IN-CONFIDENCE
OIA-CE-2024-02653
26 November 2024
Rodney Parsons
[FYI request #28959 email]
Tēnā koe Rodney
Thank you for your email, received on 29 October 2024, to Oranga Tamariki—Ministry
for Children (Oranga Tamariki) requesting information on governance systems. Your
request has been considered under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act).
You have requested:
•
Standards that Oranga Tamariki assesses against in terms of governance
of its services, such as quality. In particular, how are the consumer/child-
facing aspects of OT assessed and against what standards.
•
What systems and processes are in place to build capacity in the consumer-
facing workforce, and what credentialing systems are in place to ensure that
consumer-facing capability meets professional and regulatory standards?
•
Outline what proportion of roles that require a social worker, are currently
filled by a social worker. Outline the process for establishing whether
workers have suitable capabilities to fill a role that would otherwise require
a registered social worker.
•
Outline the process to develop and implement training for social workers to
undertake court-based work. Provide advice on any training program to
upskill a proportion of social workers in court-based work, such as training
in law.
•
Outline the risk and incident management systems that OT has in place,
and what industry standards these are based on.
•
Provide any reviews that assessed the balance of registered social workers
or other clinicians within the organisation and any risk assessments
undertaken to address an imbalance between people who have little or no
health /social experience with those who do.
I have addressed each of your following questions below:
•
Standards that Oranga Tamariki assesses against in terms of governance
of its services, such as quality. In particular, how are the consumer/child-
facing aspects of OT assessed and against what standards.
Oranga Tamariki has a system of self-monitoring designed to support our
understanding of the extent to which key standards of practice are being met. These
IN-CONFIDENCE
include the Oranga Tamariki Practice Standards which can be found
here, which set
out the foundational expectations for frontline practice with children, young people,
and their families and whānau, and core regulations that underpin Oranga Tamariki
such as the National Care Standards (and Related Matters) Regulations 2018 (the
Care Standards) found
here. These standards enable Oranga Tamariki to lift the
quality of care for tamariki and rangatahi and offer better support to our caregivers.
We also monitor our Care and Protection and Youth Justice residences’ compliance
with the Residential Care Regulations (1996). These visits are conducted annually.
To provide a comprehensive view of practice, our self-monitoring draws on a range of
sources of data, information, and insight. These include:
•
structured data from Oranga Tamariki case management systems, which
provides information at the population level for all children and helps us
understand with respect to particular requirements whether practice expectations
were met (e.g., whether all children in care have an assessment of their needs,
and a plan in place to address those needs)
•
insights generated from manual reviews of practice in a sample of cases, which
provide a richer and deeper picture of the quality of practice and helps us
understand the experience of those receiving Oranga Tamariki support and
whether practice met their needs and expectations.
Oranga Tamariki has developed a new performance system, Hine Wawata, that
includes an outcomes framework designed with care experienced youth. The system
is set out in the Oranga Tamariki Strategic Intentions 2024/25-2029/30 which can be
found
here. Hine Wawata sets out the outcomes Oranga Tamariki needs to meet to
ensure the safety of children, young people and their families. It identifies the key
performance areas – and shows the strategic shifts being progressed to improve these
performance areas.
Oranga Tamariki reports publicly on our performance in delivering services and
support to children, young people, and their families and whānau, via the
Oranga
Tamariki Annual Report here. We also provide quarterly updates on our progress
against key measures within a year through quarterly performance reports. This year,
our Annual Report includes the ‘Report on Compliance with the National Care
Standards Regulations’ for 2023/24. This specifically assesses our practice with
children in care.
Oranga Tamariki services are also reviewed on an ongoing basis by a range of
external monitors, including:
•
Mana Mokopuna | Children and Young People’s Commission listens to the voices
of tamariki and rangatahi, and their whānau, in monitoring the system. This
includes checking if the needs of tamariki and rangatahi are being met, services
are being delivered effectively, and outcomes improved. More information about
the role of Mana Mokopuna in the oversight system
is available here.
•
Aroturuki Tamariki | Independent Children’s Monitor (the Monitor) advocates for
the interests, rights and wellbeing of all mokopuna (children and young people),
including those in the Oranga Tamariki system and where needed, helps
mokopuna and their whānau navigate the system to resolve problems. More
information about the role of the Monitor in the oversight system
is available here.
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•
Tari o te Kaitiaki Mana Tangata | Office of the Ombudsman (the Ombudsman)
looks at complaints about the acts and decisions of central and local government
agencies, and Oranga Tamariki's care or custody providers. More information
about the Ombudsman’s role in the oversight system is availab
le here.
•
What systems and processes are in place to build capacity in the consumer-
facing workforce, and what credentialing systems are in place to ensure that
consumer-facing capability meets professional and regulatory standards?
