Chief Children’s Commissioner yet to see Oranga Tamariki funding evidence

Saturday, 24 August 2024

“I remain concerned about the reduced focus on prevention and early intervention,” says Chief Children's Commissioner Dr Claire Achmad.

Chief Children’s Commissioner Claire Achmad says she is yet to see evidence from Oranga Tamariki over its funding decisions, after asking the ministry to show how children were being kept at the centre of decision making.

Earlier this month, Achmad voiced her concern over contracts for work with vulnerable children that had come to an end with no clarity over whether the services would continue, and said she wanted to see evidence to show the decisions were made with “the rights and best interests of children and young people” as the key factor.

Achmad, two weeks later, said she was “yet to see evidence of how funding is being reallocated to meet children’s needs”, but she remained “keen to see these things”.

“Earlier this week, we received a number of documents from Oranga Tamariki … Crucially, the information provided doesn’t give me an understanding of how children and young people have been put at the centre of this decision-making.

“We still don’t have evidence of transition plans for all children, young people and families affected by these changes.

Dr Claire Achmad (Ark-Mard) is calling on the government to hit pause on its cuts.. and told Three News that Karen Chhour’s statement accusing providers of treating OT as a “cash cow” were disappointing.

“I remain concerned about the reduced focus on prevention and early intervention.

In a written question from Green MP Hūhana Lyndon asking how many contracts with social service providers had been cut by Oranga Tamariki, Children’s Minister Karen Chhour said 21 had contracts ended on June 30.

That included providers such as Big Buddy Mentoring, Dargaville Youth Charitable Trust and West Auckland Boxing Academy.

Chhour said Oranga Tamariki would be “actively working with each provider on a transition process”.

“This will include ensuring children, young people and their families who may be currently receiving services be transitioned into alternate services/providers within their respective communities.

“As I have raised publicly, Oranga Tamariki is getting back to its core work and ensuring that the contracts we have with providers are fit for purpose frontline essential services.”

In addition, a letter was sent to Family Start providers earlier this week from Oranga Tamariki, informing them another letter would be on its way “confirming investment decisions”.

“These are not decisions made lightly – but are important decisions that we stand by. I understand that for some, these decisions will present a challenge,“ Darrin Haimona, deputy chief executive (communities and investments), said.

“I acknowledge that this process has created a level of uncertainty for you, but year on year we need to ensure that we are providing the right funding for the right services to meet the needs of children in our care and those who have come to our attention.”

“I want to be clear that only Oranga Tamariki is authorised to speak to the decisions we have made and the Q and As help clear up any confusion there might be.”

It was understood the nationwide Family Start programme, which is rolled out by various providers and supports young families with babies, could have about $15 million cut from its budget.

Previously, Haimona in a statement had singled out the Family Start programme.

“With regard to Family Start generally, and from our own analysis, given overall low utilisation of these services (71%) and marginal cost-benefit ratio, we will be reviewing this programme later in the year with the aim of repurposing it to achieve better outcomes for children in care.”