- Hon Kelvin Davis
An Action Plan signed up to by all children’s agencies will require them to work with each other and the community to support those with the greatest need, Minister for Children Kelvin Davis has announced.
The Oranga Tamariki Action Plan requires the Chief Executives of Oranga Tamariki, the Police, and the Ministries of Education, Social Development, Health, and Justice to work together to achieve the outcomes in the Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy for the children and young people with the greatest needs.
As well as the children’s agencies many others will be connected to the work, including the Department of Corrections and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
“When I spoke to frontline social workers one of the main things I heard was that they often felt like the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff, tasked with trying to do everything for tamariki and whānau in need,” Kelvin Davis said.
“It should not be like that, all agencies have their role to play and this framework will ensure they work together to make things better for children.”
Preventing families from entering or staying in the system is a central element of the Action Plan, which encourages acting early and doing whatever it takes.
To start making changes as quickly as possible the agencies involved have identified key initiatives to focus on in the short term in housing, education, and health.
This is a first step in laying the foundations for longer term change, the direction of which the community will feed into.
“Agencies do try and work together but it doesn’t always happen smoothly. The Action Plan will be a lever for both public and community organisations to work together more effectively than ever before,” Kelvin Davis said.
“I’d like to thank my Cabinet colleagues and their officials for their commitment to the kaupapa and identifying what we can do now – because we can’t make children, young people, families, whānau and communities wait any longer for agencies to work together better,” Kelvin Davis said.
For more information about the Oranga Tamariki Action Plan click here.
