Oranga Tamariki care provider’s sleepless nights over payment delays

Wednesday, 24 July 2024

An Oranga Tamariki care provider owed more than $300,000 says they are losing sleep and wondering how their business will stay afloat as the children’s ministry delays paying providers as it assesses its future funding.

Some providers The Post talked to say they can’t take on new clients while the delay stretches on.

Some providers with multi-year contracts were supposed to receive payments last week to provide community care services.

One care provider in the middle of a three year contract, which provides wraparound support for high need and vulnerable new parents and babies, was told last week their expected payment was not coming - and no possible date could be provided.

That payment was worth more than $300,000 and with no certainty when they will receive the funding, they’re questioning whether they can keep staff, how to keep providing services for clients and how long they can keep operating.

“It has a big impact,” the head of the organisation, who did not want to be named, told The Post.

“At this stage, we're looking at, how long can we wait? What do we need to do… so that we can survive until we know what's going to happen?

“The stress is just enormous… Laying till one o'clock, two o'clock in the morning, thinking, ‘how am I going to make this work’ so that your company just doesn't collapse?

“We still need to perform these services and make sure that these people feel safe and we're not getting paid for it.”

They talked to staff on Friday to inform them what was happening. The next conversation, if they don’t have any update within the week, will have to be about cutting jobs.

“I had people in tears.”

It follows care organisations being left in limbo by Oranga Tamariki after it failed to ensure hundreds of contract renewals were in place before they expired.

Some providers were told their contracts would not be renewed, with only hours’ notice before a long weekend when they were due to expire.

Chief executive Chappie Te Kani said as part of the annual reconciliation process, it reviews existing and future planned funding for providers.

He said Oranga Tamariki was finalising future planning for the 2024/25 year.

“I acknowledge that this process creates a level of uncertainty for providers we work with, 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.”

Te Kani said as the needs of children change, “so must the services we fund, but areas of high need like family and sexual violence services, care services for children currently in care, and assessment services for youth justice are prioritised and our commitments to funding those services will not change as a result of this process and will be funded to the full Budget allocation”.

He said it has communicated with providers since March to keep them updated and “continue to contact all providers to give them certainty around their future contracting arrangements with Oranga Tamariki”.

“There are contracts that will expire and not be renewed, some we have decided to reduce and others that will be increased.”

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