1 October 04:           * Beneficiaries with other income will not have their Accommodation Supplement reduced. * Working families can earn more before their Accommodation Supplement is reduced.

4 October 04:           * Childcare and OSCAR Subsidy rates increased.       * Families on higher income eligible for more help in childcare.

1 April 05:                * Increase in Family Support, Foster Care Allowance, Unsupported Child Allowance and Orphans Benefits.  * Accommodation Allowance increases. Some areas move into higher maximum rates.    * Further increases in Childcare and OSCAR Subsidy rates.

1 April 06:                * New in-Work Payments for eligible families replacing Child Tax credits.   * Families can earn more before Family Support is reduced.  * Increase in Family Tax credit.

1 April 07:                * Further increase in Family Support rates.   * Further increase in Family Tax credit.

Inland Revenue working for Families free phone line 0800 774 004 

As of April 1 the UCB will go up $15 per child per week. We at GRG are disappointed that we still are below the Foster Care rate, which also increased $15 per child per week.

Never the less it must be said if it were not for GRG Trust the UCB would have never have been increased even though we have to wait a year. So this in itself is an achievement.

Imagine that your family income comes in two packages. The first is your base-line income that is your salary or your benefit. The second is a family supplement package that reflects the additional needs your family has. The costs of children have been moved away from the benefit component and loaded on to the family support package?

When you move from a benefit to employment you keep receiving the second package so that you are better off in employment than you were on the benefit, particularly since you now become eligible for an in-work payment which is added to your second package.  As your income improves beyond $27,500, the amount in the second package reduces. The intention is to make sure that those in work are measurably better off than they would be on a benefit.

Thanks to Judy Turner MP for this explanation.

 MEDIA:
GREY POWER REACTS TO BUDGET

Grey Power National President Graham Stairmand states "That while Grey Power supports the "Working for Families" programme in the Budget and commend the Government for the assistance this will give to families, we would have liked to have seen the same offer for Grandparents raising Grandchildren as these Grandparents forego much of their income to ensure the children’s welfare and it would certainly benefit these families if they were offered the same assistance." (Abridged)

 MEDIA

Gisborne: Article on Grey Power and their call for GRG in The Gisborne Herald.

By Lisa Mills
GISBORNE Greypower members are calling on the Government to offer more financial support to grandparents looking after grandchildren and to put an end to what they describe as "blatant discrimination". The call comes following the national Greypower annual meeting at Auckland where members heard from the Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Trust.
Gisborne Greypower member Lex Gordon said he was shocked to hear some grandparents had lost their homes because of the financial burden placed on them because they were looking after their grandchildren. The group now wants the Government to increase the unsupported child benefit to equal the amount paid to foster parents.
 
"We are not saying foster parents should get any less just that grandparents looking after their grandchildren should be getting the same," Mr Gordon said.
"The children are entitled to a life and at the moment there would be more financial benefit if they were living with strangers," he said.
Census 2001 figures show over 4000 grandparents had taken on the role of parent to their grandchildren.
 
As Gisborne had the highest proportion of youth in New Zealand, it was believed there would be some financial "horror stories" to match those in other parts of the country.
Mr Gordon said, in many cases grandparents who had taken on the role of parenting their grandchildren had no money left.
Some had to sell their homes as a result, he said. 

"If they were foster parents things would be a different.  They would be able to access all the extras that could make a difference for the child."
Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Trust national convenor Diane Vivian said there had not been a support group in Gisborne for about five years and the trust was keen to see one reinstated.

Grandparents raising grandchildren was a wide-spread issue not only in New Zealand but around the world. "Although the Government is to raise the unsupported child benefit by $15 a week in 2005 it is still behind what foster parents receive," she said.
"There is a significant number of grandparents raising their grandchildren as primary caregivers. The trust has 2300 members and that number is growing everyday."
Foster parents received about $30 more a week and special benefits, Mrs Vivian said.
One of the main issues faced by caregiver grandparents was the children came at a time when income was diminishing but the child's needs were growing.

