Strengthening the caregiver experience seminar: 2024 survey highlights

[STEVE] Kia ora, everyone.

Thank you for coming along.

Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.

Kia ora and welcome.

Thank you all for coming along.

Ko Steve tōku ingoa.

I have the great pleasure of being the Lead Advisor in the Social Impact and Research Team here at Oranga Tamariki.

Now, I'd first like to open us up with a karakia.

Kia hora te marino kia whakapapa pounamu te moana.

Hei huarahi mā tātou i te rangi nei.

Aroha atu aroha mai.

Tātou i a tātou katoa.

Hui e, taiki e.

Thank you all for coming along today and being interested in our work.

We really appreciate it.

I'd first like to say a huge thank you to all the caregivers.

Got one of the toughest jobs out there, and it takes courage and great effort and time to do what you do.

But the aroha and the care you provide is invaluable, and it's amazing, so we really, really appreciate that.

And I'd also like to thank the caregivers who shared their voices and their stories as part of the survey.

It's a rich taonga that we really greatly care for and we wouldn't be here without it.

So kia ora, thank you, thank you.

Now, a few housekeeping messages.

In the event of an emergency, please take the exit that way and make your way down the stairs onto The Terrace.

There'll be some wardens around, so please follow instructions.

Wharepaku is past the reception as you came through and to the right.

And the last thing is we'll be recording today's session.

We'll be publishing this online.

We won't be recording anyone in the public, just the speakers today.

But for those online, please, you can keep your camera on if you'd like, but just be aware of that.

Now, a quick background.

So I've been here for five and a half years now, and for most of that time I've been part of this project, from writing R code, to reading over a thousand responses, to seeing oversight, and passing the baton over to more capable hands.

Kia ora, thank you.

So one thing has been clear.

We wanted to see change that caregivers deserved and needed.

So we have changed and evolved this project over time to be more action orientated and we've really pushed for recommendations.

This is something that we haven't done before.

Now, as reading those thousand responses over the years, I have to be honest, I have cried.

This is some serious stories going on, so I'm very passionate about this to make sure that those people who need the support get the support.

So, I'm really proud of those changes we've made, and I'm very excited to share with you what we've done, and so I'd like to introduce our two guest speakers.

Firstly, Dr Lina Valdivia, Senior Analyst in the Social Impact and Research Team.

She'll be presenting some of the recommendations and findings from the report titled Strengthening the Caregiver Experience.

This is published online and actually builds from a previous report we wrote, a top line that was published earlier this year.

After that, we'll have Nicolette Dickson, DCE and Chief Social Worker.

She'll speak about the progress on the Improving Caregivers ...

Improving Experiences of Caregivers plan.

We will have question time at the end for each presentation, so you'll have your time.

We'll close at 12pm today.

For those in the room, we do have some snacks and some tea and coffee, so please stick around.

We're very keen to connect and learn a little bit more from you.

For me, this is about everyone in this room, everyone outside.

We need to join forces to support those who need it.

Kia ora.

I'll now hand it over to my friend, colleague, and Study Lead, Dr. Lina Valdivia.

Please help me.

[Applause] 

[LINA] He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata.

Ki a tātou e tau nei, tēnā tātou katoa.

Ko Arroyave me Valdivia tōku whānau.

Ko Lina Maria Valdivia tōku ingoa.

Nō reira, tēnei te mihi atu.

Mauri ora ki a tātou katoa.

Mōrena koutou.

Thank you all for joining ... on this ... I can't see the weather, but it's likely cloudy ... sunny? Wednesday! [Laughter] It's a pleasure to speak to you today about some of the results from our caregiver satisfaction survey.

Before we begin, I'd just like to make a disclaimer that ...

I'll be presenting some data alongside quotes from caregivers.

Some of these quotes are caregiver reflections on some of which describe challenging and distressing experiences and may be emotionally heavy or confronting.

We are sharing them to honour the caregiver's journey and to understand the reality that they face caring for children on behalf of Oranga Tamariki.

So, if appropriate, if you feel that you need to take a moment at any time during this presentation please – feel free.

So let us begin.

The background has been published across two reports.

The first report - the top line report one, and today we are going to talk about the deep dive report.

I'd like to start by acknowledging some of the positives that were said and that we heard from caregivers.

I present a quote that answers the question: What's the best thing about being a caregiver? One individual said, quote, “Being a caregiver has been one of the most amazing and fulfilling things I have ever done ...

... It also brings a sense of satisfaction knowing that you have provided support to a child who needed somewhere to belong.” This speaks to the deep sense of purpose many caregivers feel in their role, and that is a very positive aspect.