In 2023 Oranga Tamariki undertook a trial of a new role, Allied Support Worker, to
assess if this would assist social work staff. The role was designed to undertake tasks
that were deemed not to require a registered social worker. For example, Allied
Support Workers involved in the trial completed activities such as transporting children
and young people to appointments and supporting the organising of Family Group
Conferences. The trial was successful. Many of the Allied Support Workers were
people who were in the final stages of completing their social work qualifications and
were able to work as Allied Support Workers until they achieved registration.
•
Outline what proportion of roles that require a social worker, are currently
filled by a social worker. Outline the process for establishing whether
workers have suitable capabilities to fill a role that would otherwise require
a registered social worker.
It is mandatory for Social Workers to be registered. Oranga Tamariki only employs
registered Social Workers to work in Care and Protection, Care, or Youth Justice
Social Worker roles. This requirement is specified in the position description.
In some cases, employees who have just recently completed a social work
qualification will be provisionally registered. They are required to complete 2,000 hours
of supervised practice to gain full registration. To find out more about how the
registration process works you can read more on the Social Work Registration Board’s
website at Social Workers Registration that can be found
here. There are other roles within Oranga Tamariki that work directly with children, young
people and families that do not require a social work qualification or registration, for
example Family Group Conference Coordinators, and Youth Workers.
•
Outline the process to develop and implement training for social workers to
undertake court-based work, such as training in law.
All professional learning development for practicing staff is the responsbilty of the
Chief Social Worker / Professional Practice Group. We have an internal professional
development team whose role is to design and deliver learning and development
content and programmes. Generally the content for these programmes will draw from
existing practice content that has been signed off by the Chief Social Worker. Subject
Matter Experts (such as lawyers, experienced practitioners and experts in particular
areas of practice such as disability) both contribute directly to the development of
learning and professional development material and its delivery.
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New social work kaimahi take part in the Puāwai professional development
programme. This programme has components that cover the requirements of legal
and court related work. For example, week three covers the importance of statutory
social work, and the purposes and principles; week six case recording in a statutory
environment; and week fourteen, which is role specific learning, is dedicated to court
and legal learning.
Additional learning electives, for example with a focus on practice around Family
Group Conferences, Privacy and Information sharing and wider aspects of the
legislation within which we work are already available within our internal learning
system myLearn or under development as we continue to grow our professional
development offer for all social work staff. Regional and residence learning facilitators
play a role in supporting an understanding of local learning needs and the delivery of
additonal professional development which happens within sites, teams and regions. .
We are also in the process of a national roll out to support all practice staff to complete
a series of site based ‘learning cycles’ which are introducing the organisation’s practice
approach and its core practice framework, models and tools. This includes a focus on
understanding our core statutory obligations.
In addition to formal learning and professional development, social workers and other
staff are able to access practice policy and guidance on line within our Practice Centre.
This includes specific information about court processes, the legislation and how it is
to be applied in a range of contexts. These policies are regularly reviewed and key
messages are proactively promoted through regular communications channels with
our staff.
All Social Workers also have access to and are supported by our Legal Services Team
when they are required to participate in Family or Youth Court related work.
Oranga Tamariki Social Workers are required to participate in frequent supervision.
This is an opportunity for experienced Supervisors to help staff enhance their
knowledge and skills across all areas of their practice including legal and court related
work. Each site also has a practice leader who supports in the provision of assurance
and advice on complex case related matters. Specialist practice support on a case by
case basis is also available through the office of the Chief Social Worker.
Social Workers also participate in peer supervision and have the opportunity to learn
and develop from the experience of their peers.
•
Provide any reviews that assessed the balance of registered social workers
or other clinicians within the organisation and any risk assessments
undertaken to address an imbalance between people who have little or no
health /social experience with those who do.
Successive reviews (such as the Rapid Review into residences and group homes,
Dame Karen Poutasi review and Te Kahu Aroha) have reflected clear insights about
the needs of the professional workforce within Oranga Tamariki and across the social
work sector more generally to have a stronger focus on capability uplift and effective
IN-CONFIDENCE
professional development and ongoing learning commensurate with roles and
experience.
However, we have not identified any reviews that specifically assessed the balance of
registered social workers or any risk assessments undertaken to address an
imbalance between people who have little or no health/social experience with those
who do and as such, this part of your request is refused under section 18(e) of the Act
as this information does not exist.
Oranga Tamariki has ongoing work underway to understand its current and future
workforce requirements, including the role of social workers, other professionally
qualified roles and support roles such as the allied support role described above.
Oranga Tamariki may make the information contained in this letter available to the
public by publishing this on our website with your personal details removed.
I trust you find this information useful. Should you have any concerns with this
response, I would encourage you to raise them with Oranga Tamariki. Alternatively,
you are advised of your right to also raise any concerns with the Office of the
Ombudsman. Information about this is available a
t www.ombudsman.parliament.nz
or by contacting them on 0800 802 602.
Nāku noa, nā
Nicolette Dickson
Te Tumu Tauwhiro Chief Social Worker
Deputy Chief Executive Professional Practice Group
