Babies will suffer from Family First cuts

Proposed Government cuts to the Family Start programme comes at a time when many families are under severe stress and will put more babies at risk of harm according to a Nelson whānau worker.

Shelley Wilson has worked with Family Start for 23 years and says times have never been so desperate for so many families who are experiencing hunger, homelessness and despair. She says many families need support more than ever and the proposed cuts could mean up to 44 families in the Top of the South will not get support.

Family Start is an early-intervention programme that provides support for pregnant women and young families to ensure the health and safety of the baby, visiting families in their homes for the first three months of the baby’s life and offering ongoing support for their first 1,000 days.

The children’s ministry Oranga Tamariki intends to cut $17 million or 25 per cent from the core funding of Family First services. It has also removed all funding for the costs of visiting rural and isolated families, plus interpreters for former refugee and migrant families.

In the Top of the South, Family First is working with 186 families that have been referred to the service from different agencies and health providers, with more on the waiting list. Shelley says the cuts mean 44 of those families will miss out.

“It’s really crucial because no other service goes into the home. If we look at some of the research that came out in 2021, we know that in the first year of life, for families that were receiving Family Start, there was a 42 per cent reduction in child mortality rates. You take Family Start away and you have babies that are going to be more at risk of harm.

“This is a really stressy world that families are growing our babies in now. We’ve got housing issues like we’ve never had before; rents are through the roof and the cost of living – nobody can afford food. When people are dealing with the level of stress from primary needs not being met such as housing and decent food, it impacts on their ability to parent positively. And so now, more than ever, Family Start is necessary because we can help minimise that stress, keep things baby focused and work on that first 1,000 days, because it’s all about the first 1,000 days.

“I’ve never seen so much hunger. I’ve never seen so much homelessness. I’ve never seen so much despair. And it’s that despair that impacts on the parenting and that despair that Family Start works to minimise. It makes a big difference in a family’s home when they know they have someone in their court. Someone that’s coming to visit regularly and interested in them. We help them, support them, we advocate on their behalf and we play with the babies because that’s how a baby learns.”

PSA (Public Service Association) national sector lead Josh Gardner is based in Nelson and he says the cuts are also about the people who work in the community for Family First. Across the country, the cuts could mean 107 social workers and up to 60 other staff losing their jobs and he says that would be devastating for the individuals and their families.

“For some of these organisations, they have month-to-month funding and there’s no certainty at all. That’s the surety we’re trying to seek – to retain the quality jobs with quality outcomes in the community.”

Nelson MP Rachel Boyack says the cuts to public services are cutting too deep and the Minister for Children, Karen Chhour, needs to intervene.

“The Government assured New Zealanders that they wouldn’t make cuts to frontline services, but these are clearly frontline services working with our most vulnerable families. We know that if families are supported when babies are young, they have a much greater chance of thriving and being successful. So, taking that support away from families that are really struggling and need that wraparound support - I just can’t understand how they would put it forward as a consideration.

“The minister does need to intervene because she can try to say its just operational for Oranga Tamariki, but actually the minister has the ultimate responsibility, and she needs to instruct Oranga Tamariki to back off from these proposals.”