Transition to adulthood — Entitlement to remain or return to live with a caregiver

Eligibility

Rangatahi are eligible if all of the following are true:

• they were 17 or younger on 1 July 2019
• they are aged from 18, up to when they turn 21 years old
• they have been in care for a continuous period of at least three months at any time from the age of 14 years and 9 months, in the care or custody of one of the following:
  • the chief executive (including court wardship under section 33 of the Care of Children Act 2004)
  • an iwi social service
  • a cultural social service
  • the director of a child and family support service.

Rangatahi are not eligible if:

• they turn 18 prior to 1 July 2019
• their only continuous period of at least three months in care was any combination of:
  • residential youth justice placement (including detention)
  • Police custody
  • a remand or a prison sentence in the adult justice system before turning 18.

Rangatahi will usually be allocated a transition worker when they turn 16. The transition worker, if allocated, will support rangatahi who wish to return to or remain living with a caregiver. It is the responsibility of Oranga Tamariki to ensure the requirements set out in this policy are met.

Eligibility tree (PDF 129 KB)

Eligibility tree — interactive (PDF 1.4 MB)

Policy: Care arrangements – Approved independent living arrangements

Police vetting is required for some rangatahi in some settings. We must explain the Police vetting process to rangatahi if they indicate that they want to take up the entitlement to remain or return to live with a caregiver. This is to ensure that rangatahi are prepared to agree to a request for a Police vet and are not re-traumatised by the process.

• Police vetting of rangatahi must occur if they return to live with a caregiver who is also a caregiver to tamariki with care or custody orders.
• Police vetting of rangatahi may occur if they return to live with a caregiver who has tamariki living with them who are not in the care or custody of the chief executive.
• Police vetting of a rangatahi is not required if they remain living with the caregiver when they age out of the care system on their 18th birthday when there are no other children living in the house.

Telling rangatahi about their entitlements and responsibilities — Remain or return to living with a caregiver

We must record in CGIS how we advised the caregiver of a rangatahi wanting to remain or return.

Each Living Arrangement Agreement must take into account the needs of rangatahi and may include other matters to support rangatahi. The Living Arrangement Agreement must be documented in writing and must:

• be agreed and signed by both the caregiver and rangatahi
• be approved by a care manager in the Caregiver Recruitment and Support Team and recorded on CYRAS and CGIS
• acknowledge that the arrangement is provided within the Entitlement to Remain or Return to Live with a Caregiver policy
• be consistent with the transition purposes and give effect to the principles
• include information about the financial contributions.

Living arrangement agreement: principles and purposes (DOCX 49 KB)

If rangatahi requests to move in with a non-approved caregiver, this cannot occur as part of this entitlement. This living situation would be viewed as an independent living arrangement.

We must monitor the Living Arrangement Agreement, and record our assessments of how it is or is not working, and any steps we need to take to update it if required.

The financial assistance we provide must:

• support their financial independence
• not duplicate the assistance available from other agencies.

The Living Arrangement Agreement must:

• outline any financial contribution that we will make
• outline how we will make any payments required, for example, the proportion which we will directly pay rangatahi and the proportion we will directly pay the caregiver (if any)
• detail the intended duration
• indicate when it will be reviewed, and what will happen if the living circumstances for the rangatahi change.

We must help rangatahi pay the standard weekly board costs, if it is required. Any financial assistance subsidy is only available while they are living with a caregiver under a Living Arrangement Agreement.

The amount that we must top up is calculated after we establish their existing income through wages, benefits and/or other income as well as any other relevant personal circumstances.

We must:

• make up any difference to the agreed, reasonable, weekly board rate for a living arrangement
• pay the board top-up directly to rangatahi, unless otherwise agreed where this is not appropriate, for example, due to the financial literacy or financial management capabilities of rangatahi.

The subsidised costs of a living arrangement will exclude:

• initial set-up costs (but these can be funded, if required, through the advice and assistance funding)
• the costs of training and/or supporting the caregiver.

Policy: Transition to adulthood — Advice and assistance

If a recognition payment is deemed appropriate by the care manager – Caregiver Recruitment and Support Team, the amount paid must be equivalent to any higher foster care allowance rate (HFCA) previously paid to address the needs for that rangatahi (where there is no recent HFCA rate to refer to, or it is no longer considered to be set at an appropriate level, use staff judgement to determine an appropriate level of payment).