Some other positive findings are the relatively high satisfaction with support from their caregiver social workers.

We asked a few questions of this kind regarding support from the caregiver social worker.

This question asks: “How satisfied were you with the caregiver social worker respecting and listening to your knowledge?” We can see a high level of satisfaction across both whānau, kin caregivers, and non-whānau, that's non-kin caregivers.

So those are the dark blue and blue areas of the graph.

This really highlights the important role caregiver social workers play.

Their advocacy skills can lift the voice and the needs of caregivers, leading to better outcomes for children.

And in many cases, they are the main constant in a caregiver's journey, especially when there are frequent changes in the child's social worker.

So those were some of the positive aspects that we heard from caregivers.

Now I'd like to move on to some of the challenges that caregivers face.

One of the biggest is the emergency nature of many placements.

Caregivers often receive children on very short notice with little or no background information.

This lack of preparation not only makes it harder to meet the child's needs from day one, but it also creates financial and emotional strain, setting a challenging tone for the placement from the start.

For caregivers who reported being a first-time caregiver, we asked this question: “How well did Oranga Tamariki prepare you to become a caregiver?” You can see that non-whānau caregivers felt slightly more prepared than whānau caregivers.

We then asked the question: “So, what could have prepared you better?” And if we look at this figure, we can see why some caregivers felt underprepared.

Excluding the other reasons category, the top reason was: “You could have provided better communication with me.” “Provided more information about the child.” or “Provided what the child needed to settle.” and/or, “More regular check-ins with me when they first arrived.” Together, these points tell a clear story.

Caregivers want timely, accurate information, the right resources, and consistent early contact so they can provide the best possible care from day one.

While many caregivers highlighted the need for better preparation, it's important to recognise that in urgent situations the social workers often go above and beyond to provide support in the moment.

As one caregiver put it, quote: “It was urgent care, so given the circumstances, I was provided for extremely well.

It just all happened so quickly.

But outstanding support was given.” This shows that, even under pressure, strong, responsive support can make a real difference.

But that's not the experience for everyone.

And in other cases, the urgency of placement, combined with gaps in communication, left caregivers without key information about the child's situation.

As one caregiver shared, quote: “I was unable ... I was unaware of the circumstances fully of why my nephew had to leave his carers.

This underlines how critical it is to provide caregivers with clear, timely background information even when a placement is unplanned.

So, from those examples, we can see how a lack of timely information can leave caregivers at a disadvantage from the start.

The next challenge we heard about builds on this, and it's about the emotional and logistical strain that comes when support doesn't arrive quickly enough.

Many caregivers told us that they had to cover the costs of essentials themselves, sometimes using personal credit, because board payments or reimbursements didn't come through in time.

And [clears throat] excuse me, delays in getting responses from social workers only added to that stress.

One of the reasons for these delays and strains is that many caregivers may not be clear on what they're actually entitled to or how to access it.

When asked the question: “How satisfied are you with the availability of information on your entitlements?” These results show that satisfaction with availability of this information on entitlements is quite low, with around 1/3 of caregivers (that's the red and orange areas of the graph) feeling outright dissatisfied.

This gap in information means that some caregivers don't even know what they're entitled to, or might spend valuable time they could be spending on the child, focusing on chasing up.

And this lack of clear information isn't just an inconvenience, it has real financial consequences for caregivers.

And for some, the wait for support isn't just a few days.

It can stretch into weeks.

Delays like this add significant strain during an already stressful time and can leave caregivers feeling like they are on their own in these crucial early weeks.

This brings us to the next challenge, inconsistent support and follow-through.

This figure is showing satisfaction with support from the child's social worker.

So we ask the question: “how satisfied were you with support from the child's social worker from the perspective of the caregiver?” We see that over half of whānau caregivers reported being satisfied, 55%, but that falls below half for non-whānau caregivers.

A high number of caregivers reported changes in their child social worker.

In this figure, we see nearly 60%, the blue area for non-whānau, excuse me, for whānau caregivers and about half of non-whānau caregivers experienced a change in their social worker in the last 12 months.

Given the child social worker plays such a central role in coordinating services, in advocating for the child, and keeping caregivers informed, this level of turnover can seriously disrupt relationships and follow-through on support.

Child social worker turnover affects caregivers a lot.

As one caregiver put it, quote: “the continuous changing of social workers is exhausting...

having to retell our story over and over, and the trauma our child and us have experienced.” Turnover isn't just an administrative issue, it reopens wounds, disrupts trust, and adds emotional strain to an already challenging role.

For some caregivers, the scale of turnover is staggering.

