Youth INtact works with rangatahi (12-19 years) across the Waikato, offering alcohol or other drug (AOD) support and education in the community and at schools.
We are there for rangatahi wherever they may want to connect with us. We offer mobile outreach and walk-in services, and we work with community, sports, church and cultural groups to ensure rangatahi are supported in places that work best for them.
You can find everything you need to know about our service on the Youth INtact website.
Odyssey is the lead provider of Youth INTACT and works with three regional partners delivering the service across the Waikato.
In our service delivery area, we work with 13 Waikato high schools (including six in Hamilton) and serve a wide geographical area from our base in Hamilton City. We travel to Huntly, Ngāruawāhia, Morrinsville, Matamata, Te Aroha, Te Awamutu, Cambridge, and Raglan.
At each school, we work in partnership with the school guidance and pastoral care teams and offer individual and group support for young people. In each area, a practitioner can also meet with young people not attending school in community clinic settings.
The Youth INtact model of care was co-designed with rangatahi. With a focus on collaboration between everyone involved (rangatahi, whānau, health and education professionals), the service offers easily accessible community-based assessment and treatment services that are wraparound, holistic and culturally responsive.
Is this for me?
The service is for young people aged 12-19 years old, whether they are currently enrolled at a school or not. To be eligible for Odyssey Youth INtact support, you just need to reside within the Waikato area where we work. That is, in Hamilton City, Huntly, Ngāruawāhia, Morrinsville, Matamata, Te Aroha, Te Awamutu, Cambridge, and Raglan. Our Youth INtact partners deliver services in the follow areas:
Te Korowai Hauora o Hauraki in Hauraki.
CareNZ in Tokoroa and Putaruru.
Taumarunui Community Kokiri in Otorohanga, Taumarunui and Te Kuiti.
The Youth INtact service finder will help you find the service closest to you.
The process
If you are 12-19 years old and live in the Waikato, you can contact us directly: at school, via the website, calling us on 0800 468 288, or popping into our office at Garden Place, Hamilton.
Whānau can contact us directly, by phone or email.
If you are supporting young people in a professional capacity, you can call us directly on 0800 468 288, or email youthintactreferrals@odyssey.org.nz a completed referral form.
In all cases, once you have contacted us, one of our team will be in touch as soon as possible.
What to expect
Youth INtact is mainly delivered in one on one weekly meetings with our youth practitioners. Group work is also offered.
Practitioners will spend time getting to know you, understanding your goals and supporting you to develop plans to achieve them.
We also offer support in the community and encourage rangatahi to participate in youth focused community events and wellbeing initiatives.
We have lots more detail on our Youth INtact website about what you can expect.
Let’s move forward together
Visit Youth INtact’s website for more information about our service and how to get in touch, for
You can also call us on 0800 468 288.
Or visit the Youth INtact website to download a referral form
Together it’s possible
