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MEDIA RELEASE

Doors open to New Zealand’s first children’s village

Te Puna Whaiora Children’s Health Camps officially opens its ground-breaking children’s village in Gisborne today.

The new children’s village, Te Kainga Whaiora, is the first facility of its kind in New Zealand that provides inclusive community living for children and their families within the health camp environment. Children will live in independent houses where they can cook for themselves, do their own laundry, invite in friends and family, eat communally and be a whanau.

The children’s village will be formally opened today by United Party Leader Hon Peter Dunne and Chief Families Commissioner Dr Jan Pryor.

Te Puna Whaiora Chief Executive Dr Fiona Inkpen says the children’s village demonstrates Te Puna Whaiora’s ground breaking, research-led approaches in child and family centred care.

``The village concept provides a home-like environment that offers exciting opportunities for children and families. Children can develop routines and participate in a way that can be translated into their home after the camp,’’ Dr Inkpen says.

``We want the children to arrive and feel like they belong, to have the chance to live in a peaceful and safe environment. We expect that with care and support, they will make new friendships and connections, learn new skills and competencies, master new ideas and attitudes, try new experiences and rise to new challenges.’’

The Children’s Village consists of four homes – three act as independent ``family homes’’ and the fourth is an administration unit. At the heart of its newly designed Children’s Village is a resource centre that allows children and their families to commune in formal and informal settings and also to experience ``marae-style’’ living.

The children’s village represents another step in Te Puna Whaiora’s quest to provide the structures, tools, and sense of family and community that inspire children and families to attain the knowledge and skills they need to survive and thrive.

``It emphasises a continued philosophical shift from deficits to strengths, from low expectations to high expectations, from control to collaboration, from an expert model to a partnership model, from gate-keeping to sharing, and from dependence to empowerment,’’ Dr Inkpen says.

``This approach provides an intensive experience that grows children’s development and well-being, strengthens family decision making and parenting, fosters child and family independence, respects children’s and family choices, and builds on existing child and family functioning.’’

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