July 12, 2019
Navigators not right for broken child welfare system
Whānau Ora Minister Peeni Henare hopes tomorrow's hui on Oranga Tamariki's child uplift policies will focus on solutions – and Whānau Ora could be part of that.
Registrations have now closed for the hui, with 500 people saying they will attend.
Mr Henare says there have been calls for Whānau Ora navigators to take over the work now done by the child protection agency.
"I'm not convinced that throwing navigators at a broken system is the way forward. I've been clear Oranga Tamariki and some of its practices aren't right but there are significant challenges in that space. I think the bigger push for my part as Minister for Whānau Ora is to create an environment where we can do things differently and I think that only happens when there is a complete tack or a 180 away from the system that we have got at the moment," he says.
Mr Henare will be at the hui for part of the day, but doesn't think it would be helpful if the focus was on politicians and the past.
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