Storytime Foundation Taonga mō ngā Tamariki and Care Pack programmes
Dr Adrienne Alton-Lee
Kaitohutohu Mātanga | Chief Advisor Evidence Synthesis
Hei Kete Raukura | Iterative Best Evidence Synthesis
Evidence, Data and Knowledge
Te Pae Aronui | Operations & Integration
The Iterative Best Evidence Synthesis (BES) Programme| Hei Kete Raukura affords priority to evidence of the ‘how’ of practices and interventions that make a bigger difference (simultaneously) for equity, excellence, belonging and wellbeing in education.
An early BES finding was that the system needed to afford greater priority to the ‘how’ of making educationally powerful connections with whānau and families. A recent report released by the Auditor General calls for greater progress from the public service to implement whānau-centred services. Early BES findings revealed interventions with whānau to be variously associated with high positive effects, no difference despite investment and effort, and unintended negative effects[1]. So trustworthy evidence about the ‘how’ really matters.
The intergenerational, interagency interventions developed though a collaboration between Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga and Ara Poutama Aotearoa are making a contribution to realising the aspirations of Te Puna Aonui[2] the Interdepartmental Executive Board under the Public Service Act 2020 that includes collaboration between Corrections and Education, with the Secretary for Education on the Board. The kaupapa of Te Puna Aonui (Responding, Healing, Strengthening) aims to deliver an integrated, whole-of-government approach to family violence and sexual violence. Te Puna Aonui affords priority to analysis and evidence to make decisions on specific interventions.
This report is focused on two interventions, in partnership with Corrections | Ara Poutama Aotearoa.
- Taonga mō ngā Tamariki is a not-for-profit Storytime Foundation adaptive introduction to both Early Reading Together® and Reading Together® | Te Pānui Ngātahi. Taonga mō ngā Tamariki has been offered to parents/whānau under care of, or management of Corrections | Ara Poutama Aotearoa.
- When COVID lockdowns occurred, it became prohibitive at times to offer Taonga mō ngā Tamariki. An interagency strategy was developed with the Storytime Foundation to enable ‘Tamariki Care Packs’ to be delivered to whānau under management of Corrections in the community; but also to be delivered to whānau by police in follow ups to family harm incidents. Evidence about, and first-hand experience of, the impact of this intervention has been so compelling that the intervention has been continued where funding has been available in 2022.
Reading Together® | Te Pānui Ngātahi: Evidence of Impact
Reading Together® | Te Pānui Ngātahi has been a high impact intervention for supporting whānau through a four-workshop strengths-based partnership programme. Our recent update provides easy access to the evidence of multiple valued outcomes with a wide range of communities including school-iwi and other partnerships normalising whānau supporting their tamariki to enjoy learning to read in English and te reo Māori, or English and Samoan (EFAKASA churches): Reading Together® Te Pānui Ngātahi Exemplars: New evidence resources and links for support | Education Counts.
The Parent Information and Community Intelligence Group have introduced strong support and training for those offering Reading Together® | Te Pānui Ngātahi and have led a new rapidly expanding workstream supporting Early Reading Together®. As became apparent following the Ōtautahi earthquakes, and in current feedback from those leading implementation in flood affected communities, Reading Together® | Te Pānui Ngātahi can be particularly positive in times of toxic stress.
Taonga mō ngā Tamariki: Intergenerational Reach via Corrections | Ara Poutama Aotearoa
Taonga mō ngā Tamariki is a not-for-profit Storytime Foundation adaptive introduction to both Early Reading Together® and Reading Together® | Te Pānui Ngātahi. Taonga mō ngā Tamariki has been offered to parents/whānau under care of, or management of Corrections | Ara Poutama Aotearoa.
The Ministry of Education |Te Tāhuhu o Mātauranga and Corrections | Ara Poutama Aotearoa have been collaborating on this intergenerational intervention that can make such a difference. The Ministry funded the initial trial then expansion became possible through a successful interagency proposal to the Proceeds of Crime Fund. Priority has been afforded in the evaluations and in quarterly meetings to a continuous improvement approach to implementation.
In October 2021 an evaluation was released. The Storytime Foundation Evaluation: Taonga mō ngā Tamariki (educationcounts.govt.nz) found:
‘Corrections staff and programme participants interviewed said Taonga mō ngā Tamariki is one of the most successful programmes the Department of Corrections offers. It is making a difference.’
The perspectives of participants across 14 prisons and four community Corrections districts were summarised here: Taonga mō ngā Tamariki – In Our Words (educationcounts.govt.nz). By the time of publication, Taonga mō ngā Tamariki was being offered at 28 Community Corrections sites.
