When someone in the Eastern Bay calls Oranga Tamariki to report concerns about a child welfare issue, they will now be rerouted from the national call centre to Whakatāne-based agency Te Pūkāea o Te Waiora.

In a first for New Zealand, Eastern Bay Iwi Provider Alliance - comprised of iwi social agencies Tūwharetoa ki Kawera Hauora, Te Tohu o Te Ora o Ngāti Awa, Tūhoe Hauora and Te Pou Oranga o Whakatōhea - has partnered with the Ministry of Children to decentralise Oranga Tamariki functions into the community with the launch of the local iwi-based, tikanga-focused organisation.

In a ceremony attended by the Minister for Children Karen Chhour and and Oranga Tamariki chief exeutive Chappie Te Kani, Te Pūkāea opened its Domain Road offices on Friday.

Te Tohu o Te Ora o Ngāti Awa chief executive Enid Ratahi-Pryor addressed the hundreds gathered for the launch.

“Oranga Tamariki is not the papa of our mokopuna.

“They are the State. This is about the communities and iwi taking control and stepping up to the challenge.

“Simplistically, Te Pūkāea o Te Waiora, in it’s first stage, is the shifting of the front door. The shifting of what they call the national call centre, into the community.

“Of all the 70,000 calls that come into Oranga Tamariki National Call Centre from people like police, schools, everyday people - only 30 percent of those calls are actually taken forward for any statutory intervention. The other 70 percent of reports of concern, nothing happened to them. They just fell into a big hole.”

Ms Ratahi-Pryor used the example of one of those calls that might go unanswered.

"Henare didn’t have his shoes for school, he didn’t have his uniform, he didn’t participate in activities. But that did not warrant a statutory intervention. But, a report of concern was lodged. This is the beginning of poor Henare’s entrance into the Oranga Tamariki system.

“What we are launching today will stop that. It will stop that 70 per cent being painted with the paintbrush of Oranga Tamariki. That 70 per cent of our tamariki will come into Te Pūkāea, and we will support those whanau with intervention programmes, the sorts of programmes that will help Henare.

“Getting shoes for school. Getting uniforms. That is not the role of Oranga Tamariki. That’s our role as a community. Helping Henare’s mother get up out of bed to give Henare breakfast, get to school. That’s our job. That’s what Te Pūkāea is all about. Not shifting those problems to a statutory agency.

“Today is all about Oranga Tamariki specialising in its place of higher-level social work, while we as a community, while we as an iwi, deal with all of the mahi that we are capable of doing through the programmes that we deliver out in our community.”

The Te Pūkāea o Te Waiora offices on Domain Road were opened on Friday.

Established in 2017, the Eastern Bay Iwi Provider Alliance partnered with Oranga Tamariki in August 2020 with the shared goal of creating better outcomes for tamariki.

Te Pūkāea is described by Oranga Tamariki as “phase one of the Agility Prototype, a partnership that aims to reduce the number of tamariki and whānau in the Eastern Bay region who require involvement with Oranga Tamariki”.

The Whakatāne contact centre will receive all calls and emails relevant to the Eastern Bay, which will be re-routed from the Oranga Tamariki National Contact Centre.

The centre will also receive direct calls from other local agencies such as Police and Te Whatu Ora, community and whānau.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.