Te Kani said he was aware of five children who had been subjected to sexual behaviour from Oranga Tamariki staff working in youth justice and care and protection residences.
He said these were separate incidents, at two different residences within the last year.
“Children in our care must be cared for. Children in our facilities must be safe.
“There is no room in this organisation for any young person to be put at risk by the behaviour of staff.”
The Bush review commences Friday and is expected to take two months to complete.
Bush says he expects whānau of the tamariki and rangatahi at the residences to be consulted in the process.
Former chief social worker Shannon Pakura will assist Bush in conducting a review of all residences including OT community-based homes.
In an interview with the Herald last year, Davis said when OT makes a mistake, it’s headline news, but little is written about the almost 50,000 tamariki each year who do not get placed in care but have OT support and oversight watching over them.
Davis said at the time that he has great faith in the majority of the 4000-odd staff who do great work.
Joseph Los’e joined NZME in 2022 as Kaupapa Māori Editor. Los’e was a chief reporter, news director at the Sunday News newspaper covering crime, justice and sport. He was also editor of the NZ Truth and prior to joining NZME worked for 12 years for Te Whānau o Waipareira.