‘I have never read a book to my children (aged 4 and 5 years). I can’t wait ‘til my visit on Saturday’
Christchurch Women’s Prison
‘I used to growl them if they got it wrong. I don’t now’
Whangarei Community Corrections
Successive evaluations of Taonga mō ngā Tamariki with whānau in care of Corrections found child-centric visiting to be a critical factor for inter-generational impact. See: Prisoners rejoice as charity organises visiting day activities for them and their children | Newshub
The funding for provision of Taonga mō ngā Tamariki was for three years until 30 June 2023, through an interagency proposal to the Proceeds of Crime fund: Intergenerational Change for and Community Wellbeing through Parenting Programmes: Storytime Foundation and Brainwave Trust |Whakamana i te Tamaiti.
Taonga mō ngā Tamariki and the Brainwave interventions[3] are designed to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the Hōkai Rangi Strategy commitment to delivering great outcomes with and for Māori.
An independent evaluation by Carswell Consultancy commissioned by Corrections[4] reported:
‘Our outcome evaluation showed positive immediate outcomes for the majority of programme participants and emerging short-term benefits for participants and the tamariki in their lives. These evidence-based short programmes are providing most participants with knowledge, confidence, skills and inspiration to nurture tamariki in their lives, and how to be positive role models. Participants reported that where they were able to interact with their tamariki they were putting what they learnt into practice and furthermore the resources (books and educational games) provided by Taonga mō ngā Tamariki are supporting positive interactions and attachment with tamariki.’
The Ministry of Education has commissioned a full Cost Benefit Analysis for Taonga mō ngā Tamariki. Cost benefit modelling shows that the Taonga mō ngā Tamariki programme is capable of creating significant value, even if only the impacts of whānau recidivism are considered. Expressed as dollar benefits, every dollar invested is likely to return at least $3.45. Benchmarking from similar programmes shows the range could be between $10.34 and $51.70 for each dollar invested. The full CBA report and a summary are available:
Taonga mō ngā Tamariki Cost Benefit Analysis (educationcounts.govt.nz)
A3 Taonga mō ngā Tamariki Programme Cost Benefit Analysis (educationcounts.govt.nz)
Interagency Response to COVID Lockdowns
The Ministry of Education was concerned that during Lockdown many children affected by, or at risk of family harm incidents, would be out of reach of help and support from Education so collaborated with Mark Lynds and colleagues at Corrections to enable an interagency response.
New Zealand has been ranked as having one of the highest rates for family harm in the OECD[5]. There were 175,573 family harm investigations recorded by NZ Police in the year to June 2022 (NZ Police annual report, 2021/22). The 2021/22 Police annual report also revealed responding to family harm remains Police’s single largest demand activity for frontline staff. Family harm calls for service are increasing at greater rates than others.
Women’s Refuge reports that children are present in about half of family violence call outs by police, and in around 70% of those households with violence, children are also direct victims of some form of violence.[6]
An interagency intervention was developed to enable police responding to family harm incidents to follow-up with ‘Tamariki care packs’ created by the Storytime Foundation for affected children. Lockdown care packs were made individually to cater to the age, stage, and culture of the children. The resources in each pack typically included books for each child in the family, where possible in their home language, games, dice and counters, scrapbook pack and coloured pencils, and a handout about how reading can reduce stress.
Evaluations of the impact of the care packs commissioned by the BES Programme in 2020 and 2021 revealed a strong catalyst effect of the intervention. The evaluator considered evidence about both the preventative and restorative effects of this intervention.
Covid lockdown packs evaluation 2020 (educationcounts.govt.nz)
Storytime-Foundation Lockdown care packs evaluation 2021 (educationcounts.govt.nz)
A3 Lockdown care packs summary (educationcounts.govt.nz)
Most whānau (98%) said they loved the packs, said they were fun, well used and a good cultural fit. They also said they loved reading the books and playing together with their children. Some said that they had not interacted this way with their children in this way before or for some time. The children described the packs as “awesome”, “sweet”, “tu meke” and “fun”. They enjoyed playing games with their family and being read to.
Probation Officers (29) too, said they thought the packs had made a difference to whānau. Most said they helped support attachment between parents and their children (67%), improved whānau safety (56%) and helped reduce stress at a very stressful time (63%).
A March 2023 report by Te Hiringa Mahara Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission COVID-19 Impacts Insights Paper #4: COVID-19 and safety in the home reported that during the 2020 lockdown, reports of family violence increased dramatically but were likely under-reported. The findings include:
- Concerns were raised about the safety of children.
- Teachers were concerned about children, some of whom they had lost touch with for weeks.
- More than one in five young people felt unsafe in their bubble at least some of the time.
Caring for children and tamariki with family and whānau care packs: ‘A game changer’
Along with the findings of the evaluations the direct experience of those involved in the provision of the care packs and follow-up with whānau was that these were a game-changer for agencies working with families and whānau.
Mark Lynds of Corrections reprioritised funding to enable the intervention to be made available in the Northern Region of Corrections. On Monday 13 March the new evaluation has been released:
The findings of the Ministry-funded evaluation are consistent with the positive findings of earlier Covid-19 lockdown evaluations. This inter-generational intervention has been successful in supporting a kaupapa of care which improves whānau relationships, is linked to decreases in recidivism and is a protective factor in family harm.
