Media Release 7 – Paula Bennett’s One-Size-Fits-All Approach Leaves Parents With No Options

Posted on 2012-10-26 by Barbara

Media Release – Paula Bennett’s One-Size-Fits-All Approach Leaves Parents With No Options

October 26, 2012

Palmerston North, NZ – Parents will be left with no options under the new Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Bill, says Barbara Smith of the Home Education Foundation (HEF) of New Zealand.

Under international human rights instruments and the Care of Children Act 2004, section 16, parents have the right to make important decisions for their children, including where and how the children will be educated and what medical treatment they will receive.

“The ‘Social Obligations’ in this bill prevent parents from making their own decisions about health and education,” says Mrs Smith. “Under the bill, parents will be forced to send their preschoolers to an approved Early Childhood Education (ECE) provider, register them with a GP, and attend all the core Well Child checks.”

In a letter to the Home Education Foundation dated 25 October 2012, Minister for Social Development Paula Bennett stated, “I know that most beneficiary parents are acting in the best interests of their child and engaging in appropriate services.” According to Ms Bennett, the most disadvantaged families in the benefit system are the ones that fail to “engage in appropriate services.”

“If Paula Bennett knows that most beneficiary families act in their child’s best interests, why is she making ECE compulsory?” Mrs Smith asks.

“The answer is that she believes ‘engaging in appropriate services’ is a measure of whether families are ‘disadvantaged’ or not.

“What about the families who want to opt out of ECE and Well Child checks, providing education at home and quality health care from providers they choose themselves? They’re going to be labeled ‘disadvantaged’ and ‘vulnerable’, simply for not following the government programme.”

Paula Bennett assures beneficiary parents that Work and Income will “engage and support parents to meet their obligations” for a six to eight week period before levying the 50% sanction and—if the family appears problematic–calling CYF.

“Families don’t want six to eight weeks to get sorted out,” says Mrs Smith. “They want to keep their preschoolers home from ECE. They want to home educate their children.

“What about parents’ right to choose the education their children receive?”

Mrs Smith emphasises that this is not just the law of the land but also a fundamental human right.

“It’s the parents’ responsibility to choose their child’s education. The Universal Declaration on Human Rights states that parents have a ‘prior right’ to choose how their child will be educated. The Care of Children Act states that parents have the right to determine ‘where, and how, the child is to be educated’. Thousands of Kiwi parents want to exercise this right to educate their children at home, including in preschool.

“This bill will result in significant hardship for parents who want to choose to educate their children. These parents do not want to be ‘supported and encouraged’ to comply with social obligations. They do not want to ‘engage in appropriate services’ because they believe they can provide superior services. They do not want free ECE, although they pay for it with taxes. They do not want free health checks. They do not want to be supported, encouraged, lectured, or harassed to do anything.

“They just want the freedom to do what they know is right.”

Mrs Smith encourages all concerned Kiwis to make a submission to the Select Committee by the deadline on November 1. Ms Bennett’s letter 2nd letter from Paula Bennett to Barbara Smith and materials for writing a submission can be found at www.hef.org.nz.

About the Home Education Foundation

The Home Education Foundation has been informing parents for 27 years about the fantastic opportunity to de-institutionalise our sons and daughters and to embrace the spiritual, intellectual and academic freedom that is ours for the taking. Through conferences, journals, newsletters and all kinds of personal communications, we explain the vision of handcrafting each child into a unique individual, complete with virtuous character, a hunger for service to others, academic acumen and a strong work ethic. For more information, please visit www.hef.org.nz or more specifically hef.org.nz/2012/make-a-submission-reject-compulsory-early-education-for-3-year-olds/

Press Release appeared:

Scoop: Bennett’s Approach Leaves Parents With No Options

Voxy: One-size-fits-all approach leaves parents with no options

Newstalkzb: Backlash against government plan for beneficiary parents

Mermaidspurse: Bennetts approach leaves parents with no options
Contact

To learn more about this bill, please contact

Barbara Smith
National Director
PO Box 9064
Palmerston North 4441
New Zealand
ph. 06 357-4399
06 354-7699
barbara@hef.org.nz

