Since June last year, new community work supervisors and senior community work supervisors have been receiving a nationally co-ordinated staff induction as they embark on their new role. The induction was developed by the National Community Work Working Group, which has delegates from all regions and a national practice team.

The induction is a way to proactively and effectively support our new staff into their community work roles. It supports a consistent introduction and extends manaakitanga and whanaungatanga to help eliminate any potential concerns as new staff start their journey with us.

“Having an induction package for our new CW team members sets the foundation for our development/training pathway,” says Northern Region CW Lead Service Manager Tina. “Thank you to many amazing and passionate people who have collectively contributed to this piece of work.”

The induction has been well received at local sites. At Franklin Community Corrections, Senior Practitioner Mali has been working through the induction with new SCWS Phillippa . Mali compiled the information from the induction into a resource booklet for Phillippa and together they have been working through the information. Both reflected that the process has been easy to follow and has been supportive in guiding new staff into their roles.

SCWs and CWSs play an important role for Community Corrections.  They are responsible for overseeing people serving a sentence of community work, developing external partnerships, and ensuring we have meaningful projects that assist the wider community.  Working with people on a community work sentence can involve an aspect of mentoring, while working together on a project.

Supporting people to complete their hours, encouraging them to learn new skills, and identifying where further support or training is needed, is all in a day’s work for our SCWSs and CWSs. They are a key member of our Corrections whānau, connecting us directly with the community.