There was also the issue of legal costs, with some grandparents spending up to $120,000 battling for custody of their grandchildren often to protect them from severe social, emotional and psychological problems.
Because many grandparents had an asset they were not entitled to legal aid but their children were, said Mrs Vivian.
That meant parents could keep challenging for custody in the Family Court, she said.
Some grandparents had lost their homes or had been forced to downgrade because of financial worries.
Mrs Vivian supported the call for financial equality.
"These are the grandparents who take on this role out of love and concern for the two generations of children involved."
Lisa Mills
Reporter
The Gisborne Herald
DDI 06 869 0630

Media Release. By MARK STEVENS: 

A schoolgirl was dragged screaming from her grandmother's car in a daylight kidnapping in a Wellington suburb.

The nine-year-old was found safe by police in Horowhenua yesterday morning after being snatched from the driveway of her Johnsonville home by a man and woman about 3.30pm on Saturday.

Detective Sergeant Glenn Williams said it was understood the woman was related to the girl but that the man, believed to be the woman's partner, was not.

The grandmother was the girl's legal guardian, Mr Williams said.

"They were arriving home after a few hours away from the house when they were surprised in the driveway by a woman and a man."

Mr Williams said the girl's grandmother tried to hold on to her as the man and woman dragged her screaming from the front passenger seat of the car. The pair ran from the Sheridan Tce property, pulling the girl along with them.

The grandmother phoned 111 and the police hunt for the girl, who was barefoot, and wearing a Ladybird sweatshirt and with pigtails in her hair, began. A search of all the likely places she could have been taken failed to reveal any sign of her or the kidnappers.

But yesterday morning, Wellington police were phoned by their Foxton counterparts to say the man and the woman had turned up at the local police station with the girl.

"The little girl told us that they heard on the radio that police were looking for them," Mr Williams said.

He understood the couple had stopped in the Kapiti Coast on Saturday night before heading north with the girl yesterday.

The girl had not been physically harmed but "was frightened the whole way through the ordeal", Mr Williams said. "She was happy to be back with her family. She told me that she missed her cat."

A family spokesman said yesterday that they were grateful for support from the community and police.

"We are relieved that she has been returned unharmed and we are now looking forward to getting our lives back to normal."

A 34-year-old woman and a 44-year-old man – both beneficiaries – are expected to appear in Wellington District Court today, charged with abduction of a girl under the age of 16. Police are seeking a psychiatric report.

 With this in mind we ask that you take the extra care if you feel it is necessary. A number of our Grands have reported back that they always drive with car doors locked and indeed some keep the home doors locked at all times.

Children at Risk and in Need of Care:

In Grandparents or Kin Care.                                     In Foster Care or CYF Care

* Financially worse off                                               * Financially better off.

* Pay for medical fees etc                                          * Receive payment for medical fees etc

* Potential huge legal fees                                          * No legal fees

* School fees payable                                                 * School fees paid

* No clothing Allowance                                             * Clothing Allowance

* Wider family stress                                                  * Limited family stress

* Traumatised children                                               * Traumatised children

* Special needs children                                              * Special needs children

* Safety issues- residence known                                * Often residence not known

* Appearance in many court cases                              * Limited court cases if at all

* G/Ps Income often on decline                                   * Foster carers are usually younger

 We are at a loss to understand why our some of our most vulnerable of children are better off under State care. But in saying this we are aware that the UBC is being reviewed over the next few months and we will be working with Ministry of Social Development on this and we have submitted information to Dr Cullen.

Trust News:

Helen Lacey our Co from South Auckland has notified us of her resignation, her grandson seems to have sorted out his life and things are looking up. After many years in this role Helen feels it is time to move on. We thank Helen for all her sterling work for GRG’s and wish her and her husband all the very best. Virginia Peebles is taking over this role and we are very pleased, she can be contacted on 256 1680. 77 Buckland Rd Mangere, South Auckland.

