Hastings District Youth Council

Civic Administration Building

Lyndon Road East, Hastings 4156

Phone:  (06) 871 5000

Fax:  (06) 871 5100

www.hastingsdc.govt.nz

 

 

 

 

 

OPEN

 

M I N U T E S

 

 

 

 

Hastings District Youth Council

 

 

 

Meeting Date:

Wednesday, 4 July 2018

 


CG-14-33-00066                                                                         1

Minutes of a Meeting of the Hastings District Youth Council held on

Wednesday, 4 July 2018 at 3.50pm

 

Table of Contents

 

Item                                                                                    Page No.

 

1.         Apologies  1

2.         Confirmation of Minutes  1

3.         Facebook page updates  1

4.         General Business  2

5.         Youth Council Annual Plan   2

6.         Youth Mental Health - Hawkes Bay  2

 

 


CG-14-33-00066                                                                         1

 

HASTINGS DISTRICT COUNCIL

 

MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE Hastings District Youth Council

HELD IN THE Council Chamber, Ground Floor, Civic Administration Building, Lyndon Road East, Hastings ON

Wednesday, 4 July 2018 AT 3.50pm

 

 

Present:                          Chair: Ella Hoogerbrug, (Havelock North)

                                               Councillor Dixon

Rytasha Sekhon, Pelerose Vaima’a, Kate Allen, Hena Dugh and Emilee Scarborough (HGHS); Abigail Masengi and Hope McCleland (Karamu High); Gurjas Sekhon and (St Johns College); Connor Molloy (Napier Boys); Oscar Malpas (HBHS); Charlotte Frogley (Woodford); and Samantha Anderson (Sacred Heart)

 

IN ATTENDANCE:             Team Leader Youth Development (Paddy Steffert)

                       Committee Secretary (Christine Hilton)

ALSO PRESENT:               Tafadzwa Machunga (Manager) - Child, Adolescent & Family Service (CAFS), Hastings Hospital

Kurschteen Hawthorne-King, Social Worker - CAFS

Stacey Tito - Youth Worker, Directions

Grayson O’Connor - Directions

Vanessa Gillespie - Social Worker, Directions

Caitlyn Jonasen (present from approximately 4.00pm)

 

1.         Apologies

 

Hena Dugh/Rytasha Sekhon

That apologies for absence from Cameron Young (Deputy Chair), Caroline Jones (HGHS), Matekairoa Butler (Flaxmere College), Cairo Smith (St Johns College), Xinyi Chen (Iona), Kaikohe Hutana (Te Aute), Max Sharp (EIT) and Eleanor Matich be accepted.

CARRIED

 

2.         Confirmation of Minutes

 

Abigail Masengi/Hena Dugh

That the minutes of the Hastings Youth Council Meeting held Wednesday 6 June 2018 be confirmed as a true and correct record and be adopted.

CARRIED

 

 

3.         Facebook page updates

 

Ella Hoogerbrug encouraged members to send items to her to be posted.

 

Information about representatives for Hastings Futsal will be sent in to be posted.

 

 

4.         General Business

 

The meeting was reminded about the Youth Potential Awards on Wednesday, 11 July 2018 from 6 to 8pm.  All members were asked to attend and to be there by 5.30pm at the latest and to wear their full school uniform as they would act as ambassadors on the night to look after those who were attending.

 

Members were also reminded that all consent forms needed to be returned for the upcoming Aspiring Leaders Forum.

 

5.

Youth Council Annual Plan

(Document 18/562)

 

 

As there were speakers present at today’s meeting, this item was not addressed.

 

 

6.

Youth Mental Health - Hawkes Bay

(Document 18/563)

 

Kurschteen Hawthorne-King, Social Worker, Child, Adolescent & Family Service (CAFS) introduced herself and her manager, Tafadzwa Machunga, and they both spoke about CAFS and responded to questions from the meeting.

 

CAFS is located at Gate 10, Cashmore Building, Memorial Hospital, Omahu Road, Hastings.

 

Kurschteen gave a power point presentation (Records Ref: CG-14-33-00065) which outlined a lot of information including:

·      CAFS provided specialist mental health services for children, adolescents and their families - between the ages of 0 to 19 years.

·      Services are provided for those experiencing significant mental health or addiction difficulties.

·      They also provided consultation services for agencies working with children and youth with mental health difficulties.

·      The range of skills of the people at CAFS - including social workers, counsellors, dieticians, addiction dieticians, nurses and a cultural navigator (to help young people and their families).  

·      The process for referrals to CAFS.

·      The range of groups that CAFS offers to help young people.

·      The other providers that CAFS worked jointly with.

 

Among the points that were highlighted, was the fact it was important for people to remember they were not alone and getting help is one of the steps towards making things better.  CAFS also tried to give young people resources and skills to take away with them and also had groups in the community.

 

A copy of the power point presentation was circulated to the youth council members, as well as several booklets, pamphlets - “Tihei Mauri Ora - Supporting Whānau Through Suicidal Distress”; "Te Harakeke - Information for Clients”; and “Winning Ways to Wellbeing - It’s ok to Ask for Help”.

 

Stacey Tito, Youth Worker from Directions, introduced herself and Vanessa Gillespie, Social Worker and Grayson O’Connor.  She outlined their respective roles and the work of the Directions team.  She noted that group therapy was a good option for youth.  A number of groups were facilitated by Directions.

 

Vanessa worked with “Breathe” –a teenage mindfulness group. 

Grayson helped to run and facilitate the “Be Unique” Group – “Be U” which was part of the rainbow community.

 

All youth for youth work was confidential.  Directions had a free and confidential service for persons 10 to 24 years old with mild-to-moderate mental health issues.   They had counsellors, social workers and a youth worker.  People can be referred to their service via several ways – including as “walk-ins” or via a doctor.  Having the young person’s consent for treatment/help was important and they encouraged people to come in with the young person involved for support.

 

Directions had been to present to a number of schools in regard to what a healthy relationship looked like and how they can help young people achieve that type of relationship.  They were always looking at how they can improve their services so that young people feel comfortable and safe to share their story.

 

They were also involved in a number of other activities, including a Leadership Camp and they were working on fundraising for this. 

Both CAFS and Directions said that anxiety was the biggest cause of mental health issues.  There were immense expectations on young people; pressure from social media; not a lot of face-to-face discussion as most takes place on-line in an open forum; family issues; bullying and other complex situations.  This caused anxiety and inner turmoil for young people who did not feel they could meet the expectations put on them.

Caitlyn Jonasen addressed the meeting and read out a statement (CG-14-33-00067) that she had presented to a Mental Health Inquiry regarding mental health issues in HB.  Caitlyn had started a petition on social media seeking to establish a mental health unit in HB.

The youth council members asked questions of Caitlyn and the CAFS and Directions teams.  The main points addressed or raised in response to questions included the following:

·      Engagement was the biggest challenge in trying to connect with youth, as well as earning the young person’s trust.

·      There was a lot more awareness of mental health and the services that were available and the teams were trying to support a range of programmes.

·      They tried to walk alongside the young person and their family. 

 

Ella Hoogerbrug/Emilee Scarborough

That the report of the Youth Co-ordinator titled “Youth Mental Health – Hawkes Bay” dated 4 July 2018 and the presentations by Child, Adolescent & Family Service (CAFS), Directions and Caitlyn Jonasen be received.

CARRIED

The meeting closed at 5.00pm

 

Confirmed:

 

 

 

Chairman:

Date: