Across Aotearoa, many children are facing big things in their lives which prevent them from being ‘just’ kids and from thriving. They have to cope with issues no child should have to deal with, whether that is poverty, family violence and conflict, neglect or emotional abuse, parents’ excessive alcohol or drug use and parental mental health concerns.

At a primary school in Nelson, where staff deeply care about the tamariki enrolled in their school, they have seen an astronomical increase in families’ need and some whānau even reach a crisis point. The impact of all these pressures have been gravely felt by children.

“It cannot be overemphasised the level of social and emotional damage that the current economic and COVID-19 issues have caused. We are finding that the option for supporting these families in need are becoming more limited as social services are being put under increased pressure due to the sheer number of referrals,” explains Frank*, the school Deputy Principal.

Filling the gaps

Through our intensive and targeted social work service, LEAP, Barnardos is able to work with whānau to keep vulnerable children safe. When a school whānau was referred to Barnardos by Oranga Tamariki for support, the Nelson school saw first-hand the impact of the work carried by Barnardos kaimahi (social workers). From there, the school started referring families directly to Barnardos and a strong relationship was formed.

“The LEAP service has been our go to resource in the last two years where we have nowhere else to turn. Often other agencies are so stretched that they can’t meet those needs. So it comes back to me and I go to Barnardos who fills that gap and brings families out of crisis. Without the LEAP service, family could have imploded or gone downhill. But it’s helped put things in place to prevent it from happening,” says Frank.

LEAP is a social service for children and families facing multiple challenges. It's unique in that it's driven by all the needs of the individuals or families being supported — rather than by any pre-defined programme or service. We work with children and families to develop plans and build support systems. Each plan is unique to them and tailored to their individual circumstances.

“The service, and in particular the social workers, understand the importance of working as a collective unit of family, social service and school. This collective approach makes the LEAP service a highly effective support system for our families,” says Frank.

Inspired Kids

One of the tools Barnardos kaimahi use to support tamariki within our LEAP service is our Inspire Kids programme. Born out of the Kaikoura earthquakes, Inspire Kids was developed to support tamariki who had experienced the trauma of the quakes. A few years on, the programme expanded outside of Kaikoura and was adapted for children who had experienced other types of trauma, including family violence, poverty, neglect and abuse.

The eight-week programme helps children manage their emotions. Each week, they discuss a new emotion and run activities around it; from reading a book, to drawing, doing breathing exercises, creating a safety plan or discussing how they feel.

The programme is designed to be run with a group of children, however, when Barnardos kaimahi started Inspire Kids at the Nelson school with 10 boys who had a lot going on in their lives, there was chaos and distraction in the room. Fortunately, the flexibility of our kaimahi and Barnardos’ child-led approach meant that they were able to run individual sessions.

“The change was radical. The boys totally opened up,“ explains Vicki, Barnardos Social Worker involved in the programme.

“The one-on-one sessions were so effective because the boys were heard and there was attention to their own issues. They shared information they had never talked about. It was great to see the boys engage.”

Low self-esteem was a recurrent issue for these tamariki who lacked trusted relationships with adults and who felt like no one was listening to them. The work Barnardos kaimahi conducted with these tamariki helped them build confidence and trust.

“Their low self-esteem was very clear. And heart-breaking. They would say things like ‘I’m useless’. Some were craving for praises, while others just had no idea of how to deal with praises,” says Vicki.

After an eight-week programme, the tamariki were awarded a certificate and a teddy bear. They also received a safety booklet to take home which had their safety plan in it as well as reminders on how to deal with their emotions.

“Vicki read me books which were neat – no one has read me books before,” said one of the boys who participated in the programme.

“Yeah, we got yummy food and we had stickers, and read books, I liked the drawing too,” said another participant.

The Inspire Kids programme was so successful that the school has asked Barnardos to run another one with a group of girls this time.

“Barnardos fills that gap, Barnardos becomes that friend or that grandparent, providing guidance and advice a friend or a grandparent would usually give,” says Ryan.

About LEAP

At Barnardos, we see every day the difference our work makes to children and their families all around Aotearoa. Thanks to the sponsorship of one of our generous supporters, we had the opportunity to work with ImpactLab and find out the impact our services make. Read more about the Impact Report for LEAP Service or find out more about LEAP here.

*Note: The name of the school and the Deputy School Principal have been changed to ensure the privacy of the students.

Pulling families out of crisis

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