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Related Links:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the Smiths:

https://hef.org.nz/2011/craig-smith-26-january-1951-to-30-september-2011/

Updated 5 October 2012: One year on (Craig Smith’s Health) page 7 click here

*****

Needing help for your home schooling journey:

https://hef.org.nz/2011/needing-help-for-your-home-schooling-journey-2/

And

Here are a couple of links to get you started home schooling:

https://hef.org.nz/getting-started-2/

and

https://hef.org.nz/exemptions/

This link is motivational:
https://hef.org.nz/2012/home-schooling-what-is-it-all-about/

*******************************

Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Bill

https://hef.org.nz/2012/make-a-submission-reject-compulsory-early-education-for-3-year-olds/

2nd letter from Paula Bennett to Barbara Smith

Posted on 2012-10-25 by Barbara

Click on this link to read the signed letter on Paula Bennett’s letterhead

Barbara Smith 25.10.12

Office of Hon Paula Bennett

Minister for Social Development
Minister of Youth Affairs

2 5 OCT 2012

Barbara smith
Home Education Foundation

PO Box 9064

Palmerston North

New Zealand

Dear Barbara

I write further to my letter of 20 September and in response to your recent press releases about this Government’s welfare reforms. I thought it would be helpful to provide some further context and information around the intent of the current policy and proposed changes.

One of my key goals as Minister is to reduce long term benefit dependency and to improve outcomes for children in vulnerable families. The welfare reforms that I have already introduced and that are currently going through Parliament aim to help people into employment and provide more opportunities to some of our most vulnerable children.

Children from lower socio-economic groups, particularly benefit-supported homes, have a higher risk of negative social outcomes or missing development milestones.

l know that most beneficiary parents are acting in the best interests of their child and engaging in appropriate services. lt is our most disadvantaged and vulnerable families in the benefit system who are not likely to be engaging and these are the families who would benefit most.

The proposed social obligations aim to reduce long-term welfare dependency and prevent the cycle of disadvantage continuing from parent to child. Beneficiaries with dependent children will be required to take “all reasonable steps” to have their dependent child:

aged three or over, enrolled in and attending an approved Early Childhood Education Programme (ECE) until they start school
enrolled in and regularly attending school from age of five or six (depending on when the child first starts school)
enrolled with a primary health care provider, and up-to-date with the WellChild checks.

There is no requirement for beneficiary parents to immunìse their children. The decision to immunìse a child remains with the parent.

As l mentioned in my letter to you of 20 September 2012 I have ensured that a facilitative process is in place that enables Work and Income to engage with and support parents to meet their obligations, relying on sanctions only as a last resort. With at least three stages of contact over a period of six to eight weeks, Work and Income will be able to work intensively with a beneficiary before any sanction would apply.

The “all reasonable steps” criteria is still under development but will enable the flexibility for Work and Income to consider each individual situation and where there are genuine reasons for a parent not being able to meet their social obligations, for example their child is on a waiting list for a GP or lives in a remote area and cannot attend ECE, the parent will not be penalised.

Beneficiary parents will not be referred to Child Youth and Family simply because they have not met social obligations. However, there will be some situations where failure to meet multiple obligations is a symptom of far deeper problems within a family and I make no apologies about intervening and seeking more intensive support for vulnerable children where it is needed.

As a home educator, I understand you are particularly concerned about the social obligations requiring that beneficiary parents take all reasonable steps for their dependent children to be enrolled in ECE from age three until they start school and the obligation that they be enrolled in and attending school from age five or six (depending on when they start school).

As I advised in my letter of the 20th September where l outlined what approved (licensed and certiticated) ECE programmes were (for example kindergartens, playcentres and kohanga reo) educating a child under the age of five in the home (unless it is part of a licensed home based care service for example through PORSE or Barnardos) does not meet the criteria of being licensed or certificated ECE under the Education Act 1989.

I understand you discussed some concerns regarding the implications of the social obligations for home schooling school aged children with my officials yesterday. Your concerns particularly centred on a response I made on 18 October to a query from Samuel Blight.

These welfare reforms aim to help to fundamentally shift the benefit system to one that encourages independence and personal responsibility, primarily through paid employment.

The social obligation for beneficiary parents to take all reasonable steps to have their child enrolled and attending school from age five or six (depending on when they start school) does not in of itself affect a parent’s ability to home school their child. For example, when a beneficiary does not have work obligations. The policy for home schooling has not changed as part of the welfare reforms and provided all existing criteria are met it will remain possible for beneficiary parents to home school their children and not fail their social obligation to have their school age children attending school.

