New Zealand DEFENCE FORCE Tc 0pc Rama 0 Aotcarol NEW ZEALAND DEFENCE FORCE I AFFAIRS SUBMISSION T0 MINISTER COVERSHEET To accompany documents to Minister for Veterans New Zealand VETERAN AFFAIRS Tc T113 Ahu IR. A whlro Title: 2018/19 GOVERNMENT GRANT TO THE NO DUFF CHARITABLE TRUST NZDF File No. NZDF Tracking 2019-267 (For OCDF Use Only) Minister's Tracking#: (For Minister?s office) Importance of the Issue: High Moderate Routine Urgency for Attention/Sign-Off: URGENT - The Minister has a meeting with the No Duff Charitable Trust on 25 July so needs to have received this briefing before that Request Ministerial response by: Not required date. Contacts: 1. Jo Elworthy 5- 2. Bernadine Mackenzie Purpose: To advise you about the report made by the No Duff Charitable Trust on the Government grant of $25,000 that it received in the 2018/19 financial year. Recommendations: I recommend that you: a. Note that a report has been received from the No Duff Charitable Trust. relating to how it used the grant made to it by the Government in the 2018/19 ?nancial year. b. Note that this report meets the requirements that were specified by Veterans' Affairs on behalf of the Minister for Veterans. c. Note that Veterans' Affairs will now release to the Trust the conditional Government grant of $25,000 that was agreed. on the basis of satisfactory performance, for the 2019/20 financial year. d. Note that No Duff will be advised of the reporting requirements associated with this grant. e. Note that the No Duff report states that its current operating situation is not sustainable. and that it will need to cut back on its services in the coming year unless additional funding can be sourced. Not required: matter only, Consultation Minister's comments: Minister?s Action: Signature: Signed Noted /Agreed Approved Declined Discussion required Referred to: Date: i- K.R. SHORT Air Marshal Chief of Defence Force Date: 2? July 2019 FORCE AFFAIRS n- Otll' Karma 0 Autumn Te 11m Aha Ilia A white BRI 008 19-20 NTM 2019-267 23 July 2019 Minister for Veterans 2018/19 GOVERNMENT GRANT TO THE NO DUFF CHARITABLE TRUST Purpose 1. The purpose of this brie?ng is to advise you about the report made by the No Duff Charitable Trust on the Government grant of $25,000 that it received in the 2018/19 ?nancial year. Background 2. In July 2019. the Government made a conditional grant of $25,000 to the No Duff Charitable Trust. This was the ?rst of four to be paid over four years. The grant was to assist the Trust in its work to support veteran wellbeing and speci?cally. a. to help improve access to support for veterans; and b. to support the Trust to deliver front-line crisis services that connect veterans to the help they need to recover and lead a healthy and productive life. 3. Veterans? Affairs advised No Duff of the Minister for Veterans? expectations about how the money would be used, and requested that a written report be made at year end. No Duff was given a report template and asked to return it by 19 July 2019. It was asked to report how much had been achieved and how well it was done. and whether the grant had made a difference to veterans. 4. A copy of this report is enclosed. Summary of the No Duff Report 5- The grant report meets the requirements speci?ed by Veterans? Affairs on behalf of the Minister. It contains a breakdown of the areas where the grant has been spent; details of the activities undertaken within each of these areas; some examples of the cases which the Trust has handled; and the outcome of interventions that have been made. 6. No Duff is a frontline organisation and this is re?ected in the services reported. They include referral to emergency services or other agencies, ongoing and intensive peer support, arranging of grants and counselling. and providing on-the- ground practical assistance to family members of veterans. 2 7. In the year ending 30 June 2019, No Duff supported 107 veterans and their family members. These were overwhelmingly from the Army (65 percent) although Navy and Air Force veterans were also represented. More than half were under 40 years of age, and around 10 percent over 70. Twelve of the veterans disengaged with their problems unresolved. The report provides feedback from veterans who have been helped, and who commented about the difference No Duff has made to their lives. 8. The report notes that there were a number of ?bounce-backs" in the current year, where the veteran returned to No Duff after being referred to another organisation. It notes that a number of these had signi?cant mental illnesses or injuries and were unable or unwilling to fully engage with other support providers. In some cases the other providers had been slow to respond, or did not understand the veteran's situation, or provided inadequate or ineffective support. The Way Forward 9. The report from the Trust meets the requirements that were advised to No Duff in June 2018. We intend now to release the grant of $25,000 that was agreed, on the basis of satisfactory performance, for the 2019/20 ?nancial year, and to advise No Duff of the reporting requirements associated with the grant. 10. We note, however, that No Duff has advised in its report that its current position is not sustainable. It states that it will shortly be meeting with you to discuss funding. 11. No Duff assesses its direct operating costs (those that align to the purpose of the Government grant) as $184,000 for the ?nancial year just ended, making a per response cost of $1,720. The Government grant covers 14 percent of these costs. 12. Their forecast for the 2019/20 ?nancial year is that providing services to a higher number of veterans would cost $280,000, of which the Government grant would cover 9 percent. This forecast includes an increase in employed staff, and anticipated increases in the cost of service delivery. 