We heard that promises are made but not acted on, referrals stall and communication can be patchy or contradictory.

This leaves caregivers uncertain about what will actually get done and when.

For some children, these changes make it even harder to build trust, as one caregiver shared.

Quote: “My child does not accept people very well.

It takes a bit of time for him to talk to people.

There has been a continual change of social workers.

Sometimes he hadn't even got to the stage of talking to them before a new one came along.

The current one is fabulous and getting on very well with the child. Long may it last” This shows how valuable stability can be and how much difference it makes when a social worker stays and builds that relationship.

So that brings us to the end of this section on caregiver challenges.

We'll now look at systemic gaps and what caregivers have told us would make a big difference in ensuring they have the support they need to care for our most vulnerable children and young people.

The first systemic gap we see is in caregiver awareness of support plans.

Our results show that just over 1/3 of caregivers said they have both a first support plan and a review plan.

Well, that's great.

That's the gold standard.

But what's this? Nearly the same proportion, 32%, said that they had none at all.

These results suggest that some caregivers may not be aware they've received a plan, or they've been sent one by e-mail with no real explanation.

When there is no real conversation or caregiver  inclusion in the process it can be relatively easy to miss it.

And this is significant because it is a national standard that every caregiver must have, both a support plan and a review plan.

And these should be living documents developed in partnership not just paperwork sent to a file.

These next results build on the previous point, when understanding caregivers' access to the child's plan; the ‘All About Me’ plan.

Here we see another gap, 66% of non-whānau caregivers said they had seen the plan, compared to just over half of whānau caregivers.

Again, this suggests that for many caregivers, these plans either aren't being shared at all, or they're not being explained in a way that is clear and meaningful.

Given the purpose of the All About Me plan is to provide essential information about the child's needs, identity, and history, the lack of access can really limit a caregiver's ability to provide the best care.

And when key information such as this is missing on the child's plan, this can have very real practical consequences for caregivers.

Something as specific as this might seem minor in a document, but in daily life it's a big deal, especially when it affects routines and resources and the support that a caregiver can request.

The next support gap we identified is in satisfaction with transition support.

That's the help provided when a child moves out of a caregiver's placement.

The question was asked to caregivers who reported having a child transition out of their care recently.

The question asks, how satisfied were you? with the support Oranga Tamariki provided during the child's transition.

These results show that satisfaction with transition support is among the weakest of all measures captured from the survey.

And behind those figures are some deeply personal experiences.

Here is one caregiver's experience of the transition.

Quote: “We actually got notified from Oranga Tamariki over an e-mail that he wasn't coming back.

We raised him from six months old to five and a half, and for Oranga Tamariki to do that over an e-mail was heartbreaking.” This shows how the way a transition is handled, not just that it happens, can have a lasting emotional impact on caregivers and can undermine the trust and partnership that is so essential in this work.

We've now covered several key systemic gaps.

From inconsistent support and follow-through, to limited caregiver awareness of support plans and All About Me plans, missing and incomplete information, and low satisfaction with transition support.

In the next section, we will focus on the needs that caregivers most often reported for the children in their care.

We can see that the most common concerns center on the children's mental health and emotional health, behavioral needs, and education.

Together, they make up 40% of all needs concerns reported by caregivers.

This underscores just how critical it is that we address these issues in a coordinated way.

And when I mean coordinated, I'm talking about across the children's agencies,, Oranga Tamariki, Health and Education specifically.

To illustrate just how multifaceted these needs can be, here is a quote shared from a caregiver.

“The child has Complex Developmental Delay, chronic depression resulting in a fortunately unsuccessful suicide attempt.” This is a stark reminder that mental and emotional health needs often sit alongside disability and developmental challenges.

For example, Complex Developmental Delay refers to significant delays in several areas of a child's development, such as speech and language, motor skills, learning, and social interaction.

These developmental delays can be compounded by mental health challenges.

Children with CDD may experience heightened anxiety, low self-esteem, and emotional regulation difficulties, particularly if they've also experienced trauma or prolonged stress.

These needs are not cut and dry they are interwoven and nuanced.

and it creates an intricate picture of needs that requires coordinated, multidisciplinary support.

And these needs don't just affect health and well-being, they directly impact education.

As one caregiver told us, “great concern about education.

As he is in youth justice with school exemption, he has received no education for two years.” This highlights how gaps in one part of the system, whether in youth justice, health, or education, can leave a young person without the opportunities and support they need to move forward in life.

Let's look closely at one of the more significant areas of concern identified from the survey, which is education.

The results show that education is a main pain point for caregivers, with one in three saying, that they required more education-related support for the child in their care.

