Department of Child, Youth and Family, 2004-08

The Department of Child Youth and Family's (CYF) capacity building initiative – the Iwi Māori Provider Development Fund (IMPDF) – began in 2000 with the release of Māori and Iwi capacity building fund in the government’s budget.  The first evaluation of this fund described the implementation of the IMPDF along with preliminary outcomes.  A clear finding from this evaluation was that providers wanted more freedom to decide what their capacity needs were and how their capacity was built.  In response CYF contracted the development of a capacity self-assessment tool, along with training and coaching support, so that providers could: self-assess their capacity needs, work out a development plan and apply to the IMPDF for funding. CYF also instigated a register of mentors, coaches and supervisors that providers could contract with directly. Two rounds of training in capacity self-assessment have occurred to date (2005 & 2007) and two rounds of IMPDF funding have been distributed to Māori and Iwi providers following on from their capacity self-assessment, formation of development plans and application to the IMPDF. A scoping report, commissioned by Child, Youth and Family, then contributed to an ongoing assessment of CYF’s efforts to build the capacity of Māori and Iwi providers of CYF social services and is a key input into scoping a final evaluation of CYF’s capacity building initiative – the Iwi Māori Provider Development Fund.