Blog archives
A few words: from Chief Executive Tony Paine
I was pleased to speak at the national Prison Fellowship conference earlier this month.
Advocates for victims' rights like Victim Support need to have good relationships with advocates for reforming the way we deal with offenders, even though we have different priorities. But as I said to conference delegates, advocacy for prison reform, for example, will not be successful unless it acknowledges victim pain and anger and the need to support victim healing. The question I asked the delegates was "how can you honour the voices of victims as you work to improve the chances that an offender will change?". Much of the social debate on whether we are too 'soft' on crime or need to become 'tougher' on crime arises from a failure to reconcile the impact of the pain and suffering caused by offenders with the fact that when prisons fail to rehabilitate the result is more crime and more victims. Advocates for programmes that support offenders to make different choices need to find ways of making sure that the restitution an offender needs to offer a victim as part of that process is made real and tangible. Of course we should do everything we can to ensure that offenders do not offend again, but prison also has a role in ensuring that actions that deeply and often permanently hurt others are punished. It is, of course, not possible to say that "all victims of crime want...". That would be a glib underestimation of the diversity of victim experience and points of view. But it is possible to say that as we work to improve the criminal justice system, ensuring that victims find safety, healing, restitution and justice needs to be a central part of any advocacy for change.
A few words: from Chief Executive Tony Paine
New Structure For Victim Support
In February I circulated a proposal to Victim Support staff describing a new structure for our organisation as part of a range of changes needed to further guarantee the quality of services to victims. Most importantly the proposal included some new staff roles aimed at improving the clarity of staff roles and increasing our focus on meaningful quality assurance.The quality of the feedback I received from staff is testament to the passion and commitment we have as an organisation for the work we do – supporting victims of crime and trauma. There has been no disruption to services throughout the process as key service delivery roles (Service Coordinators, volunteer Support Workers and other local staff) remain largely unchanged.
I’m confident that this structure will enable us to operate as an integrated organisation delivering a consistent and high quality service while offering value for money to our funders. The underlying premise of this structure is to achieve effective and efficient ways of using resources and managing quality and to create an organisation best placed to implement and take advantage of other changes like the new National Contact Centre and Operations Manual.
To achieve this – new roles have been created some roles have been disestablished. We’ve been through a recruitment process and will be making announcements about the new appointments over the coming weeks.
The new structure: Roles & Responsibilities
Overall responsibility for managing regions and districts will come under the new Regional Manager (RM’s) and District Manger (DM’s) roles. Both roles have a similar focus and responsibility. Titles reflect where multiple districts are covered across a broader geography (RM’s) in contrast to a single district focus -where there is a higher population base.
- Regional Managers x 3 (Waitemata/Northland, Central North Island, South Island): Will provide overall management of staff, fundraising, high level stakeholder relations and service delivery.
- District Managers x3 (Auckland City, Counties Manukau, Wellington): To provide overall management of a single district while also retaining the hands-on quality assurance role carried out by Practice Managers in other districts. The District Manager is responsible for the management of staff, fundraising and high level stakeholder relations and overall service delivery and for the oversight of case work
- National Quality and Contracts Manager: Responsible for the development and implementation of a user-friendly, meaningful service quality assurance system and the leadership of our response to completed suicide and homicide.
- The Kaiwhakahaere Maori: (.5 included in the Auckland DM role): Implementation of the Maori Strategic Plan focused on improving service delivery to and relationships with Maori.
- Practice Managers: x 5 (Northland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Eastern/Central, Canterbury/Tasman and Southern districts): To manage staff and ensure service delivery quality with a focus on supervising, supporting and managing staff.
- Homicide Service Coordinators: x4 (Auckland, Counties Manukau, Wellington, South Island): Accountable for the overall quality of service delivery to all identified victims in need in a homicide.
- Bereavement Coordinators: x5: (Auckland, Eastern District Canterbury/Tasman districts): To develop, train and support volunteers with specialist training to support families following a completed suicide.
- Regional Training Managers: x3: Working with the National Training Manager to develop and deliver high quality and consistent staff and volunteer training as well as supporting other staff as they organize and deliver training.
The following roles have been disestablished as part of the restructure:
Practice Specialists (x 12)
National Clinical Advisor (Bereavement service) (x1)
District Managers (x9)
Crisis Response Project Manager (x1)
