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October 02, 2014 at 9:47 AM

A message from Murray Edridge, Deputy Chief Executive, Community Investment

Kia ora tātou

Today is the first day of Community Investment, the Ministry of Social Development’s newest business group. It’s not so much the name that makes the change significant, it’s the way we will operate in the social services sector in the future.

With Community Investment comes a new way of thinking and a new way of working. This change brings together what was Family and Community Services’ and Child Youth and Family’s funding and contracting functions along with the service development work in the areas of social change, and programme development and delivery.

Community Investment will support a more flexible and joined-up approach to the way we work with you and your communities. It will allow us to increase our focus on relationships with our NGO partners providing them the support they need to put the client at the centre of what they do. This will be reflected in funding decisions that are coordinated, integrated and targeted according to need. Flexibility will ensure we work differently in different communities, achieving the best possible outcomes.

Community Investment will be made up of seven groups with seven senior management roles taking responsibility for the following areas: Community Outcomes and Services; Service Development and Innovation; Strategic Investment; Māori; Pasefika; Business Services; and MSD Approvals.

This is an exciting time for us as a new group within the Ministry. Expect to see changes over a period of time that will result in better, more targeted support for our community partners as we work together to improve the lives of our most vulnerable through our funding decisions and social change and innovation programmes.

We will bring you more news in our next issue of Community Investment Update during November. Thank you for your ongoing support and I look forward to working alongside you all in the days ahead.

Ngā mihi nui

Murray Edridge