Oranga Tamariki boss under fire – but for what?
Under the best of circumstances, being chief executive of Oranga Tamariki, the Ministry for Children, would be no picnic.
Even in a relatively benign climate, it would not, I imagine, be one of the more desirable public service jobs.
In the present environment, it would appear to be a truly awful one.
Current chief executive Grainne Moss, whose five-year term expires in April 2022, is under attack from many quarters.
When one of her deputies, Hoani Lambert, resigned this week, to take up a job at Internal Affairs, it was seen, despite his protestations to the contrary, as a protest against his boss.
For instance, Ma¯ ori Party coleader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and former leader Dame Tariana Turia called for Moss’ immediate sacking.
“The resignation of Lambert, Moss’ most senior Ma¯ ori colleague, proves there are major problems that run right through Oranga Tamariki, starting at the top,” Ngarewa-Packer said.
Lambert, however, made the interesting comment that people shouldn’t be concentrating the blame for the agency’s shortcomings on individuals, because the “system” that sees pe¯ pi Ma¯ ori disproportionately enter state care was a complex and interconnected one.
Last month Labour minister Peeni Henare had to be rapped across the knuckles by Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis after he gave a media interview in which he said he wasn’t surprised by speculation around Moss, who “allegedly may be vacating in a couple of hours”.
It’s possible Moss’ critics are privy to information we don’t know, and she is failing in many areas of her job. It’s true various recent reports have been fairly scathing of Oranga Tamariki, and Moss has admitted her ministry is plagued by systemic racism.
What worries me is that the main objection to Moss is that she is not Ma¯ ori, the assumption being that, if the main clientele of a government service is Ma¯ ori, a chief executive of that ethnicity would do a better job.
The danger is that, even if Moss is doing an excellent job, she will end up as collateral damage in the culture war.
The irony is that Moss has transformed Oranga Tamariki into a Ma¯ ori organisation. For instance, karakia and mihi have become a ritualised part of the work day and meetings. Ma¯ ori staff have their own separate meetings, and te reo has become a bigger part of the organisation. Moss appears to have strong support from Ma¯ ori staff.
A senior and very experienced manager recently emailed me after a column I wrote about Oranga Tamariki being treated unfairly.
The narrative about Oranga Tamariki could be balanced by showing how intervention had stopped heartbreaking abuse, which would horrify the public and create moral outrage, she wrote.
Media looking for the headline could never reflect the “complex and dynamic web” of all the humans involved or protect their interests.
Moss was a committed, passionate, humble and staunch chief executive, who had provided opportunities for staff to achieve many things, she said.
“Today a social worker has more time to listen to a child, because they have 11 fewer children to look after. They are trusted with a credit card, so they can go shopping with the children and buy food or clothes.”
Last year, she said, 1000 kids came into care – a record low.
“Why? Because she has supported us to work the way we have always wanted – earlier, and in partnership with families, with a better level of resources.
“She is the most visible and approachable leader I have ever had. She goes around the country fronting up again and again, taking on the pain of the past for Ma¯ ori, and owning some of the mistakes or compromises that, we, her social workers, make from time to time because we are humans desperately trying to make better the worst situations in NZ.
“Grainne has spent time on the frontline with us – seeing the baby
“She is the most visible and approachable leader I have ever had. She goes around the country fronting up again and again, taking on the pain of the past for Ma¯ori, and owning some of the mistakes or compromises that, we, her social workers, make from time to time because we are humans desperately trying to make better the worst situations in NZ.’’
Staff member on Grainne Moss
who has been abandoned in the hospital by its meth-addicted mum with only a list of three potential fathers by its side; the boy whose mum had taught him that sex with her was fine; the young woman who was being groomed for prostitution by her uncles; the 2-year-old covered in sores who could barely walk due to malnutrition.”
She said more positive initiatives had started in the past three years than she had seen in the previous three decades.
“Minister Davis can look at our criminally high rates of child abuse, as our minister for children, he can know that this is not his responsibility alone; this ownership sits with all of Aotearoa.”