Otago Youth Wellness Trust

OYWT puts our rangatahi first believing in their intrinsic tapu the right to equal opportunity, wellbeing & participation in their community

Otago

The Otago Youth Wellness Trust (OYWT) is a free community-based service that works alongside rangatahi with high and multiple needs, to create positive change. While we have some Government funding, it is not enough to meet the needs of the community we serve. Over 80 percent of our funding goes into the salaries of our professional front line staff including social workers, teachers, occupational therapists, youth workers and nurses.

We help strengthen what is working well in the lives of rangatahi, as well as addressing the issues that may be impacting negatively on them, by providing a wraparound service for young people (aged 11-18), who need support for needs affecting their wellbeing. These needs can include health, mental health, education, welfare and justice. We also work with their family/whānau as part of the wraparound approach.

Our service is described as wraparound because it is comprehensive, flexible and responsive to the specific needs of each individual rangatahi. We respect every rangathai as an individual and focus our service on improving their wellbeing. The benefits for the rangatahi we support can include:

- Strengthening family/whanau relationships

- Engaging and achieving in education or training

- Improving physical and mental health

- Reducing risk factors (e.g. drug and alcohol use, offending, and suicide risk)

- Helping create supports in the wider community as they grow in confidence and independence

More about us

The Otago Youth Wellness Trust (OYWT) is a free community-based service for 11 to 18 year olds who have lost their way – for whatever reason - and need support to get their lives back together. The Trust is justifiably proud of its 27 year history in which it has grown and developed to be a positive influence on the lives of thousands of young people.

The trust has adapted the wraparound model (developed by the National Wraparound Initiative) as a way of working to provide support to address the physical, emotional and social needs of the young person. Wraparound is an intensive, holistic method of engaging with children, youth, and their families so that they can live in their homes and communities and realize their hopes and dreams. The Trust uses the HHEADSS framework, in which the factors of home, health, education, adolescent offending, drugs/alcohol, sexual wellbeing and suicidality, are taken into consideration.