Community Investment Strategy - FAQs
About the Community Investment Strategy
What is Community Investment?
In October 2014, the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) established the
Community Investment business group, bringing together the former Family and
Community Services (FACS) and Child, Youth and Family (CYF) funding and
contracting, and service development areas.
Community Investment’s key role is working in partnership with communities and
providers to support vulnerable children, young people and adults.
What is the Community Investment Strategy?
The Community Investment Strategy sets out a clear direction for MSD’s future
investment in social services for vulnerable New Zealanders. It explains the steps
we will be taking to ensure the services we purchase deliver better results.
The Community Investment Strategy puts in place a system which, over time, will
better align funding to those with the highest needs; and to programmes and
providers who demonstrate they are meeting these needs, with evidence about
what works.
What services does the Community Investment Strategy cover?
The Community Investment Strategy covers around $330 million of the
approximately $600 million of services purchased by MSD and provided through
NGOs each year, with the remaining for employment services.
It includes services purchased by MSD’s Community Investment and Child, Youth
and Family (CYF) business groups, as well as Ministry of Youth Development
(MYD).
Why do we need the Community Investment Strategy?
MSD invests around $330 million in social services for vulnerable children, young
people and adults each year. We need to be confident that this investment
achieves the best possible results.
MSD has purchased social services from the NGO provider sector for many years
and there is a need to evolve our purchasing function to respond to changing
community needs and demographics, and changing Government priorities.
Our goal is to make sure that the social services we invest in are making a real
and positive difference for people and communities with the highest needs. To
achieve this MSD will be more:

Focused on results: reducing child maltreatment and youth offending and
addressing the impacts of family violence and sexual violence.

Targeted: at the most vulnerable people in the communities with the highest
needs.
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Transparent: so Government and providers know what services are
purchased and how they will improve the lives of the most vulnerable New
Zealanders.

Effective: by using evidence of what works well and building that evidence.
When something isn’t working well we will evaluate and review it, to inform
purchasing decisions against key priorities.
How has the Community Investment Strategy been developed?
Over 2013 and 2014, a team of people from MSD – through the Investing in
Services for Outcomes work programme – developed the Community Investment
Strategy. They were supported by other government agencies and a ministerialappointed NGO Advisory Group. This work aimed to improve every aspect of our
social services purchasing. MSD also commissioned an independent external
review of the Community Investment Strategy by PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
MSD has developed a Results Measurement Framework, which is a key tool for
Community Investment Strategy implementation.
A number of Government Ministries including Health, Education, Justice and
Business, Innovation and Employment, as well as the Treasury, have provided
advice on how they think the Community Investment Strategy will help the
government sector collectively deliver on our priorities. These conversations will
be on-going as we implement the Community Investment Strategy and continue
to make linkages with other work, such as the Children’s Teams and Whānau Ora.
What is the Community Investment Strategy aiming to achieve?
The Community Investment Strategy is focused on achieving results in three
Government priority areas for purchased social services:

Supporting vulnerable children, children in hardship and reducing child
maltreatment

Supporting vulnerable young people, including young offenders, and reducing
youth crime

Supporting adult victims/survivors, addressing perpetrators’ behaviour and
reducing violent crime.
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These priority result areas are directly linked to the Government’s Better Public
Service targets. They also integrate major policies, such as the Children’s Action
Plan, Youth Crime Action Plan and emerging work on family violence and sexual
violence.
We will continue to purchase some services that do not fall within these three
priority areas such as funding for disability services and for Canterbury
earthquake survivors.
What does implementing the Community Investment Strategy involve?
The Community Investment Strategy describes what MSD will do to ensure that
Government money gets the best results for the most vulnerable people. We will
do this through six key areas of work:

Focusing more clearly on priority results by including reporting on
results-based measures on actual improvements to client well-being in all
provider contracts.

Building the evidence base to better understand service effectiveness, so
that we fund services that have proven results.

Improving the quality of data collection to ensure that services are
targeted to the people who need them most. Providers may be asked to
collect different information about their clients, however, we will be mindful of
people’s privacy rights and your workload.

Setting a clear direction for future funding so providers understand our
future priorities to support their planning decisions and service development.

Further simplifying compliance requirements so providers can spend
more time working with vulnerable people. This will include the continuation of
streamlined contracting, monitoring and reporting, a single MSD approvals
framework and better cross-agency processes for purchasing.

