Our shameful child abuse problem in New Zealand will not be addressed without effective services being delivered to those most likely to maltreat their children.

In an average year ten New Zealand children die at the hands of family members. Often such families are profoundly dysfunctional, facing multiple problems, including poverty, crime, fragile mental health, unemployment, lack of education, poor housing, drug abuse and histories of violence, leaving them ill-equipped to raise children.

Family Help Trust is a Canterbury based community agency who has been providing child abuse prevention services to break the cycle of abuse and family dysfunction in the Canterbury community since 1990.

We confront the causes of family dysfunction and work with high risk families and children to provide families with the skills they need to improve their lives and the lives of their children.

Our qualified, professional social workers provide home based intensive, long-term, family-based and child-focused social work services to families with vulnerable children under five years of age.

We want not only to stop the patterns of anti-social behaviours and family functioning difficulties, but also to provide families with the support and skills needed to avoid the traps of violence, crime, substance use, and dependence on the state.