Gráinne's update - April 18

Published: March 28, 2018

Gráinne talks about the first year as Oranga Tamariki and what's next in our journey ahead  

One year on - video message from Gráinne Moss

One year on - video message from Gráinne Moss

Transcript

One year on, a message from Gráinne Moss – video transcript

(Soft, groovy music plays throughout the whole video)

Gráinne Moss – CEO Oranga Tamariki:

Tena koutou katoa. Welcome all.

I’m reallydelighted to be able to talk to you today to say a special thank you for all the work you as our partners and stakeholders have done in the first year of the journey of Oranga Tamariki.

We know we’ve made a good start, and we have had some progress. So for example, we now have 150 more caregivers than we had this time last year.

We also are delighted to see iwi groups taking up the opportunity to run delegated statutory functions. So we have Ngati Porou now doing family group conferences.

The other great piece of news is, we have more social workers on the front line today than we’ve ever had in the past five years. We’ve also opened new community homes, both remand and family homes, creating more loving places.

We’ve launched our new Practice Framework, and we’re building our stronger partnerships.

This time last year only 29 percent of our funding with our partners was in multi-year contracts; today, 70 percent is; a real signal of our commitment to working with our communities for better outcomes.

As I said, we’re one year into our journey, and I want to say a big thank you for all you have done, and I really look forward to continuing to work with you to get better outcomes and make a difference for our rangatahi and our tamariki.

Nga mihi nui. Thank you so much.

(The words Thank you appear on the screen)

End of transcript.

Creating change

We’re one year on from the formation of Oranga Tamariki.

Our promise is to listen to our children and young people and create sustainable change. We know that change needs to occur for a number of years.

I’m pleased with what we’ve achieved so far. As I said in a recent interview, “I think the school report would say good start, shows promise, lots more work to do.”

One year in

We’ve done a whole lot of learning, listening and evaluating. We are also taking action and making a difference. In the last year, feedback from children to us has increased dramatically, there are more front line social workers than there were a year ago, and more loving homes have been found.

However we all know how complex this landscape is. We’re up against some big challenges and there is so much to do.

In some cases we’ve needed to take a step back to put the right measures in place to ensure a brighter future for children. For example we know we need more caregivers, but first we’re working to make sure the caregivers we do have are being well supported.

In other areas we’re forging ahead - building strong partnerships, engaging New Zealanders, and working to an improved practice framework.

A big thank you

To all our partners, providers, connections and friends – thank you for being part of our journey.

Whether you’re the owner of an early childhood centre supporting a whānau through a tough time, or a community service social worker helping a young person find their identity, we can only achieve our vision for better outcomes for our children together.

What's next

It will take time to unite society and engage communities to make the difference every day for our children.

The truth is our work will never be done and we’ll always try to do better, listening to the voices of children and holding ourselves to account. For now, we’ve got a strong foundation for growth and achievement, and we can start accelerating.

Ngā mihi

Gráinne