Grainne Moss, the CEO of Oranga Tamariki, told groups at the national provider Focus on The Future Hui on 28^th June that organisations contracted through the department will receive a 1.3% funding increase from 1 July 2018. This funding has been made available from Oranga Tamariki operational budget after no increases to NGO funding were announced in the 2018 Budget. We thank Oranga Tamariki for this additional funding to the social service agencies they partner with.

In May NZCCSS and other sector groups expressed disappointment that the Government had not recognised the extreme difficult funding situation of social services NGOs. This extra funding that has been found post-Budget is a belated but welcome recognition of the cost pressures community-based social service providers are facing. Unfortunately, after 10 years of no funding increases, a 1.3% increase is very much the proverbial drop in the bucket and will need to be followed by serious attention to the needs of community-based services that work in partnership with government agencies like Oranga Tamariki.

Focus on the Future Hui as New Legislation Comes into Force

NZCCSS Executive Officer Trevor McGlinchey was among the participants in the Focus on the Future hui hosted by Oranga Tamariki (OT). The hui brought together service providers working with children and young people and the focus was how to promote partnership and co-design. The new legislation enables young people aged 18 – 25 to be covered by OT support as well as a very clear direction to improve outcomes for Tamariki Māori. A brief summary and presentations from the are online at on the Oranga Tamariki website.