Let's see.

The two biggest gaps with regards to education were, or are: help with managing behavioural issues that affect schooling, and learning support, things like teacher aid time, early intervention, and speech-language therapy.

The third most common education concern was engaging with school.

Things like enrolment, attendance, and helping children stay in class.

For some caregivers, just getting a child into and engaged with the school environment can be a major hurdle.

A less common but still important concern was non-inclusive environments, situations where children experienced suspensions, stand-downs, or expulsions.

Failure at school can be linked to unresolved behaviour or trauma-related needs, making it even harder for children to feel safe and understood in a school setting.

The quotes we'll hear next will bring this reality to life.

Some education-related needs don't sound like what we might typically associate with schooling, but they have a huge impact on a child's ability to engage and succeed in the classroom.

We note, this caregiver mentioned this quote in direct response to a question about education-related concerns.

While first and foremost, this is a health and well-being issue, it's also an education issue.

Because until that trauma is addressed with the right specialist support, the child may struggle to participate, focus, or feel safe in school.

It's a reminder that for some children, being able to learn and thrive at school, requires addressing deep and often long-standing trauma.

It is an issue that requires education, health, and our social supports to work together to address it.

And for some children, the challenge is about catching up on core skills so they can participate fully in school life.

This reflects how targeted learning support can make a significant difference, but that often requires extra effort on the part of the caregivers.

We're now moving to the last main area of concern from the survey, the neurodevelopmental spectrum and disability-related needs.

This section focuses on children with complex, multifaceted, and overlapping needs.

Many children in care, as reported by caregivers, have multiple conditions across the spectrum things like ADHD, FASD, trauma-related disorders, sensory processing difficulties.

In these cases, one-size solutions simply don't work.

Again, this reinforces how educational, behavioural, and health and well-being needs often overlap and why coordinated wrap-around support is so important.

Of these seven functional domains, the category mentioned the most was regarding social relational difficulties described as 'getting along.' This quote is about a concern about a child's ability to engage socially with others.

And it can be extra challenging when those skills are shaped by trauma.

It can take targeted, relationship-focused strategies to help that child build trust and able to engage constructively with peers and adults.

And sometimes, challenges with getting along aren't about the child's own behaviour, but about how they are treated by others.

Suffice to say, experiences like this, can compound existing trauma and make it even harder for a child to feel safe enough to engage in school activities or social activities with others.

Alongside social relational challenges, the second most reported functional domain concern was cognition.

Difficulties in this area can affect every part of a child's day, from following instructions, participating in class, to expressing their needs and feelings.

And in many cases, cognition-related challenges occur alongside other significant needs.

This is another example of how developmental conditions and trauma can combine, influencing how a child processes information, manages emotion, and interacts with the world, and why support plans have to address the whole picture, not just one diagnosis at a time.

And sometimes when diagnoses are made, there are gaps in how information is carried forward, which can disrupt the continuity of care.

As one caregiver explained, quote: “He was diagnosed with FASD in 2016, then he was diagnosed with mild intellectual disability in 2023.

I don't get why his records wasn't carried on after his first diagnosis.” This case underscores the importance of consistent record-keeping and ensuring that every diagnosis leads to tangible, ongoing support.

It also highlights how critical it is to maintain and share accurate records across health, education, and Oranga Tamariki.

So that every professional involved with the child can build on existing knowledge rather than starting over, and the child can access the right supports in a timely manner.

Here, I'd like to take a moment to emphasise the importance of the Gateway assessment in all of this.

The Gateway assessment is a crucial process for getting children access to the services they need, especially those with multifaceted and complex needs.

Based on my knowledge and research on the Gateway, and reinforced by the feedback we're hearing from caregivers, I see this as a key area for action.

If we want children to get timely support for their education, health, and disability needs.

we have to improve how the Gateway works.

This must be prioritized.

So far, we've explored the challenges caregivers face, systemic gaps in support, and the needs caregivers reported for the children in their care.

We're now going to focus on some of the solutions, more importantly, these are solutions that are not only grounded in the voices of caregivers, they've been tested and discussed with subject matter experts on the front line, caregiver recruitment managers, practice leaders, and others involved.

We want to identify what has real potential to improve the experience of caregivers, and subsequently the children they care for.

I'll add that some of these solutions are already underway, while others represent opportunities for future change.

So let's start with one of the most fundamental areas, caregiver preparation and support.

Caregivers told us that having the right information, resources, and early check-ins makes a huge difference in how confident and equipped they feel from the start.

Let's reinforce the expectation that all caregivers receive an up-to-date All-About-Me plan, with supervisor follow-up to confirm the accuracy and record it in the caregiver information system.

