Tupu Aotearoa is an MPP-led initiative that has been operating and evaluated for the last 10 years to support Pacific peoples into employment.
Over the years, the programme has undergone some changes. It has evolved from the Pacific Employment Support Service (PESS) pilot established in 2010 to test multiple approaches to support Pacific youth aged 16-24 years into employment.
The original PESS programme initially ran for four years from 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2014, with the first six months dedicated to establishing the service delivery operations with the four selected providers operating primarily in South Auckland.
There was no programme in 2015-16. However, the programme was resumed from 2016-18. During the 2018-2021 period the programme was extended to a national programme with 28 provider contracts in seven regions and three metropolitan areas. Independent annual evaluations of service providers and overall programme effectiveness have been a cornerstone of the Tupu Aotearoa programme since 2012.
This presentation outlines the evolving process of evaluation over time, particularly on the challenges and opportunities for improving the evaluation of the Tupu Aotearoa programme.
The discussions will focus on the period since the recent expansion of Tupu Aotearoa to a national programme in 2019 and through the onset of COVID19 in New Zealand from March 2020.
