Having been buffeted by a series of scathing reports, Oranga Tamariki is now overhauling its structure to meet expectations of change
Oranga Tamariki is almost halving the size of its leadership team as part of a restructure designed to devolve power to communities and improve a “self-centred” organisation.
Acting chief executive Chappie Te Kani has also acknowledged the need for a culture change within his office, part of a wider shake-up following the departure of controversial predecessor Grainne Moss earlier this year.
The roles of Oranga Tamariki’s 10 deputy chief executives have been disestablished in favour of six deputies including one temporary position (deputy chief executive of quality practice and experiences, a two-year role for a registered social worker).
There will be just eight people on the ministry’s leadership team, compared with 14 under the previous structure.
In a ‘decision document’ given to Oranga Tamariki staff last week outlining the changes, Te Kani said the changes would help the organisation to deliver on its main purpose of looking after tamariki and their whānau.
The new name for the leadership team, Te Riu, was the Māori term for the hull of a waka and fit with his vision for the new unit.
“We are an important part of the waka, but we cannot take to the water if each part of our canoe is not strong and stable. It is our job to steady the organisation, through this transformation, but also as we face future challenges…
“One day our waka will reach the shores, and be perched on the sand. No more water will pass through the hull. This is our ultimate goal – to have no children in our care, no need to sail the waka.”
Writing about changes to the office of the chief executive, Te Kani said leadership members needed to be “accessible and helpful to everyone in the organisation”.
“I am proposing structural change to how it is organised – but more importantly I am expecting a cultural change.”
The ministry had also been working on plans for an improved regional model, and recommendations would be provided to the new leadership team for consideration next year.
“Our national office may sit in Wellington – but it is my belief that our true strength as an organisation lies inside our regions.”
‘Weak, disconnected and unfit’
The ministry’s bloated leadership team has been questioned in the past. National Union of Public Employees secretary and lead organiser Janice Gemmell told Newsroom last year senior leaders were “increasingly removed from the frontline staff, tamariki and whānau”, with significant resources appearing to go towards management and not the front line.
In September, a ministerial advisory board tasked with providing independent advice on Oranga Tamariki concluded the ministry “lacks strategic direction and is not visionary”.
“It is self-centred and constantly looks to itself for answers. Its current systems are weak, disconnected and unfit for the population of tamariki it serves, and there is no strategy to partner with Māori and the community,” the board’s report concluded.
“It is an agency that is vulnerable to being blown off course by the headwinds it inevitably encounters over time.”
Tracie Shipton, chief executive of children’s advocacy charity VOYCE – Whakarongo Mai, told Newsroom the restructure felt “like a lot of change very quickly”.
Shipton said she was disappointed the voices of children seemed to sit among the lowest priorities of the largest deputy chief executive role, where it could get subsumed by the other parts of the portfolio, rather than as a standalone position.
“They need to be listening, hearing and responding to the people that the system is designed for – the children in care.”
She supported the decision to devolve more power to the regions, as young people had started to lose their sense of community, and said the reduction in senior leadership roles fit with an increased focus on serving children rather than itself.
The ministry now needed to deliver on what seemed to be the “bones” of an improved organisation, Shipton said.
“I’ll tell you what children in care tell me: they just live in a constant state of changing care, so we’ve just got to get this one right.”
“Children deserve better than what they’re getting now, and they deserve better than what they’ve gotten in the past.”
ACT Party children’s spokeswoman Karen Chhour told Newsroom the reduction of the leadership team would hopefully make it easier for staff to understand what was expected of them and offer a clearer sense of direction.
“With 14 up the top, it’s kind of like, ‘Who do you talk to, where do you go?’. There was a lot of passing of the buck from my understanding and I think this can only be a positive thing.”
With three chief executives and plenty of chaos in the last few years, it was understandable that Oranga Tamariki staff were confused, Chhour said.
While she hoped the restructuring and other changes would deliver the change that was needed, the history of failed reforms in the system meant a degree of cynicism was reasonable.
“Children deserve better than what they’re getting now, and they deserve better than what they’ve gotten in the past.”
In a written statement, Te Kani told Newsroom there was “extensive change coming within this organisation which I believe will be a significant step towards improving our ability to support tamariki, their whānau and their communities”.
“The changes will shift the way we work, restore and support the mana of our social work function and better deliver on our core purpose.”
Oranga Tamariki would move from the centre of the system to enabling community leadership, including from iwi, hapū, and community groups, Te Kani said, while the smaller leadership team would have clearer accountabilities.
