Community Connect

ISSUE 7 • JULY 2009

E-news from Family and Community Services

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Settling In Report Launched by Minister Turia

The ChangeMakers Refugee Forum hosted an event to report on the success of the Settling In programme.  It took place at the Wellington Multicultural Services Centre on 8 June.

In her address, guest speaker Minister Turia said: "The evaluation found that Settling In is contributing to the achievement of an impressive range of outcomes, including health and wellbeing, social connectivity, host community relationships, and settled family lives.

And I want to particularly commend those involved for 'sticking to your knitting' - that is, remaining singularly focused on the strengths of your communities and safeguarding that precious flexibility to respond to the specific needs of these communities.

I am aware that for some stakeholders, such an approach may have created tensions in that there wasn't a pre-prescribed work programme to work from.

But I say to you, well done, for being of your community, for your community, about your community.

I am really pleased that Settling In has been so successful, and I know that such success is due in no small part to the commitment and the belief of the staff who support this programme.

I am delighted to release this very positive evaluation for Settling In, to commend all the communities and agencies for the success to date, and to wish you all well in continuing to meet the needs of your people."

The Settling In programme - an innovative social services initiative that works with refugees and migrants, administered by Family and Community Services.  The 2008 Evaluation Report was conducted by the Ministry of Social Development's Centre for Social Research and Evaluation (CSRE).

The evaluation had three objectives: to map and describe Settling In, to identify the value derived from Settling In, and to identify its critical success factors and potential improvements.

The programme's success has been attributed to staff commitment, its holistic approach, and its strengths-based community development approach. Settling In's flexibility in meeting communities' needs was also reported.

The evaluation provided a chance to identify the programme's challenges and areas of improvement.  Responsibility for large geographical areas mean practical challenges for staff, which include stretching resources and large workloads. Settling In's community development approach leads some stakeholders to think that difficulties arise from the lack of a clearly developed work programme. Also mentioned was the need to clearly articulate Settling In's domain and high-level vision.

The progamme's lack of visibility could lead others to take credit for its work, with implications for future funding and work.  Stakeholders expressed concerned about inadequate resources to back Settling In, potentially denying refugees and migrants access to the services they need.

The need for a monitoring and reporting framework was also identified as a future challenge.

Settling In currently operates in 11 regions throughout New Zealand: Whangarei, Auckland, Hamilton, Hawkes Bay, Wellington, Nelson/Tasman, Marlborough, West Coast, Palmerston North, Tauranga, and Christchurch.

Settling In co-ordinators work directly with members of refugee and migrant communities.  They also act as an intermediary between these communities and the wider host community.

Although each region has developed Settling In slightly differently, there are three common goals: collaboration, social inclusion, and capacity and capability building.