I recently visited New Zealand as a guest of its Ministry of Youth Development, meeting its minister and officials, visiting youth projects and funders and speaking at various events, including a national conference run by its National Youth Workers Network and Association for Adolescent Health.
The New Zealand Ministry of Youth Development is small but note how its title expresses a commitment not only to youth (aged up to 24) but to their development as "it seeks to create a country where young people are vibrant and optimistic through being supported and encouraged to take up challenges".
As with England, it has started on the process of trying to focus youth work on outcomes (too many, I said), and is endeavouring to express these in a form that emphasises young people's potential, not their pathology. New Zealand's ability to achieve this will be constrained by the lack of a robust local authority system and by the absence of significant professional training.
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