Listen to this policy:

Policy

Transition to adulthood — Maintaining contact

We must maintain contact with eligible rangatahi who have left care or a youth justice residential placement when a transition worker isn’t available through a local provider.

Last updated: 22/03/2022

Practice framework prompts for this policy

Our practice framework helps us make sense of and organise our practice so it is framed in te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi), and draws from te ao Māori principles of oranga, within the context of our role in statutory child protection and youth justice in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Ngākau whakairo

How will I ensure that I uphold the right of the rangatahi to determine the frequency and nature of the contact they have with me?

Ngākau whakairo practice framework domain

Whai mātauranga

How will I use my knowledge of the lived experience of the rangatahi to build and maintain a strong and supportive relationship with them?

Whai mātauranga practice framework domain

Whai oranga

How will I ensure that my contact and relationship with the rangatahi considers and is supportive of their significant relationships with members of their family, whānau, hapū and iwi or family group and the advice and assistance that they receive from them?

Whai oranga practice framework domain

Whai pūkenga

How can my communication with the rangatahi promote their comfort and confidence about becoming more independent?

Whai pūkenga practice framework domain

Whai ākona

How do my experiences of the support I received, or didn’t receive, from the people important to me influence the way I relate to rangatahi during this period of their life journey?

Whai ākona practice framework domain

Who this policy applies to

This policy applies to Oranga Tamariki staff who take on the role of transition worker when there isn't one available through a local Transition to Adulthood provider – for example, this might happen when rangatahi lives in a rural area.

In these situations, it becomes our responsibility to maintain contact with eligible rangatahi who have left care or custody until they reach 21 years old.

The transition worker must be someone with suitable qualifications or experience for the role, such as a social worker or youth worker.

Eligibility tree (PDF 129 KB)

Eligibility tree – interactive (PDF 1.4 MB)

When this policy doesn't apply

This policy doesn't apply if there's a transition worker available through a local Transition to Adulthood provider who we can match rangatahi with.

Policy: Transition to adulthood – Preparation, assessment and planning

Preparing to leave our care

What you're responsible for as a transition worker

If you take on the role of transition worker it's your responsibility to proactively maintain contact with eligible rangatahi after they leave care or a youth justice residential placement.

You must ensure rangatahi:

can receive their advice and assistance entitlements
are supported to become increasingly independent.

Who is eligible for a transition worker

Rangatahi are eligible if all of the following are true:

they are aged from 15 up to when they turn 21 years old
they have been in care for a continuous period of at least 3 months at any time from the age of 14 years and 9 months
their period of continuous care was any combination of the following care or custody arrangements:
- a care and protection placement in:
  - the care or custody of 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
- a youth justice residential placement (including remand)
- Police custody (remand) before turning 18
- under a remand placement or a prison sentence in the adult justice system before turning 18 years.

When you should first make contact as a transition worker

As a transition worker you must begin contact at least 6 months, but ideally from the age of 16 onwards, before rangatahi leave a care placement, or in the case of youth justice, as soon as practicable once it's known that rangatahi will become eligible upon leaving a residential placement.

For rangatahi on a Supervision with Residence youth justice order, this must be linked to early release decision-making.

Appropriate levels of contact with rangatahi

Before rangatahi leaves care or a youth justice residential placement you must determine the level of contact that will be maintained.

You must consider:

what level of contact rangatahi wants
the needs of rangatahi
the age and maturity of rangatahi.

You must talk to rangatahi to identify their wishes about the level of contact, before changes in frequency or forms of contact occur.

How you can maintain contact

Before an eligible rangatahi leaves care or their youth justice residential placement, you must agree with them:

how you'll contact them, including alternative options for contact and in what circumstances you would use these
how frequently you'll maintain contact
how you'll respect their rights to privacy and consent around sharing information, taking into account their age and care arrangements.

Sharing information about tamariki and rangatahi

Consideration must be given to:

rangatahi willingness that contact continues to be made with them
rangatahi preferences in how contact occurs
what support people rangatahi wants to be involved and how
where rangatahi wishes face-to-face contact to occur
rangatahi communication needs and how information is presented.

Face-to-face contact should be your primary form of contact – provided rangatahi agree.

Recording contact with rangatahi

Transition planning is recorded in the All About Me plan.

You must record:

how contact will be maintained and the agreed frequency of contact
attempts to make contact, even if contact is not established
key information about what was discussed when contact is made.

Frequency of contact

You must meet rangatahi regularly enough to build and maintain a strong and supportive relationship.

You should aim to meet them face-to-face at least once every 2 weeks unless you believe this isn't appropriate after taking into account their needs and wishes. If less frequent contact or contact in another form is considered more appropriate, the reasons for this must be recorded in their plan and on CYRAS.

Maintaining contact

What you should do if rangatahi makes contact

When an eligible rangatahi makes contact, you must:

respond as soon as you're reasonably able to, and
record your contact with them.

Contact by rangatahi may also come through Advice and Assistance requests.

Policy: Transition to adulthood – Advice and assistance

What you must do if rangatahi doesn’t want us to contact them

You must strive to maintain contact with rangatahi until they're 21. If rangatahi tells you they don't want us to contact them, you must try to find a means and frequency of contact that works for them, such as:

offer to link them to a different transition worker in Oranga Tamariki – if this would resolve their objections
offer to refer them to an external Transition to Adulthood provider
advise them of the option to reduce frequency of contact
advise them that they can respond to the contact in a minimal way or not respond to contact if they prefer
negotiate to keep in contact with another person on their behalf.

You must record any request not to be contacted and the efforts you have made to find a means and frequency of contact that works for rangatahi.

If you have the means to do so, you must at a minimum send rangatahi reminders that they can resume contact at any time. This should be done using a non-intrusive means, such as email or text. Rangatahi are under no obligation to respond to these reminders.

You must resume maintaining contact with rangatahi at a later time if they want to, even if they had earlier requested no further contact.

Maintaining contact

What you should do if the relationship with rangatahi breaks down when trying to maintain contact

You must still take reasonable steps to maintain contact with rangatahi. If appropriate, reasonable actions must be made to find an alternative staff member or Transition to Adulthood provider to maintain contact with rangatahi. These endeavours must be recorded on CYRAS.

Keep accurate records

Transition to adulthood — Maintaining contact