48494 (2024). Hon Willow-Jean Prime to the Minister for Children

48494 (2024). Hon Willow-Jean Prime to the Minister for Children: How many, if any, psychologists work with young people resident in each of the youth justice facilities, and if any, what are the psychologist's expected contact hours with residents, broken down by residence?

Hon Karen Chhour: I am advised by Oranga Tamariki that each youth justice residence is serviced by local community forensic mental health services. These services are the primary mental health service for rangatahi in residences. If a rangatahi requires psychological intervention, they access psychology through these services.   Each of the five youth justice residence has a single senior psychologist on staff, although there are currently two vacancies. This role supports various functions within the residences, including consultation, training, and supervision. They are also available to work individually with rangatahi if there is a gap in needs or services provided by mental health services. There are no minimum contact hours for residence-based psychologists as this is based on identified needs or gaps.