59722 (2024). Ricardo Menéndez March to the Minister for Social Development and Employment

59722 (2024). Ricardo Menéndez March to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: How much more likely, if any, are participants in He Poutama Rangatahi to be in employment, education, or training than comparable people who are not participants after 12 months?

Hon Louise Upston: I am advised by the Ministry of Social Development (the Ministry) that analysis of He Poutama Rangatahi (HPR) pilot programme participants (the earliest cohorts of the programme in 2018-2019) showed that the HPR pilot was successful in contributing to higher rates of employment, education and/or training (EET). However, these gains began to diminish after 12 months and there was no statistically significant difference in the proportion of HPR participants engaged in EET compared to similar non-participants at 24 months after enrolment. Since the pilot years, HPR has implemented adaptations to its delivery that are anticipated to improve longer term outcomes. The Ministry is awarding longer-term contracts with providers to allow for longer-term pastoral care and support, and have recently made significant improvements to data collection. This means impact analysis and regular outcome monitoring will be possible from mid-2025. This is when the Ministry will be able to compare more recent cohorts of the programmes with previous ones to determine if there has been change over time.