However, beneficiaries who have work obligations generally cannot home school their children. This is because beneficiaries and their partners are required to be available for and seeking work where a child is aged over five. Work test requirements for partners are not new and were first introduced for partners of Unemployment Benefit recipients in April 1997.

There will be some situations where a parent is able to meet their part-time work test obligation while home schooling their child. For example where the parent works their 15 hours in the late afternoon/evening and home schools their child earlier in the day. These parents would not need an exemption from their part-time work test obligation.

Over time the work test requirements have been extended, for example from 15 October 2012 the age of the youngest child at which a part-time work test will apply was lowered from six to five. Whether a work test is full-time or part time work depends on the beneficiaries circumstances:

where a beneficiary has a child aged between five and 14 they are required to be available for and actively seeking parttime work of at least 15 hours per week
where a beneficiary has a child aged 14 years or over they are required to be available for and actively seeking work of at least 30 hours per week.

There are some very limited exceptions where a beneficiary is able to be exempted from work test obligations to home school a school aged child. The Ministry of Social Development have additional criteria to meet over and above Ministry of Education approval for home schooling. These additional criteria were introduced in 2010 to reinforce that recipients of a work-tested benefit are expected to comply with work-test obligations in exchange for the benefit. The criteria in place establish whether the child’s attendance at school is unreasonableI for example if there is no school bus or where a child has special needs. Please note the restricted circumstances in my previous letter are examples and are not necessarily an exhaustive list.

l have been advised by officials that applications for exemptions from work test obligations for home schooling are relatively infrequent and consequently the overall number of exemptions is low.

Provided the parent has met both Ministry of Education and Ministry of Social Development criteria to home school their child this would be acceptable to meet the obligation to ensure their child is enrolled in school. ln my letter to Samuel Blight I indicated that the Ministry of Education had advised that although most people do not apply to Ministry of Education for home schooling until their child is near age six there is nothing to stop a parent applying to Ministry of Education to home-school their child from age five.

Following your discussion yesterday morning my officials have clarified this matter with Ministry of Education. You are correct in stating that the Ministry of Education exemption is not issued until the legal requirement to attend school commences at age six. This has previously not been a concern because the part-time work obligations for beneficiaries did not apply until the youngest child is six years of age. My officials assure me they are looking in to this matter and guidelines will be developed to ensure parents who want to home-school their children from age five and meet other requirements are not disadvantaged by this delay.

You have also expressed concern that if a family has to go on to benefit they will be subject to social obligations immediately. If a person is home schooling a school aged child before becoming a beneficiary with work obligations then an exemption can be granted until the end of that school year. The parent would need to have their exemption certificate from the Ministry of Education and provide proof of restricted circumstances that makes their child’s attendance at school unreasonable in line with the Ministry of Social Development’s policy.

The finaI point I would like to make clear is that all decisions regarding home-schooling exemptions are made at Work and Income Service Centre Manager level to ensure consistency.

I trust this has helped to address some of your concerns regarding obligations for beneficiaries and how they relate to home schooling.

As you are aware, submissions are being accepted by Select Committee up until 1 November 2012 on the Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Bill. I continue to encourage you and other concerned home-schooling parents to make a submission that the Committee can consider before it reports back to Parliament early next year

Yours sincerely

Hon Paula Bennett
Minister for Social Development

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Related Links:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the Smiths:

https://hef.org.nz/2011/craig-smith-26-january-1951-to-30-september-2011/

Updated 5 October 2012: One year on (Craig Smith’s Health) page 7 click here

*****

Needing help for your home schooling journey:

https://hef.org.nz/2011/needing-help-for-your-home-schooling-journey-2/

And

Here are a couple of links to get you started home schooling:

https://hef.org.nz/getting-started-2/

and

https://hef.org.nz/exemptions/

This link is motivational:
https://hef.org.nz/2012/home-schooling-what-is-it-all-about/

*******************************

Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Bill

https://hef.org.nz/2012/make-a-submission-reject-compulsory-early-education-for-3-year-olds/

Why should I put a submission into the Select Committee about the beneficiaries?

Posted on 2012-10-25 by Barbara

Greetings

We only have just over 5 more days for getting submissions in to the Select Committee to stop the Government from making ECE and immunisations compulsory for beneficiaries. All the information you need is here: https://hef.org.nz/2012/make-a-submission-reject-compulsory-early-education-for-3-year-olds/

Some of us think why should we be doing anything that will not affect us?

