The task incoming chief executive Sir Wira Gardiner has with Oranga Tamariki was laid bare this week with yet another example of OT using extraordinary legal powers to simply uplift children without notice.
Christchurch GP and youth advocate Dame Sue Bagshaw wrote directly to Sir Wira Gardiner pleading with him to intervene in yet another case where Oranga Tamariki reflectively resorted to the blunt force trauma of an uplift without notice order rather than working with the immediate family and wider whanau for a solution.
As covid poverty starts to really bite and stress filled temporary housing and welfare solutions turn septic and matasticise, Oranga Tamariki is increasingly operating in communities who have become so degraded there are no structures of agency or economic self management left.
The task incoming chief executive Sir Wira Gardiner has with Oranga Tamariki was laid bare this week with yet another example of OT using extraordinary.
Thursday, 28 January 2021, 12:27 pm
Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu hopes that the recent
changes to Oranga Tamariki leadership present an opportunity
for a long overdue paradigm shift that will place whānau at
the heart of the child welfare sector.
Pouārahi Helen
Leahy says that Māori have been waiting for more than 30
years for this change, since the release of the
Pūao-te-ata-tū report in 1988. In this context, the
Whānau Ora commissioning agency welcomes an evolving
environment of scrutiny and accountability signalled by the
appointment of Tā Wira Gardiner as Interim Chief Executive
of Oranga
Tamariki, and the establishment of a
Sir Wira Gardiner was appointed as acting chief executive in her place. Minister in charge of Oranga Tamariki, Kelvin Davis said the Government was committed to fixing the child care and protection system, and ensuring that Oranga Tamariki was “the organisation that people trust and go to for help”. “Over time allegations, issues and concerns have been raised regarding Oranga Tamariki and its practice and culture; its lack of coordination with other NGOs; and its relationship with many Māori communities.” He said the new board would look at three main areas – relationships with families and Māori, professional practice of social workers, and organisational culture.