Continuing to build provider capability to identify local needs and to
demonstrate the results they are achieving. Providers will notice changes,
over time, in the types of support we offer. MSD recognises that some
providers will need help to work with results-based contracts.
Where will future funding be directed?
We have detailed our direction in the Community Investment Strategy, and in the
A3 diagram “Where are we now (2014/2015); Where are we headed”.
When will the Community Investment Strategy be reviewed?
The Community Investment Strategy is a ‘living’ strategy, which means it will
change as needs and priorities change. A regular review process will allow us to
check we are on track and to confirm the direction.
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MSD will publish annual purchasing plans under the Community Investment
Strategy to ensure transparency for providers and to advise them of any changes
in Government priorities or in identified community needs. This will include a
synopsis of what we have learnt about evidence-based services, and an analysis
of demand and supply for services.
Impact on providers
What will this mean for providers?
MSD wants to work with communities and the provider sector to achieve better
results for the people with highest needs. For providers this will mean:
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more clarity about what MSD wants to achieve
more freedom to innovate and try new things to achieve those goals
better knowledge of service effectiveness and how to demonstrate it
more certainty about MSD’s future direction, which will help with long term
planning.
The Community Investment Strategy will enable community input into where
resources are best placed within areas of greatest need. This will occur in a
phased approach over a three year plan of action:
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by December 2016 – aligning all funding with Government priorities
by December 2017 – removing all unnecessary duplication of services
by June 2018 – including results-based measures in all contracts.
This timeframe is tight but MSD will support providers to implement results-based
contracts.
What is the Results Measurement Framework?
The Results Measurement Framework is a key tool of the Community Investment
Strategy. It provides a direct line of sight between:
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Better Public Service targets and major Government policies such as the
Children’s Action Plan
the results sought for vulnerable New Zealanders in the three priority areas
and at different levels of service intensity (prevention, early intervention,
intensive, crisis/statutory response)
the performance of providers in relation to purchased services
actual results for clients.
The Results Measurement Framework sets a benchmark for standard and
consistency in performance measurement. Having consistency in our performance
measures, unified across service types, will ensure MSD can clearly convey the
direct link between Government priorities, the services we purchase from
providers, and results achieved. This will enable the evidence base to be built as
we focus clearly on measuring actual improvement to people’s wellbeing and
circumstances.
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How will the Results Measurement Framework impact providers?
Under the Results Measurement Framework, we will be working differently with
providers. In a phased approach over the next three years, we will move all
purchased services to results-focused contracts with clear performance measures
aligned to the Results Measurement Framework.
The Results Measurement Framework will benchmark the performance of
purchased services against the relevant priority result areas using a clear and
logical measurement system based on the Results Based Accountability (RBA)
approach to measurement.
This approach means that the rationale and evidence behind purchasing decisions
will also be transparent to providers, communities and the Government.
Will this change how our contracts are monitored and reported on?
Contract monitoring and reporting will change as we test and refine the Results
Measurement Framework. MSD is streamlining the reporting and monitoring
processes overall to reduce compliance and duplication for providers, so that
providers can report on more meaningful sets of data.
What support will be given to providers to implement changes required
under the Community Investment Strategy?
In 2014/15 we have trialled results measures with 11 providers as part of the
Community Investment Trials (previously known as the Investing in Services for
Outcomes trials) to give us a better understanding of what the impact of the
changes for providers will be. The lessons we have learnt from this are informing
how we roll out the Community Investment Strategy in a phased way.
Community Investment’s Regional Teams will support providers to understand the
Community Investment Strategy and how results measures will impact each
organisation. Tools and templates will be provided to support implementation.
MSD is refocusing the remaining Capability Investment Resource funding to
support providers to implement and deliver on results-based contracts.
Will MSD change the services it purchases from providers?
MSD will conduct a review of the services it purchases over the next 18 months. It
will consider whether:
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each service aligns to Government priorities
each service is well targeted at a population level and a geographical level
each service is performing to expectations
there is unnecessary duplication or oversupply.
This review will exclude services that are already in scope for other reviews, such
as the family violence and sexual violence. The results of the family violence and
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sexual violence cross agency work will feed in to the implementation of the
Community Investment Strategy.
CYF funding is included and will be reviewed for alignment and duplication and
results-focused contracts. Any changes arising from the Ministerial review of CYF
will be incorporated if necessary.
These reviews will result in continuing or modifying purchased services.
Modification may include increasing or reducing the funding invested, refocusing
where the purchased service is delivered or targeting to a higher-needs population
group. Providers will be given three months’ notice to adjust to any contractual
changes.
How will service effectiveness be determined?
Gauging effectiveness is not easy because the services we invest in often address
complex social issues that play out over long periods of time and across
generations.
We will work with providers and the Social Policy Evaluation and Research Unit
(Superu; previously known as the Families Commission) to build the evidence
base. As our evidence about effective services and programmes grows, and we
develop a deeper understanding of needs and risks in communities, our
investment decisions will become increasingly targeted and specific.
What is the Community Investment NGO Evaluation Fund?
Superu established an evaluation fund in July 2014 that will help selected
providers build an evaluation culture and demonstrate the impact that their
programmes are having on communities. This will generate new evidence on what
works, which will be shared across the social sector.
How can NGOs access the Community Investment NGO Evaluation Fund?
Applications to this fund closed in December 2014 and Superu has since selected
a number of providers to work with. Once the first phase is complete, Superu will
review and may consider a second round of applications for NGOs.
Who do I contact if I have a question?
If you are a provider, you can learn more from your regional Community
Investment Advisor, or if your enquiry is general you can email
Community_Investment_Strategy@msd.govt.nz.
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