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Growing Voice and Safety

The Growing Voice and Safety services have two main aims. These are to: 

  • increase the focus on the voice, good lives and human rights of disabled people and tāngata whaikaha Māori, and 
  • reduce the risk of neglect and abuse in disability support services funded by Whaikaha – Ministry of Disabled People. 

From April to July 2023 Whaikaha engaged with disabled people, tāngata whaikaha Māori, whānau networks and providers on the design of two new quality improvement services.  

We are very grateful for the input and feedback received during this engagement process and thank everyone who participated. 

Whaikaha is committed to progressing the implementation of two new services: 

  • Growing Voice and Safety - People for Us  
  • Growing Voice and Safety - Assisting Change  

Information in alternate formats

Growing Voice and Safety - People for Us

The Growing Voice and Safety - People for Us service will provide another way for Whaikaha to listen to the voices of disabled people and tāngata whaikaha Māori. It will help us to better understand what concerns, issues and trends need to be addressed in disability support services. 

People for Us will be staffed by disabled people, tāngata whaikaha Māori and whānau. They will work with disabled adults who live in residential services and assist those with concerns to follow the relevant pathway to resolve them. Concerns could be related to safety or issues affecting their happiness. 

Over time People for Us will extend from disabled adults who live in residential services to include others. 

Whaikaha will contract with an external organisation(s) to deliver the People for Us service. 

Growing Voice and Safety - Assisting Change

The Ministry of Disabled People - Whaikaha is pleased to announce a contract for Assisting Change has been signed with Te Pou Waiora.

Assisting Change is a new advisory service for Whaikaha contracted disability support providers. Te Pou Waiora is a new organisation established by a group of Associates including disabled people, tāngata whaikaha Māori, Pacific people, family and allied sector leadership. Key members of the team include:

  • Michael Aldridge
  • Jane Bawden
  • Gordon Boxall
  • Kim Carter
  • Grant Cleland
  • Latoa Halatau-Talagi
  • Lorna Sullivan
  • Jonathan Tautari
  • John Taylor.

Te Pou Waiora have been contracted to provide a brokerage service that engages specialist advisors with a diverse range of skill sets and extensive experience. Advisors will be matched to a provider and assist them to work on specific quality issues. The service delivers advice aligned to the three Pou of Whaikaha, being Te Tiriti o Waitangi, UNCRPD and Enabling Good Lives. Culturally appropriate matches will be available for kaupapa Māori and Pacific providers. Referral to Assisting Change will be through the Quality and Performance Team at Whaikaha.

Further updates and a link to the Te Pou Waiora website will be added as soon as available.

The seven key outcomes

Feedback and learnings from the engagement process led to the development of seven key outcomes from these two new services: 

  1. Disabled people, tāngata whaikaha Māori, whānau and families will experience safer lives and increased wellbeing in Whaikaha funded services. 
  2. The access, experience and outcomes achieved are equitable across a range of dimensions, particularly for tāngata whaikaha Māori and their whānau. 
  3. Disabled people, tāngata whaikaha Māori, and family and whānau members have what they need to be effective People for Us workers. 
  4. The organisation(s) delivering People for Us is led by disabled people, tāngata whaikaha Māori and includes whānau and family perspectives, is independent, well-connected, effective and achieves equitable outcomes. 
  5. The organisation(s) delivering Assisting Change is led by disabled people, tāngata whaikaha Māori and includes whānau and family perspectives, is independent, credible, well-connected, and effective. 
  6. Disability support providers are supported to deliver safer services that are aligned with the Enabling Good Lives (EGL) vision and principles. 
  7. Whaikaha has more evidence that the services it commissions are safe and are of high quality. 

How we will be procuring these services

Procurement Update – July 2024

The procurement process for Assisting Change is completed and the successful supplier is Te Pou Waiora. They will start working alongside providers in late September 2024. 

The procurement process for People for Us is well underway and contract negotiations with the preferred suppliers have begun. More details on this service development, including providers, will be announced in November 2024.

Register your interest to deliver People for Us

Suppliers can register their interest to deliver People for Us, registrations close 9 February 2024. 

The registration of interest is the first stage of a two stage tender and successful respondents will be invited to submit a more detailed proposal for evaluation. 

To submit a registration of interest you must submit a Response form (DOCX 73KB) to community_admin@whaikaha.govt.nz. 

More information:

Get in touch

If you have any questions about the Growing Voice and Safety services please email community_admin@whaikaha.govt.nz