‘Chaos’ as OT withholds funding, frontline providers consider job cuts
Saturday, 3 August 2024
Frontline care providers say they are being forced to reconsider their staff and services as uncertainty about Oranga Tamariki funding continues.
Multiple providers have broken down while talking to The Post, with the uncertainty or reduction in funding forcing them to face staff who may lose their jobs, or even look at the organisation’s future.
One provider who is in the middle of a three-year contract to provide wraparound support for high need and vulnerable new parents and babies was told last month their expected funding payment was not coming — and no possible date could be provided.
That payment was worth more than $300,000, which pays for staff, services and rent. They were recently told there would be a cut to the funding, but have not yet had any additional information as to how much that would be. It’s been nearly two weeks.
Another provider with funding withheld told The Post, “I’ve got staff who work bloody hard at the front end of violence”, and questioned the decision to hold back payments.
“I can’t pay my staff today. It’s chaos.”
It is understood the nationwide Family Start programme, which is rolled out by various providers and supports young families with babies, would be needing to cut $15 million from its budget.
Hundreds of care organisations have been left in limbo by Oranga Tamariki after more than 1000 contracts ended on June 30, with providers still in the dark as to whether their contracts would be renewed.
Some of those contracts not renewed included counselling for girls who have been through domestic violence, support for new parents and babies, and 24/7 care for children.
Over the last couple of days, many providers were informed of new contracts that saw reduced funding, shorter funding periods, or have since been told their services will not be needed — after being told earlier in the month that Oranga Tamariki wanted to continue their contracts.
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Shelley Wilson, a Whānau Worker at Family Start Nelson, said a funding cut would “impact on the wellbeing of our whānau, our babies, our tamariki, in New Zealand, and certainly in Nelson”.
“We're worried about our jobs. We're also worried about the wellbeing of the families that we work with now and then, the bigger impact this is going to have on the wellbeing of children.
“Our child abuse rates are shocking. Family Start works to prevent that.”
Asked about the work they do, Wilson said they get referrals for families “where there are red flags and concerns pertaining to the wellbeing of an infant”.
“So some of those issues will be things like alcohol and drug abuse, mental health, family violence, children that have been raised in care or parents that have lost earlier children in an Oranga Tamariki process, and then other issues such as housing.
“We're a home-based service. We have to sight the children. We certainly have to sight the babies. And we deliver all this education around positive parenting, whilst also working with other social issues that may be occurring and other health issues.”
They have never had a lack of demand, Wilson says.
“Our families want to work with us. We're all flat out. We're all working at maximum capacity.”
Darrin Haimona of Oranga Tamariki said he understood “this is hard for some of those organisations that may see their contracts reduce or wrap up”.
“We have communicated with providers since March and kept them updated as we progressed our way through the process. We 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. These decisions were made in line with our priorities and the need to provide children in our care with the services they need the most.
“I encourage providers to contact us directly with any concerns they may have regarding the requests for information.“
The provider who has had $300,000 of funding withheld said they had emailed the email address specifically for providers to send questions to multiple times over the last few weeks and had not heard back.