Advancing the wellbeing of at-risk Maori children: Education and services in New Zealand

Historically, Maori children in New Zealand have been consistently over-represented in negative social statistics. To describe the current status of New Zealand’s education and services for at-risk M?ori children and their families, this article highlights the country’s overall structure of special education and services, as well as unique features of the service delivery system. This article concludes that strategies toward more fully supporting young people to engage in schools and communities ought to be cognizant of the inter-connectedness of the various aspects of wellbeing within a person, and the ways in which these aspects are affected through different contexts.