E Tipu e Rea Whānau services supports young hapū
māmā, mātua taiohi (young parents) and their tamariki
with a range of health and social services tailored to their
needs. Our mission statement is: Supporting mātua taiohi
(young parents), hapū māmā and pēpi to grow, thrive, and
be rangatira within their whānau, hapū, iwi, hapori. Our
qualified kaimahi work frontline with whānau, providing
support and advocacy to secure income, housing, training,
employment and day to day essentials to thrive as young
parents, and have the means to support their pēpi and
tamariki.
As E Tipu e Rea has a focus on young
parents, hapū māmā and their pēpi and tamariki, it
won’t be a surprise that we have a few questions about
Budget 2024 announcements. We are dedicated to better
outcomes for young whānau, and to help us with this work,
our key questions and comments are:
- The announced
$140 million for 1500 social housing places is welcomed as
this coincides with our recent transitional housing complex
built for our young māmā and pāpā and their tamariki,
and we hope that this funding finds its way to
organistations who are ready to providing more housing with
wrap around support to hapū māmā and young parents and
their pēpi. - We have questions around the cuts to
transitional housing for youth, and hope that the government
is aware that there are youth who are also parents and
finding a home for themselves and their new pēpi can be
very challenging. - The apprentice boost initiative is
a positive turn, and we also want the government to
encourage employers to engage with rangatahi with pēpi and
tamariki, to support them to get into the workforce, and
provide them with the guidance, support and skills they need
to sustain a long working career and to balance the needs of
being a new worker and a young parent. - Public
transport cuts are not helpful for young parents who often
do not yet have a driver’s license or a vehicle as this
creates barriers in attending training, employment,
childcare, GP visits for themselves and their pēpi and
childhood immunisations which is what we need to support our
rangatahi with tamariki to access. E Tipu e Rea and other
similar services will inevitably pick up these costs to
increase health and social care access and therefore
outcomes for young parents and their pēpi. Will the
government consider these financial impacts on health and
social services who work with young parents and their
pēpi? - With the $17 billion announced for the health
sector, there are no specifics for maternal mental health or
pēpi hauora for the first 2000 days. Women still have to
pay a surcharge for scans in some areas, midwives are
scarce, and primary birthing facilities are available in
some areas but not others which all lead to the detremation
of a māmā’s mental health, especially a young māmā. We
encourage the government to consider within their health
budget the first 2000 days, support for growing the pool of
midwife numbers, primary birthing facilities, and kaupapa
Māori/iwi services like E Tipu e Rea that want to do more
for better outcomes in the maternity and early years
space. - With $24 million being allocated for Gumboot
Friday and $9.7 million to establish a National Mental
Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund, we
encourage the government to ensure maternal mental health is
a part of the mix within this annonced funding initiative,
with young wāhine Māori having the highest rate of
depression and suicide during the perinatal
period.
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Zoe Hawke, CEO of E Tipu e Rea states
that
“Although we are pleased to see some
initiatives taken that could potentially improve the lives
of mātua taiohi and hapū māmā, and pēpi, it is also
evident that they will continue to struggle if more thought
is not put into the details of the announcements to ensure
young whānau are provided with targeted support. We are
concerned also that gains that could be made, will be offset
with cuts in other areas such as an end to free
prescriptions and public transport subsidies – basic
practical and everyday supports that help young parents and
their tamariki. Mātua taiohi, hapū māmā and their pēpi
already struggle with feeling invisible and discriminated
against, let us not recreate more of the same for such
important members of our society and the leaders of our
future’.
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