13. No Duff has assessed the situation as unsustainable. Funding has proved very dif?cult to access. The report states that, unless the situation changes, it will need to signi?cantly decrease capacity and outputs, and speci?cally that, unless additional funding can be sourced, they will be reduced to a volunteer only team with responders available only after-hours, rather than on the current 24/7 basis. Recommendations 14. recommend that you: a. Note that a report has been received from the No Duff Charitable Trust, relating to how it used the grant made to it by the Government in the 2018/19 ?nancial year. NOTED 3 Note that this report meets the requirements that were speci?ed by Veterans? Affairs on behalf of the Minister for Veterans. NOTED Note that Veterans? Affairs will now release to the Trust the conditional Government grant of $25,000 that was agreed, on the basis of satisfactory performance, for the 2019/20 ?nancial year. NOTED Note that No Duff will be advised of the reporting requirements associated with this grant. NOTED Note that the No Duff report states that its current operating situation is not sustainable, and that it will need to cutback on its services in the coming year unless additional funding can be sourced. NOTED K.R. SHORT HON RON MARK Air Marshal Minister for Veterans Chief of Defence Force Date: zx/v// 7 Date: Enclosure: No Duff?Supporting Veteran Wellbeing Grant Report, Year ending 30 June 1. 2019 Supporting Veteran Wellbeing Grant Report Year-ending 30 June 2019 Tequ?IiraAhIkaWhir AFFAIRS New Zealand SUMMARY The Government made a $25,000 grant to No Duff Charitable Trust in July 2018 to support veteran wellbeing The purpose specifically was to help improve access to support for veterans, and support No Duff to deliver front line crisis services that connect veterans to the help they need to recover and lead a healthy and productive life. This report covers the key results of No Duff Charitable Trust for the year-ending 30 June 2019 in-line with the information requested by Government: - How much was achieved? A summary of the numbers; Did we make a difference? An overview; - How well was it done? Some feedback we have received; Case studies and commentary; - Issues changes for discussion; - Appendix One Detailed Data year-ending 30 June 2019 f" iJ-n Dull hr mt pm' in MU WAS Overview In the year-ending 30 June 2019, No Duff supported 107 veterans or their family members. A detailed breakdown of some of the key demographics No Duff collects is included at Appendix A. Measure How many? Number of veterans a 107 Referrals to emergency services 6% Connection to operW/ .U 51% Connection with other veterans 38% Direct g?i?ixlwith fm? applications 16% Note - some veterans are included in multiple categories, for example where they may have been connected to both other services and other veterans. DID 3 MAKE A Did the veterans who approached No Duff have more support? All veterans or their family members who approached No Duff have more support than before they did so. Of 107 cases this financial year, 12 veterans have, for a wide variety of reasons, either chosen not to fully engage with the supports put in place, or withdrew from it with still unresolved issues. Support options remain available to them should they choose to re?engage. No Duff makes numerous attempts to keep veterans involved with the support they need where the is resistance for one reason or another. On a case-by-case basis we assess the point at which we let the veteran know that support is always available should they choose to take it, and switch to passively monitoring their case. Are the veterans who approached No Duff more independent? More independence is very subjective and dif?cult to accurately measure in numbers given the nature of No Duff?s cases. As with the veterans who have more support (and the noted exceptions), all those who approached No Duff are more independent than they previously had been with the various supports put in place. Increased independence has been particularly evident in cases involving mental health, especially where individuals had isolated themselves, had dif?culty at work and or withdrawn from their usual activities. During and after professional treatment and on-going peer support, individuals have re-emerged and re- engaged with family, friends, work and their usual activities. WELL WAS IT ?would like to thank you for takin) time out of your busy schedule to come meet with me to give me the opportunity of recovery, I will definitely take advantage of every bit of assistance you throw at me to better myself for the Once again thanks Male veteran, age 31. Currently in the Corrections system. were left to our own devices in one way. No Duff is a relief? Male veteran, age 50 appreciate you being able to facilitate this journey of I can?t thank you enough? Feedback from veterans Male veteran, age 38 ?Thank you so much to No Duff was awesome I got more savvy from him than I have ever from any other helpline . Keep up the awesome Mahi No Duff" Female veteran, age 62 to have you guys? Former Afghan Interpreter, age 35 Null hug-winm'izl (Jr .nt Iii-rum ?i?r'lw STUDIES ANI) Each case that No Duff supports is unique, often very complex and requires a tailored approach. Due to the complexity and size of many cases, we have summarised a selection down to a handful of key points. It is difficult to convey the time, effort, energy and stress expended by those involved in some of these cases while trying to maintain anonymity. Case One A current sewing veteran with a combination of mental health concerns from service, and ?nancial pressure after a family court battle contacted No Duff for support. A peer supporter worked with him to provide advice and support while helping to organise counselling through his GP, and a grant to through an RSA to help reduce some of the financial pressure. He subsequently felt less trapped easing both his mental and financial stress, started re- engaging with