Let me assure you that you do not know when this could affect you. You do not know when you might become a widow, become unemployed, or have sickness in your family.

So please think again. And put in a submission.

When Ruby Harrold-Claesson (the Swedish lawyer) was here in New Zealand a few years ago she talked about the “tryanny of the small steps”. The Government knows that they can’t make huge changes all at once so they do it in little steps in ways that people can’t see what they are doing.

Well this Bill, I am convinced, is to make ECE and immunisations COMPULSORY for all children down the line. The Government is taking it is small steps and thinking that if they bring it in under the idea of reducing benefits then it might be accepted. Well just read the “White Paper” or the “Supporting Vulnerable Children” pamphlet. This is what they say:

Result 2: Early childhood education: In 2016, 98 per cent of children starting school will have participated in quality early childhood education.

Result 3: Immunisation: Increase infant immunisation rates so that 95 per cent of eight month olds are fully immunised by December 2014 and this is maintained until 30 June 2017.

Result 4: Assaults on children: By 2017, we aim to halt the rise in children experiencing physical abuse and reduce current numbers by five per cent. —- (Why is Result 4 one ONLY 5%?)

These are yours and my children. They mostly don’t go to ECE and are mostly not immunised.

Paula Bennett eventually (2016 for ECE and 2014 for immunisations) wants this to be for almost ALL children. 98% for ECE and 95% for immunisations is almost all children and only 5% reduction in abuse of children. It is our children Paula Bennett is after not the abused children.

So please think again and put in a submission for your children and grandchildren.

All the information you need is here: https://hef.org.nz/2012/make-a-submission-reject-compulsory-early-education-for-3-year-olds/

35 submissions already put in are here: https://hef.org.nz/beneficiaries/submissions/

To make an online submissions click here and go to the bottom of the page: http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/SC/MakeSub/2/d/6/50SCSS_SCF_00DBHOH_BILL11634_1-Social-Security-Benefit-Categories.htm

This Bill MUST be rejected. Please ask for it to be totally rejected in your submissions. Thank you.

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Related Links:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the Smiths:

https://hef.org.nz/2011/craig-smith-26-january-1951-to-30-september-2011/

Updated 5 October 2012: One year on (Craig Smith’s Health) page 7 click here

*****

Needing help for your home schooling journey:

https://hef.org.nz/2011/needing-help-for-your-home-schooling-journey-2/

And

Here are a couple of links to get you started home schooling:

https://hef.org.nz/getting-started-2/

and

https://hef.org.nz/exemptions/

This link is motivational:
https://hef.org.nz/2012/home-schooling-what-is-it-all-about/

*******************************

Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Bill

https://hef.org.nz/2012/make-a-submission-reject-compulsory-early-education-for-3-year-olds/

Media Release 6 – Social Security Bill Will Punish Responsible Parents Who ‘Can’t Be Bought’

Posted on 2012-10-25 by Barbara

Media Release – Social Security Bill Will Punish Responsible Parents Who ‘Can’t Be Bought’

October 25, 2012

Palmerston North, NZ – The Home Education Foundation (HEF) of New Zealand is calling on politicians to reject the onerous ‘social obligations’ contained in the new Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Bill. The Bill, which is currently being considered by a select committee, threatens to slash benefits by 50% and instigate CYFS involvement and fraud investigation for parents who fail to comply with the obligations.

“The social obligations will force beneficiary parents to send their children to an approved Early Childhood Education (ECE) provider from the age of three, prohibit home education unless it’s ‘unreasonable’ for the child to attend school, and compel registration of children with a GP and attendance at all the core Well Child checks,” says HEF National Director Barbara Smith.

“Even worse, the sanctions for parents who refuse to comply will involve a 50% benefit sanction followed by ‘intensified case management support’ which according to the Ministry of Social Development means CYFS involvement and fraud investigation.”

Mrs Smith believes that the new requirements will affect only those parents who are committed to making independent, responsible choices for their families.

“There is nothing more valuable on this planet than children. And most parents understand what a responsibility this is. They know their children are made in God’s image and that they have a duty to make the right decisions for them.”

This means making informed decisions, even unpopular decisions. But in forcing parents to choose between benefit money and the government’s child-rearing programme, the new bill rewards mindless conformity.

