Walking alongside other services to support whānau in Kaitaia

Te Whare Ruruhau O Meri Trust is proud to be part of a new, multi-agency initiative in Kaitaia. Brought together under the umbrella of Whiria Te Muka, Te Ahuru Mōwai Service (TAMS) is an innovative collaboration designed to help prevent and reduce family violence.

By weaving together the strengths of the New Zealand Police and local social service providers, TAMS aims to respond quickly and effectively to family violence incidents. While the Police remain the first responders, the group meets afterwards and decides which service providers can best meet the needs of the whānau.

As a provider of kaupapa Māori non-violence and safety programmes for both tāne and wāhine in Te Tai Tokerau, Te Whare is one of only two NGO service providers included in TAMS, alongside Women’s Refuge.

After just 12 months in operation, TAMS has already demonstrated its effectiveness. Through strong partnerships with whānau and service providers, the team has gained valuable insights into ongoing and emerging crises, shaped by a range of factors and trends. These collaborations not only deepen our understanding of complex issues, but also enable a more proactive, agile and informed response to addressing challenges and promoting positive outcomes for all involved.

The group has regular hui, not only to discuss family violence call-outs, but also to work on strengthening our collective response strategies. The most recent hui focused on identifying improvements to respond more quickly and effectively to family violence incidents, ensuring both a Police response (to uphold safety and the law) and an iwi response (to uphold whānau wellbeing).

In addition to providing a wraparound service that aims to solve underlying issues behind whānau violence, the group has shifted to a whānau-informed approach. Shared learnings and feedback from whānau are reviewed regularly to improve the effectiveness of our response, enabling TAMS to:

• Identify underlying issues leading to family violence
• Identify whānau who want to make a difference
• Support whānau to identify their own barriers to change.

By combining agency resources and gathering whānau voices, the group aims to deliver a more whānau-informed and holistic approach to addressing violence and harm.