The intervention also provides loved books, including bilingual books, for many children who do not have such books at home. The evaluations present the evidence of the educational and wellbeing costs of such lack of access. The evaluation includes evidence from the Growing Up in New Zealand study[7] that daily parent-infant reading is one of the few protective factors that can positively impact child outcomes in whānau experiencing persistently toxic stress. Further evidence is provided that strong family support networks are effective inhibitors of criminal behaviour.
To date, 871 Caring for children and tamariki with family and whānau care packs have been or are being provided in follow-ups to family harm, enabling reach to around 2,125 children. A further 255 packs are in preparation to reach around 622 children.
Highlights from the staff and whānau feedback:
- ‘…with money being allocated for extra food there has not been any money set aside for toys let alone the playdoh, books, bubbles which they received – love these packs – she received these packs with tears’. Probation Officer
- ‘We read the books every night at the moment. We are both learning Māori words together …This has definitely made me interact more with my daughter.’ Whānau
- ‘I didn’t trust the police… I thought I was going to lose my life, but I had nowhere to turn. In my darkest moment she came to the door with the care pack…I couldn’t believe the community cared about my family enough to give us this…I trusted her…I really believe the Police and (named police officer) saved my life.’ Whānau
- ‘The kids loved the activities, but the books are beautiful, She hugged it to her chest. It is her favourite thing.’ Whānau
Both interventions give practical effect to a range of enduring inter-generational policy priorities including:
- Giving practical effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi
- Addressing Child Poverty
- Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy (strengths-based wellbeing)
- Te Aorerekura – National Strategy to Eliminate Family Violence and Sexual Violence Shift 1: Towards strength-based wellbeing
- Hōkai Rangi
The success of the two interventions is dependent upon interagency collaboration.
Since 2022, the Joint Venture Te Puna Aonui, an Interdepartmental Executive Board under the Public Service Act 2020, aims to deliver an integrated, whole-of-government approach to family violence and sexual violence. The Storytime Foundation Caring for children and tamariki with family and whānau care packs evaluation and theEvaluation of Taonga mō ngā Tamariki | Education Counts provide evidence of strengths-based responses that are both responsive and preventative.
Evidence resources
Links
Caring for children and tamariki with family whanau care packs evaluation (educationcounts.govt.nz)
Storytime Foundation Lockdown Care Packs Evaluation 2021 (educationcounts.govt.nz)
Covid lockdown packs evaluation 2020 (educationcounts.govt.nz)
A3 Lockdown care packs summary (educationcounts.govt.nz)
Evaluation of Taonga mō ngā Tamariki | Education Counts
Storytime Foundation Evaluation: Taonga mō ngā Tamariki (educationcounts.govt.nz)
A3 Taonga mō ngā Tamariki Evaluation (educationcounts.govt.nz)
Taonga Mō Ngā Tamariki – Theory of Change (educationcounts.govt.nz)
Taonga mō ngā Tamariki – In Our Words (educationcounts.govt.nz)
Taonga mō ngā Tamariki Cost Benefit Analysis (educationcounts.govt.nz)
A3 Taonga mō ngā Tamariki Programme Cost Benefit Analysis (educationcounts.govt.nz)
Fathers at Auckland Prison bond with their children as part of parenting programme | RNZ News
Prisoners rejoice as charity organises visiting day activities for them and their children | Newshub
[1] Alton-Lee, A., Robinson, V., Hohepa, M & Lloyd, C. (2009;2015).Chapter 7: Creating educationally powerful connections with family, whānau and communities (educationcounts.govt.nz). In School leadership and student outcomes: Best evidence synthesis iterations. Wellington: Ministry of Education.
[2] Te Puna Aonui operates with a system-wide view and is a single point of accountability that enables government agencies to work in a ‘joined-up’ way, to improve coordination and enable a collective approach. A joint response can make a big difference to eliminating family violence…’
[3] Taonga mō ngā Tamariki, Growing Great Brains, and Tiakina te Tamaiti.
[4] Carswell, S.L., Lennan, M., Kaiwai, H.M., Paulin, J. (2022). Final Evaluation Report of Three Parenting Programmes: Growing Great Brains, Tiakina te Tamaiti and Taonga mō ngā Tamariki. Commissioned by Ara Poutama Aotearoa – Department of Corrections, Wellington.
[5] See also: New Zealand Family Violence and Economic Harm Statistics – Good Shepherd NZ
What-Works-Children-of-Prisoners-190615-WEB.pdf (swa.govt.nz)
[6] Arathoon,C. Thorburn,N., & Jury, A. (2021). Kids in the middle | Womens Refuge. Wellington: National Collective of Independent Women’s Refuges.
[7] Russell, J., Grant, C., Morton, S., Denny, S. & Paine S. (2022). Prevalence and predictors of developmental health difficulties within New Zealand preschool-aged children: A latent profile analysis. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand.