South Auckland budgeting agency slashes staff following contract cuts

Māngere East Family Service Centre has cut some of its programmes because of cuts to its contracts.

The Māngere East Family Service Centre says slashed budgets means a lot of workers throughout the social service sector could soon be unemployed.

Programmes like Family Start are being reduced to deliver savings for tax cuts.

Centre chief executive Caroline Tana-Tepania says the recent cuts means the centre is having to lay of its entire He Korowai team including community social workers, a diversity youth worker and administrators.

Caroline Tana-Tepani.

She says the 30-year-old organisation is used to cost-cutting cycles, but this time if feels different.

“We’re not so confident every person who has been laid off this year will be able to find work because the cuts are widespread across Aotearoa and South Auckland too is what I’ve heard from other colleagues and NGOs,” Tana-Tepania says.

The cuts will affect the transitional support vulnerable whānau need to get out of poverty.

Atereano Mateariki, WaateaNews.Com