Joshua's story of survival

FAMILY TIES: Joshua Sade-Inia, 17, said his first years of life in the care of Child, Youth and Family were "traumatising" - but a placement with genuinely caring families changed his life. PHOTO/JOHN STONE

Joshua Sade-Inia says during the 15 years he spent in state care he often felt he was treated like a product, not a human.

Joshua and his brother were removed from the care of his parents when Joshua was 2 and he said the first years of his life in the care of state agency Child, Youth and Family were "traumatic", as he was placed with 11 different caregivers and attended at least six different primary schools.

But after being put into the care of families who invested their time in him, the 17-year-old is now a young leader who is eyeing up John Key's seat as Prime Minister.

Children's Commissioner Russell Wills has released a damning report on Child, Youth and Family, saying the state body's long-term care fails children.

Dr Wills' report says children in state care are being moved up to 60 times between multiple foster carers because the agency is not giving enough attention to their long-term care.

The report also reveals that 117 children were abused last year while in CYF care, saying the agency is focused on "front-end" investigations as it struggles with 150,000 notifications of possible child abuse or neglect each year - but does not provide enough ongoing supervision and support to foster carers and staff looking after 5133 children in state care, including Joshua.

"I was continuously jumping around until we came to Dargaville," he said. "It messes with a lot of things [like] social skills. It can be a very emotional situation and it really draws back your education. So I was two years behind when I came to Dargaville."

Joshua is one of thousands of children who have been failed at times by CYF. He said he felt particularly failed by the state agency when, at the age of 7, he was sent to live with his birth parents again.

"That was a bad decision. There was a lot of fighting and long nights, people chucking things around."

He was also placed in the care of abusive families but said because he was so young he did not know how to raise alarms.

"When you're young you don't have the ability to speak up about it because you may feel frightened. I think to me CYF is treated a lot like a business - but they're not dealing with products, they're dealing with humans."

John Langley, CYF regional director for Te Tai Tokerau, said all young people in the custody of CYF must be visited by their social worker at least every eight weeks and more frequently if required.

"These visits have the purpose of checking in with child or young person on how their placement is going, to discuss what the plans are for them, so they know where they are heading and their thinking about that. It is an opportunity for them to speak freely about any worries they may have," he said.

Joshua cannot recall how often CYF came to visit while he was in those abusive situations but said there needed to be more in-depth visits and monitoring of children.

Dr Wills' report said CYF faced workforce capacity and capability issues with staff often suffering burnout from the stressful nature of the job.

Joshua said this was sometimes reflected in their work. "When I meet with CYF it's got that dull feeling and it's like their heart's not really in it and I never really realised why until I read that report."

Joshua said his life changed when he moved to Dargaville aged 8 and was placed with families who genuinely cared.

"When we came to Dargaville we went into a family who actually wanted to invest into us so it was really great and that's when life changed.

"I ended up going ahead in school rather than behind," he said.

Joshua is now a prefect at Dargaville High School and will head to university next year to study economics and finance, with hopes of one day becoming Prime Minister. He said while he had been let down by CYF at times, the agency had an important role to play in society.

"If I wasn't taken off my parents I don't know where I'd be. I would not be in a good place, that's all I know. I wouldn't be going to university next year if I was still with my parents. There are loving and genuine caregivers out there and I think there needs to be more caregivers like that."

Mr Langley said CYF would be happy to talk to Joshua about any questions he may have about his time in CYF care.