Care ethics

At our regular team meetings, we reflect on our mahi with rangatahi; we talk about the support we give to rangatahi through our programmes and we also reflect on the wider practices in our agency, such as how we welcome rangatahi to the agency (show manākitanga) and transition them between programmes and services. We have a diverse group of rangtatahi coming to our youth agency for counselling, an alternative education programme, employment programmes, and parenting programmes. Some of the rangatahi have been coming to the agency for over a year and have been involved in several of our programmes. We always aim to ensure that all the rangatahi that come through our door feel welcomed and are treated respectfully. We want to show them that we care about them and that we value them. We do this by providing a welcoming space that is safe form them to share their experiences with a kaimahi who listens and is non-judgemental. In one of our team meetings the facilitator of our young parents group suggested we could show that we valued rangatahi and their contributions by inviting them to a meeting each month to get their feedback on how we respond to their needs. This would occur outside the usual programmes; kai would be provided. As rangatahi became confident in participating we could ask them to think about running the meeting. We wanted to keep finding ways to show rangatahi that the agency was there for them and was a safe place where they were supported to work on the challenges they faced but was also a place where they could participate in new activities and develop skills that would enable them to achieve their goals. In reflecting on this we saw this activity as a core part of promoting relational practices in our agency and reflecting on how these work in all of the programmes we offer to rangatahi.

I’m a corrections officer who has just received a new file from a retiring colleague. I read in the file of my new parolee Amber. As part of her sentence, she had to write a letter of apology to her victim. Her previous probation officer stated that Amber clearly did not care about her future or her rehabilitation, and as such was not worth concern. As evidence of this, the officer noted that at the end of every session she would ask Amber if she had written the letter yet, to which Amber consistently responded, no. In my first meeting with Amber, I arranged extra time for us to have an opportunity to become more familiar with one another (recognising that relationship building takes time and will continue across our many sessions together). Later in the first session I review the conditions of Amber’s probation with her, and what Amber thinks of these conditions. By doing this I can better understand how Amber makes sense of these conditions and understand their relevance to her life. During this process it seems that she appreciates the need for and purpose of the letter of apology. Rather than focusing in on this, we then review the conditions to see where Amber is at with each of the conditions. Where she is seemingly unengaged, or behind on the conditions, I ask her what would help her to meet these conditions. With some of the conditions she is quick to provide answers. With others, including the letter, she shrugs and says she doesn’t know. Each time we meet after this, we review the list of actions and progress. Where she is struggling, I ask what could help and try to support her with this. After three sessions, Amber starts the session off by saying she has been thinking about the letter and explains that she has never written a letter before and has no idea where to start or what to write. She asks if we can arrange a time for the two of us to work on this.