Let's schedule early joint check-ins, first week and first month check-ins for every new placement, with both the child's and the caregiver's social workers together and documented in the support plan, and link it to the All About Me plan.

Provide accessible learning resources, short videos on key issues such as how to address trauma, managing birth family contact, and stress.

and supplement that with in-person training and tailored follow-up.

As for caregiver financial support, let's provide clear, accessible entitlement information in one place on the web.

Add claim examples and links to forms so that it's easy for caregivers to navigate.

Provide a dedicated claim support.

Assign a contact person for first-time caregivers to guide them through the process, and walk them through the approvals so they know how they can do this.

Explore higher payment models and further entitlements for services, especially those supporting children with disabilities and multifaceted needs.

The next set of practical actions focuses on education, an area we know many caregivers face persistent barriers.

These suggestions are about making sure caregivers have a seat at the table when it comes to planning for a child's education.

You'll notice that the second action links directly to the Gateway process we discussed earlier.

We have a Gateway Redesign blueprint.

It's already completed.

It's evidence-based and grounded in proven working solutions from sites and providers that are already showing success in uptake and improved access to both education and health services.

Like I said, the blueprint is there.

We have it.

But let us discuss here again, health and disability, the practical actions.

We want to prioritise social skills, communication support, wraparound coaching for daily living skills.

These are things that we can deliver in partnership with health and in partnership with our providers.

Here again, The Gateway Redesign blueprint offers a solution from the grassroots frontline.

Improving it would mean getting children access to services, utilising whānau navigators or hospital liaisons to uncomplicate the procedures for getting consent, which are often the biggest barriers.

There is also an absolute need to improve the Gateway IT tool, which is the mechanism within this process responsible for collecting and sharing data between Oranga Tamariki, health and education.

Because issues with data sharing between health, education and Oranga Tamariki don't just create confusion, they block access to essential services.

I'd just like to stress that currently the Gateway is the only referral pathway for children in care to receive access to certain education and health supports.

That's why enhancing the quality of data capture, sharing, and follow-through of this process, of the referrals via the Gateway process, is so critical.

Also, The gateway is the only mechanism through which Oranga Tamariki receives any structured data on children’s health or education needs, as described by a GP or a school.

So we depend on this, to understand children's needs from a system perspective, and to share that data in a way that improves coordination across agencies.

I see two ways that you can achieve this, one, as part of the Gateway Redesign pilot, or two, prioritised, as was mentioned here, as a piece of work within the currently ongoing Frontline Technology Systems upgrade, the FTSU upgrade.

This is achievable.

As an organisation, To meet the needs of children, we cannot do this job alone.

We need the help of education and health to coordinate services.

And if those services are accessed in a timely manner, properly, would make all the difference, to not only just caregivers and whānau involved, but most importantly for the children and young people whom they care for and love.

And with that, challenges are well known, the needs are urgent, solutions are practical and achievable.

Let's ensure these insights drive action, and we must treat caregivers as core partners and fund the support children need to thrive.

Thank you for listening, and I'll hand it over to Steve to talk to our the next part of the segment, I suppose.

And hopefully we'll have time for questions.

[Applause]

[STEVE] Thank you very much, Lina.

I think as you can see, there's some real stories coming out, and we do need to support them.

I'll open up the floor now, just while I'm waiting for Nicolette to arrive.

For any questions? Kia ora Nicolette [LINA] Yeah, with us just a moment.

[STEVE] So what we'll do, just in the interest of time, is we'll pass it over to Nicolette now, and we'll have some question time at the end.

And if you've got any questions about the survey or the recommendations or what Nicolette's about to present, we can keep those to the end.

Kia ora, over to you, Nicolette.

[NICOLETTE] Ngā mihi nui, ngā mihi mahana kia a koutou katoa.

Kia ora e te whānau.

Ko wai au? Ko Hōrana te whenua o ōku tipuna I whānau mai ahau i Papakura I raro i te maru o Pukekiwiriki Kei Manurewa ahau e noho ana Ko Tumu Tauwhiro ahau Ko Nicolette Dickson tōku ingoa.

Kia ora everyone. I'm sorry for those of you in the room that I am not there with you in person.

And to those of you in the virtual world, there's a lot of us, which is fantastic to see so many joining and supporting this kōrero.

So I'm only going to take a couple of minutes and I just want to start firstly by acknowledging Lina.

Thank you for what you've shared and for bringing the voice of caregivers into our space with absolute integrity and clarity and honesty, and for the work that you've done to make those insights real, accessible, tangible and practical to, as you say, respond to.

