Whānau

What to expect when we visit whānau

We check that tamariki
Children (plural) aged 0-13 yearsView the full glossary and rangatahi
Young person aged 14 – 21 years of ageView the full glossary in care or custody, or known to Oranga Tamariki, are well looked after and have what they need.

We do this by talking with tamariki and rangatahi, whānau
Whānau refers to people who are biologically linked or share whakapapa. For the Monitor’s monitoring purposes, whānau includes parents, whānau members living with tamariki at the point they have come into care View the full glossary (family) like you, caregivers and the people who support them.  

Our kaimahi (staff) who would like to meet with you are our monitors. It is their job to listen to what you have to say and take notes on what you shared with them. This is a chance for you to share your thoughts and tell us what has been happening for you.

Hearing from you – and other people like you – helps us understand what needs to change to make things better for tamariki and rangatahi and their whānau. We want to hear what you think and how things have been going for you – and for your tamariki and rangatahi.

What happens when you meet with us

We kōrero
Conversation or discussionView the full glossary (talk) with people one on one and in groups. We would like to meet you in person and will work with you to decide how and where we kōrero. We want you to feel as comfortable as possible. You don’t have to talk to us if you don't want to.

We will make sure you feel safe so you can share your experiences and thoughts. You can change your mind and stop talking to us at any time – you don’t need to tell us why.

When we meet with you, one of our monitors will be writing down the things you share with us, so we don’t forget what you said. We won’t write your name and no one else will know what you told us – unless we’re really worried about the safety of you or someone else, or if a serious crime has been committed. If this happens, we will discuss it with you first, as long as it is safe to.

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What we will ask you about

We will ask questions about your tamariki
Children (plural) aged 0-13 yearsView the full glossary and rangatahi
Young person aged 14 – 21 years of ageView the full glossary and their support people, the help you receive and the involvement you are able to have in plans and decisions for your tamariki and rangatahi.

You can answer our questions any way you like. There are no right or wrong answers.

Please tell us if there is something you don’t want to talk about.

Some of the things we might ask you about are:

  • Who are the people involved with you and your tamariki or rangatahi and how are they helping you to keep in touch or be together? 
  • What support are you getting to help you care for your tamariki or rangatahi? 
  • Have you been included in making plans for your tamariki or rangatahi? 
  • Have you been involved in decisions that are made about your tamariki or rangatahi?
  • If your rangatahi is involved in youth justice, we might ask you about how they first came to the attention of Police. We might ask if you were included in decisions made about them as they went through the Police or Court process and if anyone helped you understand what was happening.

What happens after we meet with you

After we have met with you, we will give you a gift voucher to say thank you.

We check our notes to make sure they don’t have your name or the names of anyone you told us about. We keep what you say safe and private. Only you and the people who asked you the questions will know what you said.

After we have finished meeting with people in your community, we share what we heard with you. We call this a share back. The share back includes some of the things you and others in your community talked to us about. You won’t be able to tell who said what.  If you choose to kōrero
Conversation or discussionView the full glossary with us we will let you know when you can expect to receive your share back.

What we heard in your community gets put together with what we heard from other communities for our big reports. We sometimes use quotes in our reports. We don’t put names with quotes, and we make sure no-one can work out who said it to us. We give our big reports to the government and people in parliament. We also put them on our website so other people can read them.

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Read our nationwide reports
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Contacting us

If you decide you want to change something you said, or ask us a question, you can contact us.

You can email us at info@aroturuki.govt.nz
leave us a phone message on 0800 777 232
or text us on 3701