Deputy Prime Minister Bill English told an audience of 50 ‘Key Thinkers’ at a forum in Wellington yesterday that he wants people involved in social community initiatives to ‘run down our doors’ with new ideas. He and Social Welfare minister Paula Bennett said that the government is committed to social services that strengthen communities and empower community champions. Bennett promised the audience a lively debate through the remainder of the year on social policy approaches.
The forum was organised by the Families Commission, and tried to gather the thinking of the 50 invited people in six working groups. Disappointingly, there was almost no talk about better involvement of males as a key factor in positive outcomes for children, perhaps because only one fathers ‘champion’ was invited (Father&Child’s Harald Breiding-Buss).
Bennett appeared vaguely disappointed with what she overheard from discussions at the workgroup tables, saying that perhaps the thinking could have gone further.
More details about the forum can be found here: http://www.nzfamilies.org.nz/50-key-thinkers/main

The government has positioned the Families Commission as a ‘centre of excellence for knowledge about families and whanau’. Providing ‘advice on effective, accessible, and appropriately targeted services’ is one of the Commissions key future roles.
The Commission is inviting 50 ‘key thinkers’ from outside government to a forum in May to develop a ‘knowledge base’ about family service delivery.
The Families Commission is best known for its controversial campaigns on male-initiated family violence (the ‘White Ribbon’ and ‘It’s Not OK’ campaigns), which have been rejected by some of New Zealand’s top family researchers. The Commission’s key role in the past has been to fund family-related research, and in 2009 it commissioned a large study on male views on fatherhood.
It campaigned for the introduction of paid parental leave for fathers in late 2009 to a frosty response from the government.

Recent research shows that dads need to be more included in family services says Families Commissioner Gregory Fortuin. (more…)

Father & Child was involved in some of the most prominent media coverage about the Families Commission’s proposal for four weeks paid paternity leave.
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Families Commission research released today Heart and Head, showed that 60% of fathers think the media portrayed them in a poor light, and half thought that society overall does not recognise their importance.
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The Families Commission is calling for four weeks paid leave for fathers with today’s release of their father research report. The report showed that fathers are asking for more time with their children. (more…)

A new study by Nelson researchers David Mitchell and Philip Chapman on experiences of separated non-resident fathers found that research participants were either unaware of existing services or considered them unfriendly towards men.
(more…)

The Families Commission has contracted Christchurch researchers Research First led by Carl Davidson to undertake a literature review of fathers research and a representative survey on Kiwi dads. This will be the first study on any aspect of fatherhood since 1999 involving more than a handful of respondents.

The Commission wants to base the new survey on some of the results of the ‘Fathering in the New Millenium’ study conducted by the Office of the Children’s Commissioner in 1999. 92% of the 2,000 respondents interviewed for that study believed there should be a social expectation of equal joint parenting, and 65% believed even day-to-day care should be split evenly between mothers and fathers.

Most respondents to the Families Commission’s internet-based ‘Couch Poll’ on fathers said ‘better attitudes towards fathers from society’ was the single most important thing that could be done to support fathers. Of the 142 predominantly male respondents, 46% agreed with this, followed by flexible working hours, paid paternity leave and father-specific parenting courses with 30-35% each.
Partners (71%) and friends (65%) easily topped the list of people fathers turn to for support and information, while health professionals and social service organisations scored under 10%.

Click here for the report .

A new research fund set up by the Families Commission lists fathers as one of six priorities considered for funding amongst some more obscure themes such as ‘Impact of Global Climate Change on Families’ and ‘Intergenerational Transmission’. The fund will distribute $1 million per year, and complements the two existing research funds, ‘Blue Skies’ and ‘Innovative Practice’, each distributing $100,000 per year.
A families commission report compiled from community consultations in the three main centres also identifies the need for ‘fathers to be more engaged in parenting programmes and [to be] generally better supported in their parenting role.’
Participants in all three consultation meetings also identified one-stop family service hubs as an optimal method of delivery of support and education for parents.
The Families Commission was set up in 2004 in what was considered to be a concession by the Labour government to its then parliamentary supporter United Future. Its total annual budget is around $7.5 million.