"She has done her time and obviously the Parole Board has looked at her suitability to be released," Mrs Raukawa-Tait said. "Releasing her is one thing, being supported in the community to get her back on top as quickly as possible is another thing altogether. She will need skilled and professional support and there should be a core group who are pulled in to assist her to live and abide by those conditions.
"I hope she will be working hard at it. If I can help her in anyway I would put my hand up. This is a Maori woman who will have people looking sideways at her."
The Parole Board said in its decision it was satisfied on all of the information before it that Kuka had now reached the stage where risk was no longer undue.
She will be released on parole on September 22. She would be subject to some special conditions.
The board said it was evident Kuka would be well supported, but felt she needed time to refocus and rework her release proposals.
Upon her release, Kuka would begin work, first on a voluntary basis, the board said.
The board said it hoped this would help prepare her for a return to the paid workforce.
It also hoped to re-engage Kuka with her whanau once she was well settled into the community.
Mrs Raukawa-Tait said finding a job would be difficult as "people don't want to employ people who have been in prison and a lot of co-workers would object".
"The community should leave her alone to try to rebuild her life. If I were her I would try to dismiss those people from my mind.
"What people think of her isn't her business. She's done her time and she has every right to a second chance."
Sensible Sentencing Trust spokesman Peter Bentley said he hoped she would use the skills and knowledge gained in prison for the better.
"While it doesn't please me a great deal you can't keep her locked up forever," Mr Bentley said.
"I hope there's the realisation she is responsible for the death of a very susceptible child. It's a sad situation, but sooner or later she was going to be released. One can only hope she's learned the error of her ways and can now become a responsible part of society."
Former Rotorua mayor Kevin Winters, who launched the Rotorua Safe Families Action Plan soon after Nia's death, said it would be "highly inappropriate" for him to comment.