58022 (2024). Hon Willow-Jean Prime to the Minister for Children

58022 (2024). Hon Willow-Jean Prime to the Minister for Children: Further to 55596 (2024), what is the determined response timeframe for Oranga Tamariki to allocate to a care and protection social worker following a notification?

Hon Karen Chhour: I am advised by Oranga Tamariki that the response is in part determined by the criticality of the response given to Reports of Concern. ‘Critical’ cases are allocated in 24 hours, ‘Very Urgent’ cases within 48 hours and ‘Urgent’ are allocated in 10 working days. This does not preclude allocating earlier or a duty social worker going out to complete an initial safety assessment – that would include talking with tamariki and rangatahi to assess initial safety.