Māori best placed to support whānau – Response to OAG Report on Whānau Ora

The chair of Te Pou Matakana (TPM), has responded to the report of the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) on Whānau Ora: “The report confirms what we’ve always known, Māori are best placed to support whānau, not Crown agencies,” said Merepeka Raukawa-Tait.

TPM is the North Island Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency and was launched on 1 July 2014 to commission services that build whānau capacity and capability.

TPM’s monitoring and evaluation framework with the support of the Whānau Tahi IT system and expert researchers measures the achievement of outcomes across its two key commissioning activities – Whānau Direct and Collective Impact for Whānau.

“We know our commissioning approach is achieving real and sustainable outcomes for whānau. We have a world class IT system, (Whānau Tahi), backed by embedded specialists in research who can measure and report on outcomes in real time,” said Ms Raukawa-Tait.

As at 31 March 2015, (after 9 months from establishment) nearly 1,600 North Island whānau had received support from TPM. This compares to 2,600 whānau that were supported by TPK’s WIIE fund over 3 years.

The independent evaluation of the Whānau Direct pilot shows how TPM’s commissioning approach has made a positive immediate difference to whānau.

“The flow on and ripple effect of a small intervention is huge for whānau. It empowers whānau, enables self-autonomy and independence. The positive change is reflected in positive whānau feedback.” – Whānau Direct provider “This has given me the kick start I needed to get my business up and running. I want to be more independent and share my skills with others.” – 25 year old solo mother of 4 children wanting to set up a small business “The impact has been huge and has made an immense difference in my life.” – 76 year old kaumātua with chronic respiratory illness and diabetes TPM has also constructed a tool (Social Calculator) that demonstrates the benefit of its approach versus the cost of government intervention.

“We have systems in place to ensure that every programme and every dollar spent supports the aspirations of our whānau. We support whānau to be independent, not dependent on help,” said Ms Raukawa-Tait.

ENDS

© Scoop Media