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Labour promises more mental health workers for Canterbury schools

Author
NZ Newswire ,
Publish Date
Wed, 16 Aug 2017, 10:35AM
Jacinda Ardern joined Chris Lynch live in Newstalk ZB's Christchurch studios
Jacinda Ardern joined Chris Lynch live in Newstalk ZB's Christchurch studios

Labour promises more mental health workers for Canterbury schools

Author
NZ Newswire ,
Publish Date
Wed, 16 Aug 2017, 10:35AM

Labour is promising mental health workers will be rolled out across primary and intermediate schools across Canterbury over the next three years to help students cope with earthquake-related trauma.

Labour leader Jacinda Ardern has committed eight mental health workers over the next three years, equating to one full-time worker for every 500 Canterbury school children.

Ms Ardern said the region's children were still affected by the earthquakes, evidenced by a 73 per cent increase in young people accessing services since 2011.

"At the moment there are just seven full-time Canterbury District Health Board staff in their school mental health team covering over 136 schools in the region," she said.

The commitment will cost $10 million, and includes psychologists, psychotherapists, social workers and nurses.

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