The minister for social investment Nicola Willis has set out her vision for the Social Investment Agency, which has replaced the former government's Social Wellbeing Board.
The idea of social investment is to use data and evidence to determine where to invest in early intervention approaches, thereby saving money in the long run.
The agency would co-invest and collate contracts with non-government organisations, Willis said in a speech to a social investment hui in Lower Hutt on Friday.
"We want to be able to invest for the long-term, acting early, rather than waiting for the inevitable crisis, so that we can look ahead to getting dividends in terms of better lives for many years to come. Investing now so we can save later," Willis said.
"For me social investment is about saying let's do it a new way, let's challenge the status quo."
In her speech to the hui, Willis said attendees should not pat themselves on the back for trying to help people or saying they did their best when it was too late. Instead, she told them to help the government understand the perspectives and realities of those receiving government-funded services.
Nicola Willis setting out her vision for the social investment agency. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
"Many outstanding New Zealanders have emerged from extremely challenging circumstances. They prove that there is reason for optimism, and that it is possible to break the cycle and chart your own life course. Social investment is about building a system that enables more of that," she said.
The agency will be tasked with finding who most needs support, where to find them, and what approaches could be taken to make a difference. It would also analyse what has worked and what has not, and who may be best-placed to deliver specific interventions.
This year, $49 million operating and $1.5m capital funding was set aside in the Budget for setting up the agency and the fund, but exactly how this will be allocated is still to be determined.
Willis said it was too early to speculate what the amount of funding for the fund would be.
"We need these contracts so we can roll them out across different government agencies, this prototype should be applicable in many areas of activity and yes I expect the fund will use social investment contracts, proven providers who operate at scale will obviously be first cabs of the rank because they obviously have the expertise and capability to deal with this type of approach."
It was essential to set clear targets with specific outcomes and to have a mechanism for tracking them, she said.
"The integrated data infrastructure provides us a way of doing that instead of just having an evaluation after the fact we can see in real time are these people having less use of expensive government services, are they turning up at the emergency room less, are they getting off a benefit, are they having fewer interactions with the police, because when we achieve all of those things that's great for those people but it's also great for the taxpayer."
The agency will manage a fund, which will begin investing in 2025. It has already begun developing 'prototype' investment outcomes contracts.
"This will provide a blueprint from which we can overhaul the way government commissions social services," Willis said.
Former police commissioner Andrew Coster started as chief executive of the agency earlier this week.
Introducing Willis, Coster said he had spent his career at the "bottom of the cliff of social failure."
"Now in this role, I think we have a greater opportunity to make a difference in the lives of New Zealanders. We can do this by shifting the system," he said.
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