Resource the Plan — Or Stop Pretending Whānau Have Been Empowered

A Family Group Conference plan is only meaningful if it can be implemented.

Too often, whānau are brought together, asked to take responsibility, encouraged to develop solutions — and then left without the resources to make those solutions work.

That is not empowerment.

That is setting whānau up to fail.

The original intent of the FGC was not simply to hear whānau views. It was to place whānau, hapū, iwi and family groups at the centre of decision-making, supported by the State and by agencies with responsibilities to tamariki and rangatahi.

Support is the key word.

If an FGC plan requires counselling, that service must be available.If it requires respite, that support must be funded.If it requires transport, travel must be covered.If it requires education support, education must turn up.If it requires health input, health must participate.If it requires iwi or community support, those relationships must be resourced.If it requires review, that review must happen.

A plan without resources is just paper.

Reports over many years have raised the same concern: FGC plans are not always properly resourced, monitored or implemented. Families may agree to plans, but the system does not always back those plans with the practical support needed.

This has real consequences. Where whānau plans cannot be supported, matters can escalate. Tamariki may enter care because care becomes the only pathway to services. Young people may move further into the justice system because community-based plans are not properly resourced.

That is the opposite of the original vision.

NUPE calls for ring-fenced funding for FGCs and FGC plans.

This should include:

Whānau travel.Venue costs.Kai.Interpreters.Cultural support.Victim participation.Whakapapa searching.Hui-ā-whānau preparation.Plan implementation.Reviews and reconvening.Access to specialist services.

Interagency accountability must also be strengthened. Oranga Tamariki cannot be the only agency in the room. Health, education, police, justice, disability, housing, mental health, addiction services, iwi and community providers all have roles to play.

If agencies are part of the problem, they must be part of the plan.

The FGC is a whole-system process. It should not be reduced to an Oranga Tamariki meeting.

Politicians and decision-makers must understand this: if you want whānau-led plans, you must resource whānau-led plans.

Anything less is tokenism.