Father & Child Beneficiary of Govt Youth Spending
The Auckland Father & Child Trust has been granted $5,000 for a short-term project involving teen dads after having been approached by the Ministry of Youth Development. Youth Development minister Paula Bennett and local MP Peseta Sam Lotu-liga have both issued media statements about the funds (Paula Bennett here; Lotu-liga here).
Father & Child understands that the funds are part of unspent monies from the 2009 budget rather than ‘new’ funding. The money going to Father & Child appears to be the only funds from this pool tagged for teenage fathers, but some organisations working with teenage mothers in other parts of the country have also benefited.
Teenage parents have been getting a big funding boost in the 2010 budget, with government more than doubling the number of directly funded case-work positions to 19 nationwide, and special funds set aside for teen dad projects.
