MEDIA RELEASE

Wednesday April 10th 2013

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren provide Minister with valuable advice

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett has today announced the setting up of a Ministerial Reference Group charged with providing options for extra financial assistance for grandparents raising grandchildren on a full time basis. This extra assistance was foreshadowed in the White Paper on Vulnerable Children released in 2012.

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Trust NZ (GRG) has been asked to be a member of the Reference Group to be chaired by Katherine Rich. Speaking from Wellington where the Trust is holding its annual training conference, Trust Chair Diane Vivian said “we are thrilled to be invited to be part of the Minister’s Reference Group and welcome the opportunity to represent the interests of our 5,320 members on this important matter.”

Minister Bennett says that GRG has “already provided excellent information to inform the process through a member survey”.

The Minister has asked the Reference Group to report back to her in August this year. Diane Vivian says “we are pleased with the time-frame as there is a real need for the extra assistance for our member families.”

The Ministerial Reference Group will also include representatives from NZ First, the National Party, Foster care and iwi.

ENDS

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