Kick Start a youth social work career
Pierce Duncan works with youth offenders from all over New Zealand.
‘‘There’s definitely some hard days, and there’s some good days but whatever the day you know that you’ve been doing something worth while,’’ Duncan, a project manager at Start Taranaki, said.
‘‘There’s career fulfillment, you know every day you’re working for a purpose.’’
Start Taranaki is based in Kaponga and offers a 20-week programme for high-end male offenders from all over the country between the ages of 15-17.
They also offer a shorter programme, Start Early, that looks more at early intervention for Taranaki youth.
The programmes see the youth stay on the premises in Kaponga and head into the bush to tramp, have solo experiences and more. They are then put back into their communities, education and employment and monitored.
The organisation is currently offering a scholarship for someone who has an interest in youth social work and wants to see the inside workings of START Taranaki, experiencing what Duncan does daily.
The Start Taranaki Youth Work Scholarship is open to people aged from 18-25 in South Taranaki.
‘‘We’ll model them to what good youth work is through our early intervention programme and show them our philosophy,’’ Duncan said.
The scholarship is sponsored
‘‘ You know every day you're working for a purpose.’’
Pierce Duncan
by Lysaght Watt Trust and offers 120 hours paid work on the Start Early programme, they’ll get a tent, sleeping bag, boots, tramping pack, jacket and their Youth Work Level 3 Certificate fees paid and ‘we’ll help them’, Duncan said.
Clayton Dando, the general manager at Start Taranaki, said the initiative was founded in 2003 and they worked at the ‘supervision with activity’ level.
‘‘So that’s your boys who are deemed at high risk, the high end youth offenders,’’ Dando said.
‘‘We work year round in that programme and we have three intakes per year.’’
Dando said the early intervention programme ran for seven weeks.
Those interested can get more information on www.starttaranaki.co.nz. The scholarship entries will have to be in by the end of the month for the next START Early intake in midNovember.