Te K\u0101ika risks being prevented from delivering key government-funded services for children and youth due to an investigation of its suitability as a service provider.<\/p>\n
A Te K\u0101ika-run youth remand home on Will St, Dunedin was shut in March last year after 11 \u2018\u2018reports of concern\u2019\u2019 were sent to the home\u2019s funder, children\u2019s agency Oranga Tamariki.<\/p>\n
The government agency substantiated seven allegations in an investigation concluded last September, finding \u2018\u2018emotional, physical, verbal and psychological harm\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Otago Daily Times\u00a0has now learned that another government body, which determines if organisations meet safety standards to deliver certain critical community social services, has suspended the social sector accreditation of \u014ct\u0101kou Health Limited (OHL), the charity that runs Te K\u0101ika.<\/p>\n
Accreditation and approval by Te K\u0101hui K\u0101hu \u2014 a business unit hosted by the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) \u2014 is legally required by any organisation that partners care, or provides community services, for Oranga Tamariki.<\/p>\n
Oranga Tamariki is also assessing whether OHL is appropriate to run any of its childcare and protection services.<\/p>\n
The revelations mean there are four government bodies known to be looking into OHL.<\/p>\n
The Department of Internal Affairs opened an investigation into OHL last year, with results pending, and Health New Zealand (HNZ) said last month it was conducting an internal audit into OHL.<\/p>\n
Te K\u0101hui K\u0101hu general manager Magnus O\u2019Neill said his agency suspended OHL\u2019s accreditation on February 4 because it had \u2018\u2018failed to achieve compliance with the relevant social sector accreditation standards in the required timeframe.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
OHL has until Tuesday \u2014 April 7 \u2014 to \u2018\u2018comply with the requirements\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
If requirements are not met, Te K\u0101hui K\u0101hu can start a process to revoke accreditation.<\/p>\n
Agencies that had contracts with any organisation with suspended accreditation had \u2018\u2018discretion\u2019\u2019 about action they took, Mr O\u2019Neill said.<\/p>\n
Oranga Tamariki\u2019s deputy chief executive Benesia Smith said her agency was \u2018\u2018working through the implications of the [Te K\u0101hui K\u0101hu] suspension and what, if any, alternative arrangements need to be made for our young people.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
OHL held six Oranga Tamariki contracts to deliver seven child and youth services for \u2018\u2018shared care bed nights, a specialist group home service and assistance for rangatahi to attain independence,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n
An Official Information Act request by the\u00a0ODT, answered by Oranga Tamariki\u2019s commissioning and investment general manager Jesse Roth, said issues in the Will St Whare reports had \u2018\u2018raised broader concerns about the operations of OHL.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
An assessment of OHL was being led by a different Oranga Tamariki business group to the one that investigated the Will St home and examining \u2018\u2018general suitability of the provider to deliver childcare and protection services\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
It was unlikely to conclude until the end of May at the earliest and was \u2018\u2018contingent on what we discover\u2019\u2019, Mr Roth said.<\/p>\n
The assessment is understood to be taking place under section 400 of the Oranga Tamariki Act, which permits the agency to assess an iwi social service and can result in care status being suspended or revoked.<\/p>\n
OHL took over the Will St home in August 2023, after a report earlier that year by the Office of the Children\u2019s Commissioner said the home, previously run by Oranga Tamariki, needed urgent improvement.<\/p>\n
Oranga Tamariki\u2019s Mr Roth declined to provide details of current commissioning of OHL \u2018\u2018to maintain the effective conduct of public affairs\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
However, information about eight Oranga Tamariki contracts held by OHL and funded $3.54million for the year 2023-24 was provided to the\u00a0ODT\u00a0in March last year.<\/p>\n
The contracts included $1m funding for the four-bed Will St home. Three other contracts housing children and young people included: 6844 \u2018\u2018shared care bednights\u2019\u2019 for 18 children and young people under a Tiaki Taoka \u2014 Whanau Care Support Service; two \u2018\u2018transition to independence\u2019\u2019 homes for six \u2018\u2018care and youth justice experienced\u2019\u2019 youth; and a new contract, started March 2024, for a staffed \u2018\u2018specialist group home\u2019\u2019 for four young people with \u2018\u2018high support needs\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
Three contracts funded OHL staff to support of children and young people in the community.<\/p>\n
One contract funded help for young people transitioning from care or youth justice with an expected caseload of 15 young people, another funded financial support for youth \u2018\u2018in emergency or crisis situations\u2019\u2019, and another funded staff to be part of an interagency team providing an \u2018\u2018intensive response\u2019\u2019 for children aged 10-13 with offending behaviour, with a caseload of four.<\/p>\n
The eighth contract funded a \u2018\u2018trauma-informed learning service\u2019\u2019 for caregivers.<\/p>\n
A similar list of OHL contracts held in 2025 was provided by Oranga Tamariki stating six of the contracts had \u2018\u2018funds reconciled in 2023-24 due to underutilisation\u2019\u2019. The list indicated that one \u2018\u2018transition to independence\u2019\u2019 home was being funded, rather than two the year before.<\/p>\n
In June last year, OHL chairwoman Donna Matahaere told the\u00a0ODT\u00a0that OHL ran two care homes, employed 14 carers and had 19 children and 22 young people in its services.<\/p>\n
Oranga Tamariki\u2019s Mr Roth released OHL performance information, including a one-page report from October 27 last year that was almost entirely redacted excepting a sentence regarding a \u2018\u2018Te K\u0101ika staff member who is alleged to have assaulted a young person\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
The day before, Te K\u0101ika youth justice staffer Allan Haua had assaulted, in the street, a 16-year-old who had been placed previously in the youth residence where Mr Haua worked.<\/p>\n
Last month, OHL\u2019s Ms Matahaere said, on video podcast\u00a0The Platform, that the charity was \u2018\u2018not under investigation\u2019\u2019 by government funders.<\/p>\n
A Te K\u0101ika Facebook post on March 26 said the charity held its Te K\u0101hui K\u0101hu social service accreditation and had \u2018\u2018consistently passed\u2019\u2019 it.<\/p>\n
OHL was contacted for this article but declined to comment.<\/p>\n