Funding cuts could have 'huge impact' on local community - family centre

A Māngere community service centre is worried that the discontinuing of some of its contracts could impact Pacific people negatively.

Māngere East Family Services (MEFS) provides free and professional support to local families, including affordable Early Childhood Education, social work for families and schools, and environmental workshops.

Speaking to William Terite on Pacific Mornings, Carole Tana-Tepania and Georgina Ngatoko-Kelly said they were told last month that some of their contracts would be discontinued.

She said their work included advocacy around housing, human rights and fairer policies.

She said they also had many conversations with the government regarding decisions that impacted the communities.

"We also access essential needs and resources for whānau," Tana-Tepania said.

"In Māngere, we're highly populated with Pasifika - 80 to 90 per cent of our whānau that come and access our service are Pacific people.

"For them, I believe as a community they're not going to have access to the range of services they had through us, we're still not certain what other services will remain in Māngere."

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She said initially two social workers in schools with four of their community social workers would remain.

It has now changed to only their social workers in schools programme, meaning Ngatoko-Kelly, one of four community social workers could lose her role.

"In that team, it comprises four full-time staff covering community social work, diversity support for young people, and our community resource support and sustainability worker which is Georgina."

Ngatoko-Kelly said the contract discontinuation would have a "huge impact" on the Māngere community that accessed their services for nearly eight years.

"This goes to Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, local schools, Monte Cecilia housing, Kāhui Tū kaha with emergency housing, local organisations, Women's Refuge," she said.

"We also support the community policing teams and events, local marae, the kaumātua that have their gathering groups, DHB stroke patients - the list goes on and on.

"Yesterday we had a Māngere family who came through with his dad who had come out of hospital and into rehab. So he's come through waiting for a nurse to come in so they can access his dad's medical needs."

"It's sad to see our families - where are they going to access these resources?"

Oranga Tamariki’s deputy chief executive Darrin Haimona (Tainui, Ngaati Hauāa) acknowledged the work of providers at the flax roots, including the support Māngere East Family Services Centre provided its local community.

“The rationale for our decision making, and what sits at the centre of our decision-making process, is children and young people in our care. They must always come first.

“Oranga Tamariki is shifting to prioritise core business. This includes statutory services, such as Youth Justice, Care & Protection, Transition Services and family violence sexual violence services, for high-risk young people.

“Discontinuation and reductions reflected in contracts is due to forecasted under-utilisation, performance, duplication or need. We have made provisions to increase services as demands and needs shift.”

Haimona said OT was changing the way it contracted care services.

He said previously, the children’s agency contracted care services in bulk and in advance at the start of each financial year.

“Going forward, we will be contracting what we know is needed right now. We will also have flexibility to procure more if needed.

“For services that will be discontinued, provision has been made to support partners and providers to wind down the service and safely transition tamariki, rangatahi or whānau receiving the service to another service.

“These provisions allow for either a three-or-six-month wind down depending on the terms of their contract.”

He said regarding the wider Social Workers in Schools programme, Oranga Tamariki would be reviewing this later in the year to ensure it was utilised effectively by the young people.