(file image) Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Oranga Tamariki is working to get funding arrangements for different organisations still in the dark sorted by the end of the month.
The agency is still finalising future planning for the year 2024/25 year as hundreds of charities and non-government organisations remain uncertain around whether funding will be renewed.
The Ministry for Vulnerable Children funds a range of programmes delivered by external care providers - including counselling for children; social workers in schools; teen parent units; wrap around support for neurodivergent children, support for foster parents and family and sexual violence programmes.
Contracts expired on 30 June, with one service saying there had been no communication on any transition phases.
A group representing frontline services for vulnerable children and families wants to engage with Oranga Tamariki around a reshuffle of its funding.
Social Service Providers Aoteaora chief executive Belinda Himiona told Nine to Noon it appeared Oranga Tamariki was planning to redistribute half its funds to community and iwi-based services.
"They're established providers, they know their stuff, they work in communities everyday so if there is a strategy I understand the timing for that was October, and we'd love to have a conversation about what that looks like as frontline services and making sure that transition is smooth and that services are ready to step in as they need to," Himiona said.
Social service providers fear children at risk due to funding uncertainty
It was not patch protection, she said, adding she was willing to listen to rational and arguments about provident strategies.
"What I see is a real yearning for constructive partnership with government and that also means that not everybody will maybe have the same model going forward, and I think the main focus is on making sure that children and families have the services that then demands for services are being met in a way that helps them to thrive," Himiona said.
She had also heard from frontline services that funding cycles moving forward would be shortened too.
"Lengths of contracts being offered by Oranga Tamariki are shorter, we've had some providers who are in a five-year contract at the moment and they've been asked to reduce that to one or two years and this again adds to the disruption," Himiona said.
"We know evidence base is you want a longer run, you want to build trust and have a sustainable funding model and this is just not what we're seeing at this stage."
NZ Council of Christian Social Services executive officer Nikki Hurst told Nine to Noon the lack of communication from Oranga Tamariki had made their processes difficult.
"We've had very little direction or support from Oranga Tamariki... the communication that comes out is very light and the reality is there's not good direction on what to do with the cessation of these contracts," Hurst said.
"Normally, there'd be some transition through to supporting tamariki and rangatahi to engage with other services that might have picked up a contract, but with no direction from Oranga Tamariki to support that process, it's hard for people in the community to know what to do next."