Latest news with #KickBack
RNZ News
14-06-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Youth-led Hīkoi highlights Auckland homelessness crisis says advocate
About 100 people marched on the footpath from Karangahape Road to downtown Auckland. Photo: Kick Back / Aaron Hendry A youth advocate says the turnout at a hīkoi to highlight youth homelessness in Auckland CBD clearly shows the pain and trauma young people are experiencing. Co-founder and manager of youth development organisation Kick Back, Aaron Hendry, said about 100 people marched on the footpath from Karangahape Road to downtown Auckland after noon Saturday. He said the hīkoi was organised by youth who had or still experienced homelessness. "Many young people in our community have been denied emergency housing, are couch surfing, living in hostels and in unsafe living environments, because this government and successive governments have not invested in a clear strategy to end youth homelessness. "This is them standing up and saying, 'We have a voice, we are going to use it'." Kick Back was actively monitoring 140 young people in the city, who do not have stable housing - some as young as 11 years old. Hendry said marching on the footpath instead of the road was a way of recognising where many had slept rough. "Young people denied shelter because of government decisions around emergency housing had to sleep on Karangahape Road or Queen Street. Youth protestors wave flags during a hīkoi to highlight youth homelessness in Auckland CBD. Photo: Kick Back / Aaron Hendry "They are taking the street back and saying, 'This is where you left us, this is not a place for any child or young person to live'." He said Labour MPs Shanan Halbert and Kieran McAnulty, and Green MP Ricardo Menéndez March participated in the march. Auckland councillor and mayoral candidate Kerrin Leoni also attended. "Central government have taken quite a lot of money away from homeless initiatives and it is a real concern for our city," Leoni said. "There are multiple issues young homeless people are experiencing and hearing a story of a suicide today is heart-breaking, as a leader of this city, to know this is happening in the wealthiest and biggest city of our country. She said, if elected mayor, she would work with community housing and poverty action groups to find ways Auckland Council could help. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
26-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Boot camps are 'child prisons' says Kick Back's Aaron Hendry
Aaron Hendry likens the boot camp initiative to "child prisons". Photo: A youth development organisation has compared the government's military style boot camps to child prisons. Co-founder of Kick Back Aaron Hendry told RNZ the $33 million for new boot camps set aside in the government's budget announcement should be put towards addressing child poverty instead. The boot camp initiative, designed to tackle recidivism among young people, did not work and was equivalent to child prison, he said. "As a country we have decided that our solution for tamariki homelessness, for kids sleeping on our streets, is to house those children in child prisons." The government was not paying attention to why children were ending up in the youth justice system, he said. "We are ignoring some of the big key drivers behind ... child crime, and we're not providing the support and care that these kids need to actually prevent them from entering the justice system. "If we just had the right services in our communities, the right housing and the right support for our families, they would not be in the justice system today. They are on this pathway to these prison systems, these boot camps, because the government is choosing, making the very clear decision not to invest in these kids." KickBack was in contact with children as young as 11 who had nowhere to live, Hendry said. Minister for Children Karen Chhour, in statement, said the funding covered both a "military style component, but also a rehabilitative and trauma-informed care approach". "This initiative provides funding for the operation of Military Style Academies and transitional support for young serious offenders. "This includes rehabilitative support, participation in educational programmes, engagement with whānau, and reintegration back into the community after the in-residence MSA programme. "While in the community stage, each young person is supported by a team including a social worker and mentor, as well as ongoing programme activity. "Individual plans address health and wellbeing needs, encourage further education and teach employment and life skills such as budgeting and cooking. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Scoop
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Kick Back: Bootcamp Investment A Choice Of Prisons Over Housing For Homeless Kids