I want to acknowledge that there is a lot of work happening in this space, and I do just want to acknowledge how in particular, those in our Chief Social Worker's team - in my team - who have been working on responses to the very real challenges and experiences that have been shared today.

And I also just want to acknowledge that there is a lot of mahi that our caregiver recruitment and support teams and tamariki and whānau services team do every day and whilst we ...

have heard many challenging and real experiences from caregivers, we also know, as Lina said at the beginning of the presentation, that there is a magic and a gift in caregiving that can't be understated.

So I just want to acknowledge that.

So as you heard, most caregivers feel well supported by their caregiver social workers, but don't feel well supported by Oranga Tamariki more generally and the wider system.

I'm just checking you guys can hear me okay, eh? [LINA] Yes [NICOLETTE] Yeah, cool, awesome.

And as you've heard, people don't feel well prepared for the role, they might not get the right help, our processes can be cumbersome and burdensome, and a really important one which I think ...

also may have come through more clearly in a range of spaces is they hold deep knowledge and wisdom about the children they care for and that knowledge and wisdom is often not seen as a resource or something to be accessed when key decisions are being made for tamariki.

So, I just want to acknowledge that.

I want to say, that already through the work of a really strong partnership between the Strategy Insights and Performance team, our Chief Social Worker's team and our Caregiver Recruitment Support service that we have already continued to build on the insights of caregivers by some engagement through Caregiver Panels and that is as much to keep hearing from caregivers but also because caregivers are experts, and not just what their experience is but what the solutions are that can make life easier for them.

So that work has already begun.

I do just want to acknowledge that supporting caregivers is an absolute priority for our Minister.

In fact, I think she is talking in the House today about some of the mahi around supporting caregivers and why that matters.

She's made it very clear to me and to the leadership team that we must do more to ensure that the rights, responsibilities and supports for caregivers are well enabled through our mahi.

So we put some work into a work plan and this was coinciding with when the first set of insights from the survey first were available to us.

And kind of have broken down what we can do and some of these touched on the suggestions, very helpful suggestions Lina included in the end of her kōrero.

We've kind of broken it down into three things.

There are many things we can do that include options to strengthen our existing practice, policies and processes.

There are other things we can do that make better use of parts of the legislation that we don't currently use.

So how do we enact day-to-day care arrangements, guardianship, and other support and orders for caregivers? How do we involve caregivers more in creating key decisions about the children they're caring for? And there may be things that we, looking to the future, think might need strengthening within legislation over time.

We haven't really identified what those are, but we have taken an open mind to continuing to think, have we got all the right legislative leaders and systems to support caregivers as well? But by far the most incremental things we can do are the things, as we've talked about already, in the here and now, in that category one and two.

I do just want to pick up on the inter-agency space.

I do just want to pick up a little bit on the systemic space.

So just as we have heard caregivers struggle to provide or to feel supported to provide care because of systemic challenges, I do just want to acknowledge whilst every social worker has an absolute responsibility to be and do their best work with caregivers and social workers.

Many of our social workers also struggle to provide the right branch of support for children because of systemic issues.

And I do just want to acknowledge comments made by the Independent Children's Monitor, who talked about, you know, the social workers, they want to make a difference, it's their primary motivation but often it's hard to get things, things are in the way of doing the right thing.

There's also a very strong call that Social workers continue to be challenged to get the needs of their children in care prioritised across government, and the importance of OTAP is so critical here.

I'm just going to very briefly, because I know we're running into time, just the good news stuff, I suppose, the stuff that's already underway, the stuff that's already starting to make a little bit of a difference.

So we have, and I'm just going to do a very, very quick speed date through these things: Simplified a range of processes and making it more transparent about what caregivers can expect, particularly around higher foster care, overseas, holidays, and provisional caregiver approval processes.

We've improved and there's better preparation and resources for caregivers, including updating about scoring care resources and some partnerships with Caring Families Aotearoa on a caregiver module for understanding the National Care Standards.

We have strengthened our Puāwai programmes, the leading practice programmes, and understanding of what it means to support kids as well for our social workers.

We've included in very clear parts of guidance around key decisions when the caregivers should be sought and included in decision making.

We're participating with MSD in a carers action plan for those caregivers who are not caring for children now in custody, but where we have involvement and where families are opening their home to children who would otherwise potentially be in our care.

We're working on MOUs with Disability Support Services to better strengthen provision and transition support, hearing how important transition is for our caregivers, particularly for rangatahi with disabilities, who we know make up such a strong portion of the tamariki and rangatahi that we care for.

