Safer Whānau

The Safer Whānau project is an interagency partnered response to family violence on Auckland’s North Shore. This innovative service involves working collaboratively with Te Puna Hauora and key social service providers to provide a wrap-around holistic whānau centred service. Whānau, now more than ever, present with multiple issues as economic pressures compound whānau stresses and difficulties. Families referred to family violence services often require the involvement of Work and Income, Police, Health, Oranga Tamariki, Ministry of Justice and multiple community agencies to effectively address all their needs.

The Safer Whānau vision is to ensure the needs of those who have experienced family violence are met through holistic support and joined up responses which are effective, culturally appropriate and bring about safety and well-being /mauri ora. Priority is given to whānau with vulnerable infants, children and young people who have witnessed family violence and do not meet Oranga Tamariki care and protection thresholds (i.e. early intervention). MSD funding resources the collaborative whānau plans developed.

The response represents an interfacing of the North Shore Family Violence Prevention Network with an integrated community response model of service provision. One Coordinator oversees both initiatives, developing these community resources to be inherently complementary of one another. The communication and collaboration within the Network aims to achieve a better integration of services, reduce service fragmentation, ward against duplication and/or gaps in services and efficiently use resources to support whānau.