Since KYS started 25+ years ago, we have built our service from the ground up, responding to the changing needs of rangatahi and keeping ourselves relevant, accountable and responsive every step of the way. Our success stories and our commitment to evidencing our good mahi go some way to demonstrating why we show up every day.
Our Story, Vision & Values
From humble beginnings to becoming an essential health and wellbeing service – passion for rangatahi, innovation and commitment to best practice guide us in everything we do.
In the mid 1990’s the Wellington Regional Health Authority commissioned research that showed the health and wellbeing needs of rangatahi in our region was not being effectively met through existing health care services. In response to this research the “Youth One Stop Shop” (YOSS) model was created, to provide integrated services which met the wide variety of health and wellbeing needs rangatahi required. A group of passionate, forward-thinking healthcare professionals on the Kāpiti Coast was contracted to deliver youth-specific services to rangatahi in Kāpiti, and so KYS was established. Initially providing free doctor and nurse services on a part-time basis, KYS has grown, adapted and extended the services and programmes we offer to reflect and respond to the changing needs within our community.
Today, KYS is one of the largest NGOs and providers of community services in Kāpiti. We operate across five sites which includes three school-based services. We have over 5,700 young people accessing services – representing approximately 68% of the youth population in Kāpiti. We are a busy and diverse service, but our vision, mission and values guide everything we do:
Our Vision
To be respected internationally for enabling youth to thrive in our community.
Our Mission
To provide a safe, confidential, youth-focused environment for the delivery of high quality health and support services for young people in the Kāpiti Coast community.
Our Values
- Young Person Centred
- Commitment to Quality
- Kaupapa of Care
- Relationship Focused
- Innovation / Thinking differently
Our Vision
To be respected internationally for enabling youth to thrive in our community.
Our Mission
To provide a safe, confidential, youth-focused environment for the delivery of high quality health and support services for young people in the Kāpiti Coast community.
Our Values
- Young Person Centred
- Commitment to Quality
- Kaupapa of Care
- Relationship Focused
- Innovation / Thinking differently
Our Vision
To be respected internationally for enabling youth to thrive in our community.
Our Mission
To provide a safe, confidential, youth-focused environment for the delivery of high quality health and support services for young people in the Kāpiti Coast community.
Our Values
- Young Person Centred
- Commitment to Quality
- Kaupapa of Care
- Relationship Focused
- Innovation / Thinking differently
Our Approach
Our approach to the health and wellbeing journeys of rangatahi is guided by our overarching commitment: to keep the young person at the centre of everything we do.
We regularly reflect on what is best for rangatahi and ask ourselves, “what else could we be doing?” when faced with decisions or challenges that could impact them, KYS or the wider community.
We believe in delivering our services equitably, and we pass no judgement to anyone’s background or circumstances, the severity of their challenges, their ethnicity, culture, race or religion. These beliefs are woven into the rich fabric of KYS.
KYS’s strength is our commitment to seeing each young person as an individual with needs, strengths and challenges that are unique to them, while understanding and supporting them in the wider context of their families/whānau and other environments. Our wraparound approach is just that – a range of diverse services that are independently strong, but together create a model of relational practice that is acknowledged as the most effective approach to working with young people. We have the evidence and experience to show this.
Engaging with each young person in consistent ways supports and strengthens relationships between the young person and KYS. The holistic and integrated approach that KYS adopts nurtures additional relationships within our service to help every young person become familiar and confident in accessing additional support when needed.
Our staff are passionate about providing services that truly make a difference. We operate in a safe, confidential, youth-friendly environment, and we actively seek opportunities that empower and positively impact young people along their journeys. This includes working closely with the young person as well as their whānau and the community.
Together, this approach allows us to be responsive to the needs of rangatahi, and to encourage them to be the best they possibly can be.
Success Stories
Our greatest success stories are about young people who feel positive, are well supported on their journey into adulthood and who are enabled to be everything they possibly can be.
Here are a few comments from young people and their whānau where KYS has made a difference in their life:
Young person
“It’s (KYS) a family type place. You feel so welcome even when you walk in, doesn’t matter who is here, it feels so welcome. Everyone is in a good mood, being here wasn’t a burden (for staff). Here it’s “how can I help you?”
“The moral support I’ve got from KYS, the talking, the hanging out, the advice I’ve been given has helped me to change my ways and helped me to make decisions about what I’m doing with my life.”
“If I didn’t have KYS I would have been dead to be honest, as it was pretty crap and I was getting into drugs. No comparing KYS to anything else. I would’ve ended up dead, or on the wrong medication, or none at all.”
Parent
“We were absolutely terrified we were going to lose our young person. Without KYS, for some of us, we would be losing our youth. If we hadn’t come here we’d be bringing our young person back from the city in a box.”
“My young person is improving a lot – and for me it was a great relief to find some help. I felt very hopeless dealing with their problems and my teen’s hostility before coming here to KYS.”