Press Release – Kick Back The growing number of people sleeping rough, and young people and children walking through Kick Back's doors, is not an accident. Kick Back is currently monitoring over 140 children and young people and has significant concerns that the crisis of …Kick Back, a youth development and social justice community responding to Youth Homelessness, is calling for urgent action to address Tamariki and rangatahi homelessness. Kick Back is concerned about the Government's decision not to invest in a specific response to tamariki and youth homelessness in Budget 2025. With winter coming, and the crisis of homelessness escalating, the Government could have decided to invest in a bold and comprehensive strategy to prevent and end youth homelessness. Instead, the Government's decision to invest more resources into Boot Camps and child prisons, while pulling more funding from Emergency Housing, and choosing not to invest in housing and crisis support services for children and young people, reveals a clear decision to allow prisons to remain this Government's solution for kids experiencing homelessness. 'By choosing Boot Camps and investment in the children's prison system, the Government is choosing to allow the justice system to be the solution for children experiencing homelessness.' Says Aaron Hendry Kick Back's Co-founder and General Manager. 'Kick Back is meeting an increasing number of children experiencing homelessness, these kids are forced into conflict with the law simply because they don't have access to their basic human needs, such as housing, kai and a safe place to sleep.' Kick Back is concerned that the ongoing cuts to Public and Community Services is limiting the resources available for our children and putting some of our most vulnerable kids at risk of harm. The growing number of people sleeping rough, and young people and children walking through Kick Back's doors, is not an accident. Kick Back is currently monitoring over 140 children and young people and has significant concerns that the crisis of youth homelessness is escalating. Homelessness is a political choice. If the Government had wanted to begin working towards ending youth homelessness in Aotearoa they could have taken meaningful steps to address this growing crisis in Budget 2025. Such as: Rolling back their Emergency Housing and Welfare reforms to ensure everyone can access the support they need Investing in developing a strategy to prevent and end youth homelessness Committing to developing #Duty2Assist legislation to ensure no one is denied access to shelter when they needed Reinvesting the 20million dollars, cut from the last budget, back into building youth specific housing projects Committing to prioritizing young people on the Public Housing list and developing a strong Public Housing build plan Investing in Immediate Housing and Crisis services to replace motel-based Emergency Housing 'The crisis is escalating! Winter is coming! More and more children and young people are at-risk of homelessness and our Government has chosen not to respond.' Says Aaron Hendry, Kick Back's Co-Founder and General Manager, 'Instead of investing in our kids safety and ensuring all our children have access to safe and stable housing this Winter the Government has decided that the solution for children sleeping on our streets, for youth homelessness, is to invest in prisons for children.' Kick Back calls on the Government to listen to the voices of rangatahi and tamariki experiencing homelessness and to act urgently to respond to this crisis! 'Without urgent action the lives of some of our most vulnerable children and young people will be put at-risk this winter! The Government must act now to prevent any more of our kids sleeping rough this winter! We can end youth homelessness, we are in this mess because of political decisions, the Hope is in the fact that we can make different ones.'
Scoop
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Kick Back: Bootcamp Investment A Choice Of Prisons Over Housing For Homeless Kids
Press Release – Kick Back The growing number of people sleeping rough, and young people and children walking through Kick Back's doors, is not an accident. Kick Back is currently monitoring over 140 children and young people and has significant concerns that the crisis of …Kick Back, a youth development and social justice community responding to Youth Homelessness, is calling for urgent action to address Tamariki and rangatahi homelessness. Kick Back is concerned about the Government's decision not to invest in a specific response to tamariki and youth homelessness in Budget 2025. With winter coming, and the crisis of homelessness escalating, the Government could have decided to invest in a bold and comprehensive strategy to prevent and end youth homelessness. Instead, the Government's decision to invest more resources into Boot Camps and child prisons, while pulling more funding from Emergency Housing, and choosing not to invest in housing and crisis support services for children and young people, reveals a clear decision to allow prisons to remain this Government's solution for kids experiencing homelessness. 'By choosing Boot Camps and investment in the children's prison system, the Government is choosing to allow the justice system to be the solution for children experiencing homelessness.' Says Aaron Hendry Kick Back's Co-founder and General Manager. 