“This new bill has it totally backwards. It is the parents who value their money more than their children that everyone should be and claims to be concerned about. Because that kind of parent can be bought. They don’t really care about their children at all.

“Yet this is precisely the kind of parent that the government wants to have and reward, while claiming the opposite. They are specifically and unapologetically targeting those parents who refuse to be bought with government benefits, who are willing to take a 50% benefit cut in order to retain the right to make their own decisions.”

This will only promote irresponsible parenting, Mrs Smith argues. “Instead of investigating parents who refuse to sell their children to the government for the sake of a little extra money, the Ministry for Social Development ought to investigate those parents who are willing to conform. Those parents who refuse to sell their children become the ‘criminals’, while those who sell their children are the good guys.

“It is diabolically hypocritical.

“God gave my children to me, not to the government. I will not sell them for a bowl of soup. Let them keep their money.”

Mrs Smith encourages all concerned Kiwis to make a submission to the Select Committee by the deadline on November 1. Ms Bennett’s letter and materials for writing a submission can be found at www.hef.org.nz.

About the Home Education Foundation

Already appeared:

Scoop: Social Security Bill Will Punish Responsible Parents

Voxy: Social Security Bill will ‘punish responsible parents’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Related Links:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the Smiths:

https://hef.org.nz/2011/craig-smith-26-january-1951-to-30-september-2011/

Updated 5 October 2012: One year on (Craig Smith’s Health) page 7 click here

*****

Needing help for your home schooling journey:

https://hef.org.nz/2011/needing-help-for-your-home-schooling-journey-2/

And

Here are a couple of links to get you started home schooling:

https://hef.org.nz/getting-started-2/

and

https://hef.org.nz/exemptions/

This link is motivational:
https://hef.org.nz/2012/home-schooling-what-is-it-all-about/

*******************************

Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Bill

https://hef.org.nz/2012/make-a-submission-reject-compulsory-early-education-for-3-year-olds/

Beneficiaries: Policy and Law

Posted on 2012-10-24 by Barbara

At the moment there are two issues that we need to be looking at for Beneficiaries who home educate.

1 The law see more here

2. Policy put in place 2010 see more here

These are two very different issues and will need to be dealt with differently and separately.

Policy

Read about it in this letter to Samuel Blight

Unfortunately there are familes out there being affected by the Policy. The Ministry of Social Development have assured me that they want to look at each case individually and be fair. But with about 3000 staff it is hard for them to know who is doing their job well and who is making things difficult for beneficiaries. If your case worker at WINZ is not being fair and infact is intolerant – if your case worker thinks that you should not be home schooling or keeping your 3 – 5 year old home and is being nasty about it then Head Office would like to hear about it. Please ring 04 916-3300.

The policy is something that we need to be addressing. It has been in place since 2010, and it is not working. We need to strategise on what is best to be doing.

The Law

Read all about the law change here including the pamphlet, press releases and links

This is urgent. We have until 5pm 1 November to be putting submissions in to the Select Committee. If you have not put a submission in yet please do so as soon as possible. Here are some submissions that have already been submitted to the Select Committee https://hef.org.nz/beneficiaries/submissions/

After 1 November we will need to strategise on what we should be doing during the Select Committee stage which could last up to 6 months.

So for now – during the next 7 days please put in a submission.

We would like to see everyone putting in submissions whether you are beneficiaries or not. You never know when your circumstances could change (a death, loose a job, have health issues). So please put in a submission.

If you have put in a submission please get your family and friends to put in submissions. Thanks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Related Links:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the Smiths:

https://hef.org.nz/2011/craig-smith-26-january-1951-to-30-september-2011/

Updated 5 October 2012: One year on (Craig Smith’s Health) page 7 click here

*****

Needing help for your home schooling journey:

https://hef.org.nz/2011/needing-help-for-your-home-schooling-journey-2/

And

Here are a couple of links to get you started home schooling:

https://hef.org.nz/getting-started-2/

and

https://hef.org.nz/exemptions/

This link is motivational:
https://hef.org.nz/2012/home-schooling-what-is-it-all-about/

*******************************

Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Bill

https://hef.org.nz/2012/make-a-submission-reject-compulsory-early-education-for-3-year-olds/

Home Education Foundation

Serving, promoting, defending and publishing for Christian and secular home educators in NZ and overseas.

Category Archives: Beneficiaries