Oranga Tam­ar­iki com­mis­sioner wel­comed

A new Waikato com­mis­sioner for Oranga Tam­ar­iki has been wel­comed with a pōwhiri at Kirikiri­roa Marae as com­munity lead­ers, iwi and ser­vice pro­viders pledged to strengthen part­ner­ships to improve out­comes for tam­ar­iki and whānau.

Newly appoin­ted Waikato com­mis­sioner May Pritchard was form­ally wel­comed along­side Oranga Tam­ar­iki rep­res­ent­at­ives, includ­ing interim Waikato com­mis­sioner War­wick Morehu, Tam­ar­iki Tū Tam­ar­iki Ora chief exec­ut­ive Jaye Wainui and Te Kōhao Health man­aging dir­ector Lady Tureiti Moxon.

The gath­er­ing marked the begin­ning of a new chapter for child well­being ser­vices in the region and rein­forced a shared com­mit­ment to work­ing col­lab­or­at­ively.

Moxon said Waikato com­munit­ies already held the know­ledge and cap­ab­il­ity needed to sup­port tam­ar­iki.

“The solu­tions for our tam­ar­iki are already here in our com­munit­ies. Our role is to work together, listen to whānau and strengthen the path­ways that are already sup­port­ing tam­ar­iki to thrive,” she said.

Wainui said bet­ter out­comes depended on strong rela­tion­ships between gov­ern­ment agen­cies, iwi, Māori organ­isa­tions and com­munity pro­viders.

“Every tamaiti belongs to a whānau, a whakapapa and a com­munity.

“When we work together around those found­a­tions, we cre­ate stronger and more con­nec­ted sup­port sys­tems for tam­ar­iki and their whānau,” he said.

The wel­come comes as national fig­ures con­tinue to high­light the chal­lenges facing child pro­tec­tion. Last year, 3440 Māori tam­ar­iki and ranga­tahi were in care and pro­tec­tion cus­tody, rep­res­ent­ing 68% of all chil­dren in care, des­pite Māori mak­ing up about one-third of New Zea­l­and’s child pop­u­la­tion.

Moxon said the fig­ures rein­forced the need to invest in Māori-led approaches that build on the strengths already within com­munit­ies.

Tam­ar­iki Tū Tam­ar­iki Ora, formerly Kirikiri­roa Fam­ily Ser­vices Trust, has sup­por­ted Waikato fam­il­ies for more than 25 years and now works with more than 4000 tam­ar­iki and whānau annu­ally across Kirikiri­roa and sur­round­ing com­munit­ies, includ­ing Kawhia, Pirongia, Ōto­r­ohanga and Kihi­kihi. Its integ­rated model brings together hous­ing, child pro­tec­tion, justice, dis­ab­il­ity, fam­ily harm pre­ven­tion and whānau well­being ser­vices, redu­cing the need for fam­il­ies to nav­ig­ate mul­tiple agen­cies dur­ing times of crisis.

A Social Return on Invest­ment ana­lysis found pre­vent­ing tam­ar­iki from enter­ing state care accoun­ted for 45% of the social value cre­ated through the organ­isa­tion’s model.

Hous­ing is also a key focus, with 43 trans­itional homes help­ing fam­il­ies move towards long-term sta­bil­ity and inde­pend­ence.

Wainui said Pritchard’s appoint­ment presen­ted an oppor­tun­ity to fur­ther strengthen part­ner­ships across Waikato.

“Improv­ing out­comes for tam­ar­iki is something we all share respons­ib­il­ity for. When gov­ern­ment agen­cies, Māori organ­isa­tions and com­munit­ies work together, we can cre­ate the con­di­tions for tam­ar­iki to flour­ish,” he said.

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Source: https://www.pressreader.com/article/281582362435708