'Kick Back is meeting an increasing number of children experiencing homelessness, these kids are forced into conflict with the law simply because they don't have access to their basic human needs, such as housing, kai and a safe place to sleep.' Kick Back is concerned that the ongoing cuts to Public and Community Services is limiting the resources available for our children and putting some of our most vulnerable kids at risk of harm. The growing number of people sleeping rough, and young people and children walking through Kick Back's doors, is not an accident. Kick Back is currently monitoring over 140 children and young people and has significant concerns that the crisis of youth homelessness is escalating. Homelessness is a political choice. If the Government had wanted to begin working towards ending youth homelessness in Aotearoa they could have taken meaningful steps to address this growing crisis in Budget 2025. Such as: Rolling back their Emergency Housing and Welfare reforms to ensure everyone can access the support they need Investing in developing a strategy to prevent and end youth homelessness Committing to developing #Duty2Assist legislation to ensure no one is denied access to shelter when they needed Reinvesting the 20million dollars, cut from the last budget, back into building youth specific housing projects Committing to prioritizing young people on the Public Housing list and developing a strong Public Housing build plan Investing in Immediate Housing and Crisis services to replace motel-based Emergency Housing 'The crisis is escalating! Winter is coming! More and more children and young people are at-risk of homelessness and our Government has chosen not to respond.' Says Aaron Hendry, Kick Back's Co-Founder and General Manager, 'Instead of investing in our kids safety and ensuring all our children have access to safe and stable housing this Winter the Government has decided that the solution for children sleeping on our streets, for youth homelessness, is to invest in prisons for children.' Kick Back calls on the Government to listen to the voices of rangatahi and tamariki experiencing homelessness and to act urgently to respond to this crisis! 'Without urgent action the lives of some of our most vulnerable children and young people will be put at-risk this winter! The Government must act now to prevent any more of our kids sleeping rough this winter! We can end youth homelessness, we are in this mess because of political decisions, the Hope is in the fact that we can make different ones.'
NZ Herald
29-04-2025
- Politics
- NZ Herald
Public housing tenancy terminations soar, advocates link to rising homelessness
Housing advocates have correlated the increase to a rise in homelessness and questioned where the hundreds of tenants were going. In March, Auckland Council's Community Committee urged the Government to step in after it recorded a 53% increase in the number of people sleeping rough in the city since September. Brooke Stanley, the spokesperson for youth homelessness collective Manaaki Rangatahi, said it is clearly caused by the Government's new policies. 'It's so wild to me that these guys can have this type of power to wield in our communities. Where does the Government think these people are going to go?' Kāinga Ora wasn't able to detail what happened to each specific tenant when it terminated their agreement, but said they 'typically find alternative housing with another provider, move in with friends or whānau, or potentially move into transitional accommodation'. Stanley said many evicted tenants don't have those options. 'There is nothing for them. This is going to have an impact on harm that happens within our communities and it's going to have an impact on the numbers that are going into prisons.' The head of the Kick Back youth homelessness initiative, Aaron Hendry, said the Government's stronger line is only exacerbating the problem. 'You're going to take another group of people on the housing list who potentially also have all the same challenges back into housing, and what we're doing is creating a loop where people are coming in and out of the system and we're not actually solving the issue,' he said. Hendry was also sceptical of more than 300 tenancy terminations which didn't have a clear reason. 'There's huge gaps there in terms of [Kāinga Ora's] knowledge around why people are being terminated. We think that's unacceptable. Maybe they have that knowledge but they need to be far more clear around why people are being asked to leave.' Litigation lawyer Adina Thorn said it was an improvement but believed the rate of terminations was a far cry from what was needed. 'I did some rough calculations. I thought the figure that needed to be evicted was 1,000 to 1,500,' she told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking Breakfast. 'I'm not really talking about anti-social [behaviour], I'm talking about people doing really egregious violent stuff in housing that is threatening to their neighbours.' Advertise with NZME. Housing Minister Chris Bishop said the rising terminations show the Government is maintaining its promises and handing out real consequences to unruly tenants. 'In our view it's not fair to the neighbours of those abusive tenants to have to live in fear, and it's not fair to those on the social housing waitlist who would treat the home with respect,' he said. Bishop said in most cases formal warnings, known as section 55a notices, were effective in getting disruptive tenants to improve their behaviour. 'For the tiny number of people who carry on with their abusive or damaging behaviour, there are real consequences which, in extreme cases, can involve their tenancy being ended.'
