Social services study misses key families

A snapshot of social services and the families that rely on them in Masterton shows the services are working but the Families Commission study failed to reach those most at risk.

The study, commissioned by Social Development Minister Paula Bennett captured the voices and experiences of more than 400 families and 33 social service agencies.

Services available for Wairarapa families has often been criticised following the deaths of children at the hands of family members.

But chief families commissioner Carl Davidson said the research found no evidence of an overlap in services, that families got what they needed most of the times and that there were few gaps.

The report delved in to which services families did and did not rely on when they needed help and whether there were barriers to accessing what they needed.

''What they told is that most people don't approach social services from a point of dysfunction, but rather as a tool to maintain the strength and wellbeing of their families and whanau.''

But while the Families Commission is confident that the family services provided were effective, the large group of families that are the most vulnerable were not included in the study.

''This would likely include families most similar in risk profile to those that have experienced the death of children through neglect  tragedies that have led to considerable focus on the Wairarapa in recent years,'' the report writers said.

Although the researchers wanted to include the vulnerable families in their investigations, they could not contact them and most did not have telephones and avoided social services.

It was those families and the children that could still suffer that slipped through the net, the report said.

In Wairarapa, children have suffered heavily from family violence.

Victims include: Hinewaoriki ''Lillybing'' Karaitiana-Matiaha, fatally abused by relatives; Olympia Jetson and Saliel Aplin, killed by their stepfather; and Coral-Ellen Burrows, bashed to death by her mother's partner.

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