Background
History
At the end of 2009 Te Pou successfully tendered to establish the National Training Coordination service for the disability workforce. This service started in January 2010 as Disability Workforce Development.
The establishment of this service is a result of the implementation of the Ministry of Health's Disability Support Services (DSS) Workforce Action Plan which was developed to achieve four goals.
- To establish career pathways based on agreed competencies and qualifications.
- To ensure the workforce highly values and actively supports people with disabilities, and their families, whanau, aiga and carers.
- To support the inclusion of people with disabilities in the workforce.
- To promote disability support work as a desirable career choice.
In March 2010, Te Pou announced that Le Va, Pasifika within Te Pou, would also administer a Pacific disability service. Details of this new service were finalised and advised in April 2010.
National disability strategies and action plans
The New Zealand Disability Strategy provides the strategic context for the establishment of the National Training Coordination service.
The New Zealand Carer’s Strategy and Five-year Action Plan was published in 2008 and is a significant step towards valuing the immense contribution of carers to New Zealand.
The Ministry of Health’s Disability Services Draft Strategic Plan for July 2008 to June 2010 and Disability Support Services (DSS) Workforce Action Plan aim to improve the status of disability support work by enabling the disability sector to recruit and retain skilled workers who will support people with disabilities according to the spirit and intent of the strategy. The intended result is a workforce which understands the social model of disability and demonstrates appropriate values and attitudes.
Disability Workforce Development will undertake a range of activities consistent with these goals. This work will sit alongside and complement other ongoing activity undertaken by the Ministry of Health and the sector to implement the objectives of the DSS Workforce Action Plan.