And our clinical services teams have enhanced their support in terms of advice, guidance and coaching to caregivers around how to respond to better meet the needs of children, particularly those whose behaviours are impacted by trauma.

So a good start, more to do, some evidence of some improvement.

So that really important point that Lina made around support plans.

We have seen an increase from 67% to 75% of caregivers having support plans in place just over the last half a year.

We've seen reductions of harm in care in our whanau caregiver placements, and we've seen a significant increase in progressing approval of caregiver placements.

So those are early signals that some of the focus that this survey has brought are helping, but there's more to do.

I just want to acknowledge that the big work ahead is systemic work as well.

So at the moment we're working with Tamariki and Whānau services to respond to the Abuse in Care inquiry, through an integrated programme of work with new money, which is about increasing the safety and stability of care, embedding Oranga framed care across the system and building the capability of caregivers in the care workforce.

People have already touched on the importance of OTAP and the Gateway Review, FTSU these are all systemic levers we have ahead of us and here for us now, where we can build caregiver experience and support in the front end There's also a considerable amount of work across the workplace space because what we want to do is make sure that our social workers are freed up to do things that maximise spending time with tamariki with whanau and with supporting caregivers.

There's a very high speed date of what we're focused on right now.

Just going to leave you with one quote from Dame Whina Cooper "Take care of our children, take care of what they hear and what they see, take care of what they feel, for as the children grow, so we'll be in shape of Aotearoa." Kia ora koutou katoa and recognise that we haven't left much time for questions.

[LINA] Thank you, Nicolette.

Kia ora.

[Applause] [STEVE] Kia ora,  thank you Nicolette really appreciate that.

So we've got about five minutes left.

We'll open up to the floor.

Firstly, I can see a lot of messages coming through online about sharing this.

We're absolutely keen to share this far and wide.

This is a door being opened.

If anyone wants to talk to us further, we're very, very keen.

And if you'd like this presentation to be done to others, we can also have a conversation around that.

That is absolutely our intention, is to get this out there.

We've had two publications and now video that we'll also be putting online, so we're trying.

We're very keen, again, for change to happen.

And that starts with these korero.

So kia ora.

Open up to anyone in the room.

Kia ora.

[AUDIENCE MEMBER #1] Hi, I am a caregiver, I have two kids in care.

I have been in care for nine years.

How often do you see the Gateway reviews being done? Because my youngest was 18 months old when they had their All-About-Me, Gateway assessment, and I had to go to court in order to get the judge to push Oranga Tamariki to get another Gateway assessment completed for a now 10-year-old child.

So having a child and doing a Gateway assessment once in 10 years or nine years; Their needs change.

So there needs to be a more regular updated.

I kept having to go to court in order to get Oranga Tamariki and the reason I pushed for the Gateway assessment was because my child does have cognitive delays and Oranga Tamariki refused to actually look and get them assessed.

The judge basically forced them to.

So we're trying to do our best to support these kids.

Don't give me another parenting course, support my kids.

[LINA] Yep, that's right.

[STEVE] Kia ora.

[AUDIENCE MEMBER #1] I'd be keen to understand the Gateway Assessment.

If it's just filing another bit of paperwork, it's pointless.

[LINA] We have reviewed and we have heard you and we are fighting to have it redesigned, based on new solutions that are working to have that support given in a timely manner, to separate out primary care and specialist support the one that you are requiring.

We don't need kids to see the GP for primary health.

They can see a nurse.

That will alleviate a huge bog of casework.

And if we can streamline that access, we just need the unpause button, all right? And I am fighting for that for sure.

And thank you for sharing.

[STEVE] Any other questions?

[AUDIENCE MEMBER #2] Hi, I was just wondering about the survey this year, whether perhaps it's in that top line that you talked about, but how does it compare to previous year's surveys?

[LINA] To be quite frank, this is my first year with the Caregiver Survey.

So we did kind of a revamp of that survey.

We did hold on to the previous questions with regards to satisfaction of various supports.

Last year, there was funding to do a phone call survey, so that was probably explaining the sort of larger proportion of caregivers that were able to be reached.

And yes, phone call, phone surveys would be helpful, but I think right now with the latest work that we're doing with the Caregiver Panel, has opened up a new avenue for us to hear from caregivers directly.

And there will be summaries of insights collected from those panels, and they'll happen on a regional basis.

So each region will have its own panel.

So we'll hear about specific challenges being faced per the region.

So I think, with regards to that qualitative data, phone surveys, it's probably, I would suggest, a very good alternative is to just meet with the caregivers directly and hear from them directly on a consistent basis.

[AUDIENCE MEMBER #2] Thank you.

