Porirua Whānau Centre is taking a strong message to judges today: what may look like non-compliance in the Family Court is often poverty, fear, trauma and a lack of trust in the system.
The centre is presenting at a national judicial education seminar in Wellington, where around 25 Family Court judicial officers from across Aotearoa will hear directly from community organisations working alongside whānau.
Jessica Tehuia, Hapori Service Manager at Porirua Whānau Centre, says missed appointments, anger or disengagement can often be misread when the wider circumstances of whānau are not understood.
She says many parents appearing before the court are dealing with transport barriers, poverty, stress, shame and past experiences with systems that have failed them.
Porirua Whānau Centre has supported whānau involved with Oranga Tamariki and the Family Court for 32 years, delivering 24 services across housing, education, family violence, parenting, advocacy and youth development.
Its Hapori programme, established in 2023 through a community-led partnership with Oranga Tamariki and local iwi, has helped reduce the number of tamariki in care in Porirua from 98 to 58. It has also achieved the lowest re-notification rate in Wellington.
Tehuia says those outcomes show the impact of a relationship-centred, strengths-based and whānau-led approach.
The centre says whānau are more likely to make lasting change when they feel safe, heard and included in decisions affecting their tamariki.
Porirua Whānau Centre is presenting alongside VOYCE, with the invitation from the Ministry of Justice seen as a sign the courts are increasingly open to hearing directly from community-based providers.
Chief Executive Liz Kelly says the centre’s message is simple: when whānau are treated as part of the solution, tamariki are safer.
The organisation hopes judges leave the seminar with a clearer understanding of the realities facing whānau, and how court responses can either deepen harm or support meaningful change.