 AGM GRG CHARITABLE TRUST JUNE 29^TH 2004

Report from Diane Vivian: National Convenor:

This past year has seen tremendous growth for the Trust. Our membership has climbed to 2300 and our support groups now number 36 with potential for more to come onboard. It has been an exciting year with many media appearances and ongoing publicity. We have the opportunity to use our GRG documentary from Open Door Productions (due to air in September) and utilise this production for publicity, funding applications and also hopefully, if we can pull it off, a reproduction of this video, which in turn will be supplied to all Co-ordinators through the country and we have interest from the UK, Australia, Canada and the States for copies also.

The national research from our membership will finally yield some very important data. We expect the research results will be available before the end of this year. We thank Jill Worrall for her expertise in developing this research.

Grey Power’s total support is also another huge step forward for all GRG’s. Our ongoing collaboration with many MP’s still continues and this saw an extra $15 per week per child on UCB happen in 2005.  The help given by Jenny Kirk in our fundraising administrator has seen many benefits for GRG Trust for which we thank her. The oncoming year will see the needs of GRG Trust increase and with Jenny’s help more of our members will benefit.

We have this year changed our logo, which was gifted to us by Carol Basinger, called “Moorings of the Heart” we felt this represented the 3 generations, Grandparents, parents and grandchildren, our past, present and future. This logo has been patented to the Trust.

We have had a huge increase in phone calls and emails to the Trust head office which now sees me as the National Convenor doing 7 hours work daily on GRG. Miriama Paraone-Davies our cultural advisor has also had a sharp upturn in her GRG work meaning often a 5-hour day or more for her also. We are so grateful for Miriama and really appreciate all her valuable work. Miriama thank you.

What we are finding (which is very interesting) that grandparents are contacting us before the grandchildren are in their care. They are requesting our resources when they see trouble looming. This is the ideal, as our handbook contains vital information, which alerts one to the potential, before the event. This also proves that society is becoming aware of our existence.

The translation of our handbook into Te Reo is taking longer than expected. But we will get there, this is not the GRG Trusts delay but the translators delay.

 The growth in contacts from CYF all over the country has been most pleasing with many grandparents being referred to us by social workers. One of the most pleasing things was to see some of CYF hierarchy at the Foster Care conference in Hamilton and more importantly that they attended the workshops that GRG Trust held. We have had such positive feedback from them.  By working with CYF Wellington this has resulted in our handbook being distributed to all Care Giver Liaison workers through the country and as a result of this applications from the caregivers who have grandchildren or family members for our handbook and indeed our monthly newsletter has increased dramatically. The notification of CYF caregiver trainings nationally to our membership with the assistance of CYF Wellington has seen many grands attend these courses. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our entire Board of Trustee’s our treasurer Joachim and each and every grandmother, grandfather and Kin carer for what they do for our mokopuna and tamariki.

The Board of Trustees has an obligation to review all of our policy documents yearly, which we will be undertaking shortly. Two members of the Board have completed a course in Trust Governance and Management. The Board will be incorporating information from this course.

 The BOT’s this coming year will be beginning the process of looking towards a GRG/Kin conference late 2005. This as one can imagine this will be a huge undertaking and one which will have to be heavily funded. We appreciate the financial restraints for Grandparents in their care giving role at a time of their lives where their financial situation is often on a downward slope and the financial needs for the grandchildren as they grow are on the upward climb. We have interest from Australian GAGS (Grandparents and Grandchildren Society) and indeed from members of the Family Rights Group in the UK in attending this.

