May 26, 2019
Whānau ora takes on sentencing task
South Island whānau ora commissioning agency Te Pūtahitanga wants to encourage more use of Section 27 of the Sentencing Act, which allows an offender to request the court to hear about their personal, family, whānau, community and cultural background.
It’s holding a wānanga in Christchurch this evening on cultural report writing for whānau ora navigators, youth workers, kaumātua and lay advocates.
Facilitator Jamie-Lee Tuuta says it’s better if whānau know about the reports before members find themselves alone in front of a judge.
"We don’t want them alone in the courts any more. If we can have whānau ora support workers or whānau or others in the community standing by our people when they are in court, they are not alone, and they can help advocate and ensure that information about that person is put before the court so the most appropriate sentence is put in place for that particular member," she says.
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