Source: E Tipu e Rea Whānau Services
E Tipu E Rea Whānau Service is a kaupapa Māori organisation that supports mātua taiohi (young parents) and hapū māmā (expectant parents). We are pleased to see the release of the Independent Children Monitor report into Oranga Tamariki and the current state of play. Having independent reports in such a manner are key to ensuring Oranga Tamariki are held accountable in all they do.
The findings in the report indicate some progress, however, many gaps remain. We know that tamariki Māori are the ones who suffer long-term consequences when the state, as their guardian, is not caring for them as well as they could or should. Workloads, a lack of relationship building with whānau and a lack of cross sectorial mahi – with health, housing and education is causing the ball to be dropped within the care system on many levels.
Our whānau do not work in silos, and our health, housing, education and social care systems should not either, this is not just about care and protection, collaboration across sectors is also key to prevention and collectively building the capacity and strength of our whānau.
Additionally, tamariki not knowing their rights and a continued lack of cultural competency and safety demonstrated by some Oranga Tamariki staff remain huge concerns for us. E Tipu e Rea Whānau Services spends a lot of time cleaning up after these issues for whānau (on a daily basis). This is all preventable work; it should never have to get to this stage. As a Kaupapa Māori service, we look forward to working with Oranga Tamariki to help improve the current state of play. We celebrate that there are movements towards partnering with community providers. However, cultural competency and safety are everyone’s business, not just community providers and we look forward to seeing Oranga Tamariki work hard to build the capacity of their workers in this area.
To be fair, we also think there should be a streamlined process where Universities that train social workers take a bigger responsibility for what is taught in the area of cultural competency and safety. E Tipu e Rea is constantly shocked and disappointed by the lack of cultural competency and cultural safety that newly qualified social workers walk out with. It is totally unacceptable that social workers leave University and work for places like Oranga Tamariki, without a deeper understanding of the history of Aotearoa, without knowledge of iwi and hapū, and without the ability to identify and challenge racism.
Zoe Hawke CEO of E Tipu E Rea Whānau Services explains, “We personally know some Oranga Tamariki leaders and workers who are doing their best to create change, they want change just as much as we do, and we know that there are some big shifts planned for in the near future, we are asking for that change to be accelerated, our tamariki deserve it now, they can’t wait any longer. We want our tamariki to be safe, we want intergenerational healing today, please fast-track the changes for tamariki Māori now. For those who work in Oranga Tamariki who are nervous about change, please step away now, our tamariki deserve better, they do not need road blocks”.
