A new partnership aims to give iwi more input when whānau need help, to help reduce the number of children removed from their families. Photo: RNZ / Kate Green
An East Coast iwi is partnering with the government to give iwi and local groups more say in decisions about uplifting children.
The move is part of a wider plan to make Oranga Tamariki more community-led, and aims to get iwi and local organisations more involved in interventions from the outset.
Te Ara Mātua is a partnership between the iwi Ngāti Kahungunu, Oranga Tamariki and local health advocacy group Te Tumu Whakahaere o Te Wero.
It aims to get iwi and local organisations more involved in decision making at the start when whānau require intervention.
Minister for Children Kelvin Davis said it was expected there could be a continued reduction in the number of children in care by using community relationships to intervene earlier and more effectively.
"Ngāti Kahungunu whānau know what's best for their mokopuna but they have not had the power and resources needed to make those crucial decisions and respond appropriately", Davis said.
"Te Ara Mātua changes this and sees the crown standing back and enabling communities."
Kelvin Davis addresses the gathering. Photo: RNZ / Kate Green
A similar plan was launched in the Far North last year.
Nationwide, since 2018 uplifts have been reduced by 73 percent and there were 1600 fewer children in care, Davis said.
He had always believed Māori knew what was best for their mokopuna and the changes should have been made years ago.
"Going right back to the 1970s there was the call for this type of model. If the government of the time had listened... we probably wouldn't be in the situation that we've been in for the last four, five years."
The changes acknowledged the importance of community and whānau.
Relative steps up to take child
One woman, who RNZ has chosen not to name, received a call three years ago to say her niece's baby was going to be taken from his parents in an emergency uplift.
"I'm very aware the challenges my family face, and my extended whānau face," she said. "Before I moved out of Gisborne, I left my name with Oranga Tamariki and said if my whānau ever come up on your books, contact me."
The pēpi was born to teenage parents, both users of methamphetamine, and if he could not be placed with whānau, he would be taken into care.
Oranga Tamariki asked if she would take him and she agreed.
Against advice, she visited the family and explained what was going to happen, introducing herself as "nanny."
"When you have that person within the whānau who is able to encourage and build and work through the tough stuff... what I've reassured them is baby has no idea about that tough stuff. All he knows is that he is absolutely loved."
She said these days his parents were both clean, although no longer together. Pepi spent his time with his mother, his nanny, and was able to visit his father.
This was the ethos on which Te Ara Mātua was built.
Ngāti Kahungunu said the prototype was based on the findings of the Kōrero Mai Whānau report from 2019, prompted by the controversial uplift of a newborn baby, where people shared their experiences of maintaining a whānau and interacting with the state.
Ngati Kahungunu chair Bayden Barber Photo: RNZ / Kate Green
Ngati Kahungunu chair Bayden Barber said the new scheme was built on Māori tikanga to provide early support for families.
"We as a people are responsible for our children," he said. "The government, they have a role, but we need to bring it back to its source, which is us."
The plan was another step forward in fulfilling the promise the iwi made in 2019 - not one more child without their involvement.