friends and was subsequently supported by his work into a promotion. Case TWO The spouse of a Viet Nam veteran who had passed away called No Duff enquiring about counselling support. It was also discovered that she had a lot of work to do around her property that she was unable to manage herself (clearing and re-building a broken down woodshed). No Duff organised a VANZ Case Manager and helped her organise counselling. No Duff also sourced funding from the Vietnam Veterans Association and organised contractor to clear the debris from the property. A work party of No Duff volunteers was then organised to travel down and spend a day building a replacement woodshed. '14 Case Three No Duff was contacted by a veteran who was on overseas deployment and had seen concerning social media posts from a friend (also a veteran) in New Zealand. No Duff contacted the individual who was experiencing multiple, complex family, employment and financial difficulties. He was regularly trying to drink his problems away and expressing suicidal thoughts. No Duff organised two local peer supporters; the situation became highly intensive for the peer supporters and the No Duff phoneline volunteers with the veteran?s regular heavy alcohol consumption and threats of suicide. No Duff advocated for him with the local RSA to help provide some financial support for living costs and counselling while providing ongoing peer support and monitoring of his situation until he was firmly in higher, on-going care. Case Four A veteran was being held on remand after a string of violent offences. A former Army friend had visited him and suggested he make contact with No Duff, and they helped to organise a meeting. He was visited by the No Duff CEO who, as a veteran, built a rapport by being one of the few people who could understand him and his experiences in service. After a few hours listening to his story and identifying the issues, No Duff began to problem solve and help map out a pathway in conjunction with Corrections and VANZ. While awaiting sentencing, the Judge discovered he was a veteran with service-related mental health concerns. The Judge requested a report on what support would be available on release to help prevent re?offending. No Duff provided a plan with an outline of what mental health and other support would be available on release. This veteran is very interested in taking up all support options available and remains in contact with No Duff pending his release. . 5x I 5 ISSUES Funding No Duff?s core business is directly aligned to the purposes of this grant. Almost all expenditure incurred this year supports our operations and core activities which is improving access to support for veterans, and delivery of front-line crisis services. Sufficient funding is extremely difficult to secure for No Duff; very few organisations include veterans as a priority target population and so will not fund No Duff. We are more often hearing from organisations that they admire what we do, ask us to provide services, but do not have any funds to support us to do so (this includes Government Departments). Our core business output is unsustainable with our current funding. We continue to approach other organisations for grants but are struggling as described above. The forecast costs below include an increase in employed FTE and anticipated increases in the costs of delivery. We will be meeting with the Minister for Veterans to discuss funding shortly. Impact Without sufficient funding, No Duff will be forced to significantly reduce our capacity and outputs to a sustainable level before the end of the 2019 calendar year. In practical terms this will be a reduction of approximately 80% to our current capacity, specifically in the form of availability of responders to after-work hours only, instead of the curent 24/7/365 coverage. This will be necessary as we are forced to reduce to a volunter only team, which will have a flow on detrimental impact on veterans in need of urgent support both in terms of much slower reaction time and lower numbers overall supported per month. Year-ended Forecast 30 3OJune 2019 June 2020 Directoperatingcosts 184,000 280,000 Responses 107 110 Project and non-direct operating costs Cost per response 1,720 2,545 that do not directly align to the purpose of this grant have been excluded from this report. Government Grant 14% 9% Sustainable? AV 'lw l?Hli {Hunt lg (.12 i 2 ?9 SW ISSUES TIN Ell) ?Bounce-backs? The 2019 year has seen more instances where a veteran ?bounces-back? to No Duff after being handed over to longer-term providers. A number of these are veterans with significant mental injury illness being unable or unwilling to fully engage with other support providers. A number were as a result of other support providers being slow to respond, not understanding their situation or providing inadequate/ineffective support. As a matter of course these cases are referred back to the organisation they were originally facilitated to, as No Duff lacks the resources to provide long term support. Hr lju?f?y NH I [No APPENDIX A - DETAILED DATA - YEAR-ENDING 30 JUNE 2019 Region 2019 Responses . 3 - 3 3 2 International HH 01V Manawatu-Whanganui Auckland Canterbury OUJD Wellington No Data Otago Taranaki Waikato Marlbrough Bay of Plenty Hawkes Bay Gisborne West Coast Northland Nekon Southland Total 107 "International? is predominantly NZ veterans living in Australia who contacted No Duff for support. Most responses were located in Brisbane, Sydney or Perth. 9 lunn 311]". APPEI TDIX A - DETAILED DATA - YEAR- EN DING 30 JUNE 2019 Branch of Service Age Groups 4? 35.9.3% 10 8.4% 6.5% 5.6% . 2.3% I O. . 1.90/0 0 - I - - 3040 40-50 No data 60-70 50-60 70-80 20-30 80-90 90-100 5 . .Army 65.4% . Anrforce 3.7% r. APPENDIX A - DETAILED DATA - YEAR-ENDING 30 JUNE 2019 Relation of Referrer Other family member Police? 1.9% omer Io.9% . Gender 8396mm 0%mner 11%female . 6* >23 a,