Commentary on Ken Warren’s ‘A new model of collaboration’ and related IGPS working paper

Abstract

Ken Warren’s central concern is the relative weakness of hierarchical arrangements for service delivery through state agencies when addressing poor outcomes for people with complex needs, for which standardised solutions are a poor fit. He says the case is made that these require the collaboration of multiple parties to implement tailored responses to needs, and refers to the evidence from the New Zealand Productivity Commission’s report on social policy, the Welfare Expert Advisory Group and the review of Whānau Ora. For readers familiar with the Productivity Commission report the focus of interest is on the people in ‘Quadrant D’ (Productivity Commission, 2015, p.53). These people have multiple continuing and complex needs combined with low capacity to navigate and coordinate the services they need, either because of their circumstances or because of institutional characteristics of the services that make it hard for them to access them.