"Don't even make a bid unless it's about the hardest 2 per cent of families, because that's where we need to make a difference."
Mr Warahi said this financial emphasis had become stronger over the past five years. The challenge for providers was to translate the needs of their clients into "government speak", and interpret government policy to find "the best bang" for people who needed help.
"The challenge for us is to translate that policy into real world stuff."
He said it was easier for big providers to handle that administrative side, and small groups might need to combine resources to cope with it.
"I want to see small ones still get the money, because the small ones do some awesome things."
He said a group like Jigsaw Whanganui, which oversees social workers in schools, could act as lead organisation working with a family, and pass some of the funding on to other groups working with the same family.
That was the Whanau Ora concept, and Mr Warahi believed it was right.
Mr English did refer to Whanau Ora in his speech last week.
"We don't quite know how that's going to develop but because it makes sense we're going to pursue it," Mr English said.