We must record our reasons for the recognition payment or any changes to the amount paid. If a recognition payment is declined or withdrawn, this must be approved by a care manager – Caregiver Recruitment and Support Team.

Before determining who to pay the board rate to, we must:

• ask rangatahi if they want us to pay the subsidy directly to them or their caregiver
• help rangatahi negotiate and establish a Living Arrangement Agreement
• support rangatahi to still be involved in the financial management of costs that aren’t related to board (including how this is agreed at the drafting of the Living Arrangement Agreement) even if the subsidy is paid directly to the caregiver.

We have discretion to discount specific sources of funding when calculating the board top-up rate if it would be unreasonable to include them, for example, grants, scholarships or an inheritance payment. In making this determination, we must consider:

• how it was given to rangatahi
• what it is intended for
• the personal circumstances of rangatahi.

The following situations would be grounds for considering if the living arrangement with a caregiver is detrimental:

• caregiver is unable to care for rangatahi
• rangatahi has behaved, or is behaving, in a manner that is or is likely to be harmful to the physical or mental or emotional wellbeing of themselves or others, and the caregiver of rangatahi is unable or unwilling to control their behaviour
• rangatahi is being, or is likely to be, abused (whether physically, emotionally or sexually), deprived, ill-treated or neglected
• caregiver is unwilling to care for, or has abandoned, them
• development or physical or mental or emotional wellbeing of rangatahi is being, or is likely to be, impaired or neglected, and that impairment or neglect is, or is likely to be, avoidable
• rangatahi has been exposed to domestic violence
• serious differences exist between rangatahi and caregiver.

The key circumstances to understand measures of detriment are outlined in sections 14(1)(a)(i) and (ii), (b), (d)(i) and (ii) and section 14AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989, which contain the definition of tamariki or rangatahi in need of care or protection, and circumstances in which tamariki or rangatahi is suffering, or is likely to suffer, serious harm.

Definition of child or young person in need of care or protection – section 14 of Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 

There may be other circumstances that might mean a placement is detrimental to the wellbeing of rangatahi, which should be considered on a case-by-case basis.

A detrimental placement could be:

• the result of a single incident
• two or more incidents that taken on their own would not be serious enough to constitute serious harm, but the cumulative effect of which is serious enough to cause serious harm
• the co-existence of different circumstances.

We have a process for dealing with complaints about a caregiver.

Dealing with complaints about caregivers

If it is agreed that financial assistance for the Living Arrangement Agreement is removed, this must be agreed by a care manager – Caregiver Recruitment and Support Team and recorded on CYRAS and CGIS. In this circumstance, the rangatahi is still entitled to receive advice and assistance, which may include supporting a rangatahi to live in a safe and appropriate independent living arrangement.

Policy: Advice and assistance — financial assistance

Assessing the appropriateness of the independent living arrangement is covered in the Caring for Children and Young People policy.

Policy: Caring for children and young people — when an independent living arrangement can be approved

If a living situation breaks down, rangatahi is still entitled to be supported to live with another caregiver. In this circumstance, we must continue to support that rangatahi to live with another caregiver unless:

• the caregiver does not agree, or is not available
• rangatahi does not agree to live with that caregiver
• we consider that living with that caregiver is detrimental to the wellbeing of rangatahi.

The Oranga Tamariki Caregiver Recruitment Team has the responsibility to find new caregivers as part of the entitlement to remain or return to live with a caregiver. 

The established approvals policy applies when identifying appropriate caregivers.

A new policy will be required if we establish a different category of approved transition caregivers.

Policy: Caregiver and adoptive applicant assessment and approval

We must investigate all allegations of abuse, neglect or harm towards rangatahi by caregivers.

Policy: Allegations of harm (ill-treatment, abuse, neglect or deprivation) of tamariki in care or custody

A caregiver review must be carried out if:

• rangatahi wishes to live with a new caregiver caring for other tamariki who are in care of the chief executive
• the caregiver wishes to care for additional tamariki in the care of the chief executive
• there are tamariki in the care of the chief executive moving into the household.

A caregiver review is not required when rangatahi:

• moves into a household with an approved caregiver where no tamariki are in the care of the chief executive
• wishes to remain with their existing caregiver and no additional tamariki in the care of the chief executive are moving into the household.