[LINA] Thank you.

[STEVE] Just in addition to that, there's two extra things that we are considering doing.

One is looking at that trend a lot more and trying to disaggregate and understand it more.

And the second thing is doing a triangulation effort.

We do have a number of other surveys and we've got Gateway Review.

We have a number of things that we'd like to actually understand from multiple perspectives.

So there are a couple of things that are, that's to say that the analysis effectively isn't done yet.

There's still more that can be done that we are interested in exploring that. Kia ora.

We do have one minute left.

[AUDIENCE MEMBER #3] Very quick follow on question.

So this year, did you still take a census approach with the caregivers as in all caregivers and it was an e-mail only?

[LINA] Correct.

[AUDIENCE MEMBER #3] Well, I have to say I think 35% is a quite impressive response rate for an e-mail only and acknowledge what you said about not doing a phone survey

[LINA] Thank you 

[STEVE] We agree, and we're also happy with that.

Kia ora.

Now, again, this is an open door If you have more questions, do please come to us.

We're happy to discuss and chat a little bit more, and we're also keen to share the insights in any other way that would be useful.

I'll close this off with the karakia.

Please, as well, stick around, have some tea and coffee and some snacks.

Keen to chat further.

[LINA] Please have some kai, and there's tea and coffee, nd I'd love to talk to you if you have a moment to discuss and if you'd like to.

Thank you.

[OKKEM] Kia ora, kia ora koutou.

Can you all hear me? I’m Okkem, a caregiver social worker from Caregiver Recruitment and Support, Auckland South.

My apology, I cannot turn my camera on and I, because I have some issue with the camera, please allow me only one minute to share with you a few lines from the e-mail that I received from my caregiver yesterday.

The caregiver said that “... you are a true gem and represent Oranga Tamariki with a professionalism and passion that has surpassed our expectations.

Thank you for your care and your fantastic support.” What I want to say here is not about showing off my compliment.

What I want to show off to you all is an acknowledgement is a compliment.

that not just me, but many of my caregivers, many of my colleagues, the caregivers, social workers, in all areas of our, across the motu, in all areas of New Zealand.

There are New Zealanders, requesting every day from our hard work.

And I'm sorry, I'm just getting a little bit emotional, but definitely need it...

so that we can do can do a better, a better mahi for our caregivers, so that not just they can acknowledge us, but we can acknowledge them more and more.

So, yes, I'm just, that's all, that's all my sharing today.

Kia ora koutou, and my approach if I can certainly come in.

Yeah, thank you.

Thank you, whānau.

[LINA] Thank you, Okkem.

We heard you.

Thank you.

Thank you for sharing.

There's one? Can we just have-- I suppose there's one hand, Nikita.

I suppose if you have other places to be online, if you need to go, we will farewell you in our hearts.

I'll just allow this person who has put their hand up to say something.

Nikita, would you like to ask a question?

[NIKITA] Kia ora, thanks for having me the chance to speak and ask a quick question.

So my question is, what role do you see community groups and charities playing in supporting caregivers and tamariki, and how does this work alongside mahi of Oranga Tamariki? [STEVE] Now, is Nicolette still on...

[LINA] I think she might have had to go.

[NICOLETTE] Sorry, no I'm here.

Can I just have the question again? Apologies [NIKITA] Sure, I've popped it into the chat.

So the question was, what role do you see community groups and charities playing in supporting caregivers and tamariki, and how does this work alongside the work that you do at Oranga Tamariki? [NICOLETTE] I think that’s a great question, and I think that we ... if i think about, for example, the response from the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care, one of the things that government has funded is investment in strategies across the care workforce as a whole and the caregiving community as a whole, and I think the ability to work across government, non-government philanthropy, community and across the various care sectors is something we've never done before and has huge potential.

So it's absolutely something that we are beginning to dip our toes into exploring.

Obviously we do have amazing partnerships with iwi Māori, community and the provision of care currently in terms of their role as care providers but beyond that I think there's a lot more we can do to really wrap a full, a true community of support around those who are playing that critical role in caring and supporting tamariki in their homes and other forms of care.

[STEVE]Kia ora.

Thank you, Nicolette.

So we'll close us off now.

I just want to say thank you to everyone who's come.

Really appreciate you.

And also want to say another thank you to caregivers, both for the work you do and the voices you've shared that we've used.

Kia ora.

I'll close us off with a karakia.

Kia whakairia te tapu.

Kia wātea ai te ara.

Kia tūruki whakataha ai.

Kia tūruki whakataha ai.

Haumi e, hui e, [EVERYONE] taiki e.