Referrals

Service access criteria for referral agents

A child may be considered eligible for referral to Stand Tu Māia Kahukura Aroha and Kahukura Whānau services when they meet the following overarching condition:

The child is at significant risk of harm to their wellbeing due to a combination of environmental factors and complex individual needs. This includes children who are already exhibiting signs of physical, emotional, or psychological harm, and/or symptoms of traumatisation resulting from exposure to maltreatment and chronic or complex trauma.

Each referral is assessed based on four key domains:

1. Current risk and safety concerns

  • The child is currently exposed to risk of harm (e.g., neglect, abuse, family violence).

  • There is a lack of protective factors within the child’s immediate environment (e.g., caregiver capacity, stood down from school, incarcerated parent, safe housing, stable routines).

2. Service involvement

  • The child and/or their family/whānau are already engaged with multiple services (e.g., Oranga Tamariki, child or adult mental health, education, disability, or youth justice services).

  • There is evidence of fragmented or insufficient coordination between services.

3. Functioning and support needs

The child and/or their family/whānau are experiencing ongoing challenges in one or more of the following areas:

  • Social functioning (e.g., peer relationships, community engagement).

  • Health (e.g., chronic conditions, mental health concerns).

  • Education (e.g., frequent absences, learning difficulties, behavioural issues).

  • Behaviour (e.g., aggression, self-harm, risk-taking behaviours).

  • The child and/or family/whānau require frequent, intensive, and sustained support to maintain safety and wellbeing.

4. Complexity and intersectoral needs

  • The child and their family/whānau present with complex, interrelated needs that cannot be met by a single service or agency.

  • An intersectoral, collaborative approach is required to develop and implement an effective support plan.

  • A specialist trauma capable bicultural approach is required to stabilise and treat the impact of complex trauma.


Online referral forms

Stand Tū Māia referrals are now all online to make the process easier. 

All online referral forms are available here.

If you are unsure which service may be required to meet a child’s need, please contact your nearest regional office and we can advise on an appropriate response.

If you are unable to submit an online form please email a request for a printable form from referrals@standtumaia.nz.

Please scan and send completed hardcopy forms to referrals@standtumaia.nz.

All our online forms are HIPPA compliant.

The children and families we work with

The children and families we work with are exposed to unremitting and cumulative Adverse Life Circumstances (ACE’s) such as:

  • Physical, emotional, or sexual abuse

  • Neglect or unmet basic needs

  • Exposure to family violence or parental addiction

  • Unstable, chaotic, or unsafe living environments

  • Ongoing poverty, discrimination, or social isolation

These experiences create toxic stress, which alters brain development, emotional regulation and the ability to form safe, trusting relationships.

ACE’s create a higher risk of:

  • Behavioural and mental health disorders

  • School disengagement and academic failure

  • Youth justice and adult criminality

  • Intergenerational trauma and care involvement

Trauma is not limited to extreme cases of abuse and neglect—children who face chronic exposure to multiple types of adversity can suffer lasting harm to their development and wellbeing.

Our approach

Stand Tū Māia is primarily a secondary specialist service that works as an alternative option to state care for children on the edge of care.

Edge of care families are those living in the grey area—where risk is real, but statutory intervention hasn’t yet occurred. These are the families with the greatest potential to benefit from intensive, wraparound support—reducing the human cost, the long-term burden on the care and protection system, and the long-term costs to the state that would result from untreated trauma.

They have complex, interrelated needs such as parental mental health issues or addiction; family violence or relationship breakdown; family history of gang affiliation or parental incarceration; housing insecurity or homelessness; poverty and food insecurity; lack of access to education, health or social services; often neglect, maltreatment and abuse is normalised.

There is often previous or ongoing child protection involvement such as historical notifications or investigations, previous care placements or custody arrangements, or currently being monitored or assessed by Oranga Tamariki, but not formally brought into care.

Families have high vulnerability but low formal engagement. Whānau may fear stigma or mistrust agencies, limiting voluntary help-seeking. Professionals may identify risk, but lack resources to intervene early—they struggle to engage.

These children are often only one incident or crisis away from formal state intervention. Families may be cycling in and out of crisis, with little long-term stability. Specialised intervention by Stand Tū Māia can prevent escalation, reduce trauma, and avoid the need for statutory care and the long-term costs for families and the state.

What Stand Tū Māia can offer these families

  • Evidence that we provide strong engagement, deliver on our promise and achieve positive results.

  • An ability to provide specialist, innovative therapeutic services for both tamariki mokopuna and adult members of the whānau.

  • A comprehensive range of assessments and therapies with a focus on:

    • Reducing sources of stress

    • Improving responsive relationships through enhancing attachment relationships, particularly parent child interaction

    • Healing the impact of trauma by addressing the bio-psycho-social impairments caused by trauma and adverse child experiences—both adults and children

    • Improving self-regulation of adults and children—addressing family violence and reducing challenging behaviours

    • Improving core executive skills for navigating and resolving sources of stress—such skills build individual and family resilience for the long term and reduce future system engagement

Our partners and colleagues

At Stand Tū Māia, we understand that a child’s wellbeing is shaped by every part of their world — their home and whānau, school and teachers, neighbourhood and peers. When one or more of these systems are under stress, the child’s wellbeing can be significantly impacted.

We know we can’t do this work alone.

That’s why we work in close partnership with you — the professionals, agencies, and whānau who know the child best. Together, we can wrap the right support around tamariki mokopuna and their families to help them thrive.

We welcome referrals for children and their whānau who are experiencing complex challenges and need coordinated, intensive support. We work within clear child protection guidelines.

Our collaborative approach includes:

  • receiving referrals,

  • conducting assessments,

  • providing, brokering and coordinating services across Aotearoa.

Our key referral partners are:

  • Iwi and Māori service providers

  • Oranga Tamariki – Ministry for Children

  • Ministry of Education – Learning Support

  • Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and adult mental health services

  • Social service providers across health, education, and community sectors

  • Schools, SENCO teams, and RTLB

  • Public Health Nurses and GPs

  • Paediatric services