Our Family Service Centres in Papakura and Takanini provide integrated services to the most vulnerable members of our communities.

The Family Service Centre model was devised and developed by Dame Lesley Max with the Papakura Family Service Centre - the first of its kind - opening in 1992, followed by the Takanini Family Service Centre in 2014.

Our approach is to give a hand up along the way, giving people and communities the support and tools they need to meet their own goals and objectives and find solutions to their problems.

We believe in collaboration with fellow agencies and work closely with other providers to ensure we are providing what is most needed and effective in our communities.

All our programmes are based on evidence and research, ensuring we are delivering the highest quality, most effective programmes possible to those who most need our support.

Our two Family Service Centres support more than 1,000 individuals and 350 families every year.

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PAPAKURA FAMILY SERVICE CENTRE

Papakura Family Service Centre continues to provide vital social services to meet the high needs of the surrounding community, as it has been doing, with compassion and commitment for 28 years.

Our service is needs-based, providing support in the home or at the Centre, depending upon individual or family circumstances with a range of social, health and educational services in the form of one-to-one counselling, social workers in schools, and group work with children and adults. We also have a licensed Early Learning Centre offering 30 Hours Free and the Home Interaction Programme for Parents and Youngsters (HIPPY) programme.

The longevity of the Centre and the stability of the staff have been of enormous value to families whose needs are complex and whose difficulties in life are long-standing.

Our “Stepping Stones” programme run at our centre in conjunction with Eastern Women’s Refuge, provides support for women who have been victims of domestic violence.

Staff have also noticed a rise in the numbers of men seeking assistance from the Centre for a variety of issues, including parenting advice, and advocacy on matters related to child support.

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TAKANINI FAMILY SERVICE CENTRE

Many of the Takanini Centre’s families are facing multiple challenges, both material and personal. This is particularly so for the families living in the caravan park, which is among the highest deprivation locations in New Zealand.

Like its sister centre at Papakura, Takanini Family Service Centre continues to meet the high needs of its community through the provision of integrated support services that improve the lives of people with social, health and educational challenges. These include social work, budgeting advice, counselling, the HIPPY programme, and parenting.

The Centre’s Triple P (Positive Parenting) Programme has been helping parents to develop parenting tools and skills and to improve their relationships with their children.

The Takanini Centre also provides a number of services in collaboration with third parties, including Plunket, the Community Service Legal Trust and the Ministry of Health. In conjunction with MIT, the Centre runs an adult English Literacy and Numeracy Course.

A highlight each year is the Communication for Life language course graduation, at which students receive an MIT qualification and certificate.

As the Centre’s Administrator, explains, “We were really proud of them. It changed their lives. They can now hold conversations in English, and call their doctor to make an appointment. It has really made life easier for them”.

We are delighted to contribute in this way to the wellbeing and fuller citizenship of our diverse local population.

Outcomes (Annual Report 2021-2022) 

	488	People through Family Service Centre Social Services
	102	Families participating in HIPPY at Papakura and Takanini Family Service Centres
	47	Families through Papakura Early Learning Centre
	387	Children attended playgroup at Takanini Family Service Centre
	78%	Of FSC Clients completed an intervention
	75%	Of SWIS* children completed the service
	79%	Of SWIS* students were satisfied or very satisfied with the service
		*SWIS - Social Workers in Schools

“When I was in need I came back every day to the Family Service Centre, the staff were like an extended family...” 
- Marcus

Evaluation Reports

	Family Service Centre Evaluation Report 2021
	Family Service Centre Evaluation Report 2020
	Family Service Centre Evaluation Report 2019