Te Puni Kokiri says it has committed all the Whanau Ora money to the three agencies responsible for finding people to provide services to families.
The North Island agency, Te Pou Matakana, says the social programme is heading for a catastrophe if the agencies do not receive more money.
Its spokesperson Willie Jackson said they were under-funded and they had not been able to secure money from Te Puni Kokiri for some of their key workers who could be out of their jobs in January.
Te Puni Kokiri said the available funding might not meet all expectations. But it said all the money had been committed to the agencies.
The ministry said each agency can determine the way they invest the money to get the best outcome for whanau.
It also said it was happy to speak with providers who had concerns about contracts.
