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National | Whānau Ora

Government suddenly boosts whānau Covid-19 response support

The government has topped up the pot for Whānau Ora and iwi to help with the Covid-19 response and get more Māori and Pasifika vaccinated.

The three Whānau Ora commissioning agencies will get an immediate $8.816 million and a further $14.216 million will be distributed based on need.

The Ministry of Social Development will also be making a $2 million fund immediately available to partner with iwi responding to critical unmet needs.

And funding of $1 million, from the Covid-19 Response and Resilience Fund will also be available to support iwi community responses and assist them to update pandemic response plans to take into account the new reality of the Delta variant.

Those announcements came today after the government, particularly Māori Health Minister Peeni Henare came under fire from National in Parliament yesterday over funding for Whānau Ora.

Henare defended funding but today was one of three ministers to announce the new funding. Henare, Māori Crown Relations Minister Kelvin Davis and Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni said in a joint statement the support follows talks in the past fortnight with more than 100 iwi leaders, marae chairs and urban authorities.

New challenges, intensive approach

“Delta has created new challenges for access to food and essential services and also requires more intensive responses to maintain whānau wellbeing. As a result it is important that additional funding is provided where it is most needed,” Henare said.

“Responding early to meet specific community needs will help keep whānau safe.

The three Whānau Ora commissioning agencies will get an immediate boost of $8.816 million to continue providing “direct and integrated support to hard-to-reach whānau presenting with complex and overlapping needs,” he said.

A further $14.216 million will be distributed based on need as information on the impact of the current change in alert levels unfolds. This will support the work of Whānau Ora providers to meet the increased community need for support and services, including accessing vaccinations, testing and self-isolating spaces.

Eager but need resources

Seupuloni said the Ministry of Social Development has been in regular contact with Maori provider and iwi partners.

“This $2 million fund recognises the potential for emerging need particularly in areas which may not have access to other forms of support during higher alert levels,” she said.

Davis said the message from the Māori leaders had been clear, “that they are well placed and eager to help improve the uptake of vaccinations in their communities, but that they need assistance and resources.

“We all want to raise vaccination rates and protect ourselves and each other,” he said.

Henare said that, since the Covid-19 resurgence, Whānau Ora commissioning agencies had mobilised their provider and partner networks to redirect resources and operations to support immediate needs ranging from providing whānau with kai and hygiene packs to setting up hubs so whānau can access the support they need.

“The government will continue work to improve the interface between Whānau Ora and mainstream systems to better support whānau in the medium to longer-term,” Henare said.

Driving vaccination uptake

“This will include a focus on driving vaccination uptake across Māori and Pacific communities and geographic locations. The Whānau Ora provider and partner network is well placed to support increased vaccination coverage across urban and rural areas.

“Under higher alert levels in 2020 a strong and effective community-led response to Covid-19, by Māori for Māori, demonstrated the importance of tino rangatiratanga, promoting social wellbeing by ensuring Māori retain and enhance their wellbeing.

“Māori have knowledge, capability and resources that the government needs, and are increasingly in a position to uniquely help the Crown meet its responsibilities.

“The nature of the Delta variant, and in particular its increased contagiousness, mean increased needs for some whānau. For example, the changed definition of ‘contacts’ to active cases means increasing the number of people who must isolate, and some need support to do so,” Henare said.

The agencies are supporting whānau to attend vaccination, testing and other health appointments, contacting whānau and kaumatua on their books to check if they need support and increasing communications across navigator and partner networks to keep whānau up to date with important health information.