This article was first published by Stuff.
A children’s charity with a 100-year legacy is taking court action against the Government over a cancelled $21 million contract.
Stand Tū Māia charitable trust said it has been forced to take an injunction after Oranga Tamariki breached a three-year contract to provide wraparound services to vulnerable children and their families.
Officials told the charity in July the contract — which still had 2½ years to run — was under review.
Chief executive Fiona Inkpen said she was shocked to learn in November that it was being axed altogether — despite OT having no concerns about performance.
“We are an essential front-line service for children who have already been failed by every other part of the system,” she said. “We are effectively the ‘last resort’ for the most vulnerable children in our society and we are deeply concerned about how Oranga Tamariki plans to care for these children and their families.”
The ministry has blamed budget constraints. Like most agencies, OT was forced to make cuts as part of Government cost-cutting and has dumped more than 300 contracts from service providers.
Following complaints, the Office of the Auditor-General launched an investigation into the procurement and contract management practices of the agency.
Inkpen said legal action was their only option after pleas to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Minister for Children Karen Chhour fell on deaf ears.
“We strongly believe Oranga Tamariki has committed an egregious breach of good faith in attempting to terminate our integrated contract at short notice, threatening our ability to provide specialist services to thousands of vulnerable children and their families,” she said.
The contract enables Stand Tū Māia to provide “specialised trauma treatment, intensive family wraparound support and family therapy” for around 4000 children from 1000 families.
“We enable children and families to stay together, restore their relationships, manage ... things that are impacting on them that are causing toxic levels of stress, help them repair their well-being ...
“That enables them to be able to engage with school ... engage in relationships with trusted adults, to be part of a family, be part of a community, not get engaged in an antisocial behaviour, [or] dangerous and risky behaviours.
“And, hopefully, that leads them to succeed ... and be contributing citizens.
“We want those children and those families to have the same equity of opportunity that all families in New Zealand should have. And right now they don’t have it.”
Inkpen said the service fits with the Government’s social investment approach, championed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis, which is to apply evidence to determine where to invest in early intervention approaches, leading to savings in the long-term.
OT wants to renegotiate a new contract with Stand Tū Māia from July 2025. But the ministry hasn’t answered questions about what that would look like — and it’s unlikely the charity, which employs around 300 staff, would survive that long without funding.
Stand Tū Māia was set up in 2000 after children’s health camps, established in 1919, were dissolved.
Inkpen and board chair David Boyle wrote to Luxon, Chhour, deputy prime minister Winston Peters and ACT leader David Seymour last week asking for an urgent meeting and ministerial direction to be able to maintain the service and ensure the charity “avoids financial risk in the short term”.
They told ministers there were more than 450 at-risk children and their families referred to Stand Tū Māia by OT, and a waiting list.
“It is important to note that one of the children on our waiting list was an 8-year-old boy in Whakatāne who was killed by his mother,” the letter said.
Chhour wrote back the same day.
“Specific funding decisions are the responsibility of the Chief Executive of Oranga Tamariki, and it would not be appropriate for me to intervene in or influence these decisions,” she said.
“I am therefore unable to meet with you to discuss your funding concerns and would encourage you to please continue engaging with Oranga Tamariki directly.”
- Stuff
