assistance for her son.

Key points

• lack of advice about progress:
  Marianne sought to engage more closely with Jimi’s school, and to partner with his teachers, the dean, and the principal to provide better support and assistance for Jimi. However, she was frustrated that the school did not keep her updated on his progress, despite her repeated appeals for this to happen.
• understanding of justice system
  The parent support group helped Marianne to work more effectively with Jimi, and also assisted her to understand and work better with the justice system.
• notice and scheduling issues
  The court system and youth justice coordinator did not take sufficient account of Marianne’s own needs and requirements. There were frequent problems in the scheduling and proceedings of family group conferences, and court meetings were scheduled without giving Marianne sufficient notice to enable her to make arrangements to attend.
• good advice about due process
  The Police and the CYF social workers kept Marianne well informed about due process and legal rights when Jimi was confined at the police station and the CYF home.
• limited information about programmes for ongoing support
  Marianne wished that she had more information about government and community-based mentoring and support programmes for Jimi.

Possible implications

• Marianne’s needs as Jimi's mother and custodian:
  Marianne's focus was to get support for Jimi from various government agencies. She found this to be challenging, and occasionally overwhelming. The support she received from the parent support group not only enabled her to cope with her emotional turmoil but gave her more confidence to deal with the justice system. Her experience suggests that the challenge of designing services to be user-centric might be made more complex by the fact that the "user" (such as Jimi) might receive some of his services through an agent or intermediary (such as his mother). This person will have his or her own particular needs (and thus might also be considered a "user").
• proactive assistance
  Marianne wished there had been more proactive assistance from agencies she dealt with to provide Jimi with a sustained mentoring programme. This suggests that someone in Marianne's situation – who might approach youth-related services to support her son – might benefit from also being offered a range of complementary services (such as mentoring), whether delivered in person or online.
• cultural change and ICT
  Marianne's stress was exacerbated by the fact that her working day was often interrupted with what she felt were trivial matters that Jimi's school could have handled. She also felt that she could have been kept better informed of family group conferences to enable her to plan her schedule in advance. While certain collaborative tools could have been of assistance – for example, a mobile digital schedule shared by Marianne and her authorised contacts – it is unlikely that the introduction of technology alone would have generated the desired improvements. Such an innovation would probably require prior agreement between the parties as to how they would work together, before such technology could be effective.