Govt cuts money to crucial family service

20 May 2016
Tertiary Education Union - Te Hautū Kahurangi o Aotearoa

Govt cuts money to crucial family service

The government plans to cut funding to the highly regarded and successful programme Parents as First Teachers.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley announced last night that funding for the Parents As First Teachers (PAFT) programme will be cut and transferred to support the Family Start programme instead.

This means that the PAFT programme will end on September 30.

PAFT is a parent education and support programme that helps parents understand how their infant develops and learns, and how best they can help their child reach their full potential.

PAFT is not a targeted programme, it is an education programme based on need. The programme helps tens of thousands of families in New Zealand and employs dozens of people who could now lose their jobs.

TEU national president Sandra Grey says the decision means some will some families will miss out.

"These people work directly with families helping them to be the best strong self-reliant families they can be."

"The two programmes are designed to do completely different things. PAFT is a parent education programme and Family Start is family support programme."

ENDS

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