Matua Raki - National Addiction Workforce Development

Matua Raki recognises that many service users and their families accessing alcohol and other drug services experience a range of other challenging social, health and educational issues. These may include significant financial stresses, offending, imprisonment and other Justice Department involvement, family violence and children’s care and protection issues.

Matua Raki supports the development of a series of creative resources to assist practitioners in working with families in ways that address risk but also build on families’ capacities.

All specialist addiction treatment workers working with young people should have:

• knowledge of co-existing mental health issues for youth and the relationship between  adolescent alcohol and drug and mental health issues with abuse, neglect, domestic violence and/or parental alcohol and other drug use;
• the ability to work with families and whanau or to access support to do this.

Supervision is highlighted as one of the key mechanisms in fostering practice change towards more inclusion of families and social networks.

Matua Raki will support Kina Trust to develop a Guide for Supervisors, to equip supervisors in their work to promote and support family inclusive practice. This project will involve compiling contributions from supervisors in the workforce into a guide. Three training workshops based on the Supervisors' Guide will be held to promote and develop Family Inclusive practice.