Aotearoa’s Child Protection System changed dramatically in 2019 as a result of public
and professional outcry over the controversial uplift of a tamaiti Māori into the custody of
the State. Subsequent reviews of the system resulted in a shift in practice from
managing the care and protection of children within the statutory care system to placing
the responsibility for providing care for vulnerable children on extended whānau. Consequently, more and more whānau are being asked to take on what would have
once been the responsibility of a well-resourced government department.

The short-term outcome of this has reduced the number of children in care and has
connected more children to their whānau/ whakapapa. However, whānau
caregivers often arrive at the conversation about them providing care with their own
grief and trauma regarding the breakdown in their whānau, worries and concerns for the
future, and a limited understanding of the systems that are oppressing them.

The long-term impact is whānau who are not coping with meeting the care needs of
their often traumatised tamariki. In 2023, I completed my Master's of Social Change Leadership at Melbourne University as an Atlantic Fellow. My thesis subject focused on equitable outcomes for whānau caregivers. In 2024, I began working with Woven Whānau, a Whanganui Non-Government Agency that supports Grandparents Raising their Mokopuna. With Woven Whānau and the Whanganui Whānau Caregiver community, I am managing a project to design and deliver a model of practice to provide equitable support for whānau caregivers.

 

Are you a whānau caregiver? Please follow this link to participate: Whānau Caregiver Survey