 18 Years on: Story of a Foster-Daughter:

She was the second of two foster-daughters we took on; she was 14 the other, then 16. Her mother put her new boyfriend first and did not have room to keep her in their 1 bed roomed flat. It was an informal arrangement as she was a friend of one of our sons. We took her into our hearts and lives. She was shy and unsure. She attended school and generally gave us no problems. At 19 she told us she was pregnant and sadly things did not go well for her and the Dad. She became a solo Mum and as a result of this our ‘grandson’ lived half his life with us. She was an excellent Mum and worked hard to make ends meet. She trained in early childhood care. Her son was the light of our lives. She finally at 26 met the man she would later marry, him being an Australian. She and our grandson moved to Australia in March of 2003. We thought our hearts would break at the thought of not having her and her son in our lives on a daily basis. We were worried that the bond between particularly us and the grandson would be broken - He is now 10. But telephone calls and email have kept us there. In May of this year we quickly hopped across to Brisbane to attend her wedding. She is now 30. The bond between grandson, daughter and us is as strong as ever. She made a radiant beautiful bride, and although her mother was present at the wedding she paid huge tribute to the input and difference we had made in her life. Her mother did not mind in the least and we both spoke easily to each other. At one point when we were both chatting her daughter and our foster daughter came over and happily said “hello my two Mum’s”.  My husband and I are so proud of her. Sadly for the other foster-daughter things have not gone well and we raise her two children today and she has had a third child she no longer cares for. Moral of this story, we can not always make it right, but at least we tried, and clouds sometimes do have a silver lining.

 *** We are still happy to receive any late GRG Trust research survey papers. But post today. ***

So far we have had a 40% return rate for this research. WOW. Thank you SO much.

UCB:   (Unsupported Child Benefit)

A word to the wise: If you are in the fortunate position where you wish to and can place this allowance aside for your grandchild/rens future education, please make sure it is placed in a bank account in the child’s name. If you do not and say for example “Grand-dad” needs to go into residential care this will be taken as your personal assets. This can seriously affect your financial outcome. Remember the children usually get taxed at a lower rate on interest received.

It has come to the Trust Office attention this month that there are a number of grandparents who hold custody and Guardianship who are not receiving the UCB at all. Hence this article, if you hold custody/guardianship it is for very good reasons, .IE Family breakdown, death of parent, serious illness of parent, and abandonment. Under these circumstances the child is entitled to receive the UCB. Some grandparents instead of getting this benefit get liable Parent Support, others get the Family Assistance, or have the children added to their disabilities benefit but others get nothing. We are not sure if it is because they do not know about UCB or indeed if they have been turned down by WINZ. Often these Grand’s have had the children in their care for many years. If you fall into this category it may pay for you to revisit this situation. As time has gone on more WINZ workers are now more familiar with this benefit. Also when visiting your local WINZ office look out for the brochure on “Help for Kin Carer’s” This explains it very clearly and should one come up against an uninformed WINZ worker this brochure will help you. We here at the Trust also have these brochures or it can be downloaded from our web site, under Kinship from our front page.

If you are on a benefit and have the grandchildren added to this benefit, it may pay for you to find out just how much extra you are getting for the child/ren and then go and look at the rates for UCB and see if you would be better off on UCB. Remember there is no double dipping, so WINZ will cancel any other benefit you are getting for child.

 New Sex game trades sexual favours: In schools.

by MARIANNE GARVEY and CARL CAMPANILE: USA

 NB:  We here in NZ have heard that this is happening already: Wellsford, Southland and Waikanae to name a few areas.

 Prepubescent city school kids as young as 11 have become preoccupied by a sex game played in an around their classrooms.

Called "Snap," the new pastime involves schoolgirls buying rubber bracelets in multiple colours, which they stack halfway up their arms.  Each colour represents a different sex act.  When a male class mates pulls one, and it breaks, the girl is--according to the rules of the alarming game sweeping through city schools--required to perform the act indicated by the colour.

The acts range from oral sex to a hug to the unspeakable.  Some symbolise an invitation to kinky get-togethers, several kids told THE POST.

While girls are snapping up the cheap bracelets in a bizarre new sex craze knowing the secret code, their parents rarely have a clue.

And most, like the mother of 11-year-old Megan Stetcher of Queens, are horrified when they discover the truth.

 BRACELET COLOR CHART

Black:  Sexual Intercourse

Blue:  Oral Sex

Green:  Outdoor sex; hug

Clear:  Whatever you want

Orange:  Kiss

Yellow:  Hug

Red:  Lap dance; French kiss

White:  Gay kiss

Pink:  Flashing

Gold glitter:  Make out

Glow in the dark:  Using sex toys

Brown, Purple and Silver are unprintable.

Excerpt from Research from USA “Services for Kids” - By Jennifer Ehrle & Rob Green.