Social Development Minister Anne Tolley has defended Child, Youth and Family saying staff at the department "are not the ones who beat their kids and neglect these children" in comments she made about a damning report into the handling of the Roast Busters scandal by the agency.
A highly critical review into CYF's involvement in the case was released yesterday, and found a series of failings within the department, chiefly that questioning whether the Roast Busters' behaviour was abuse meant CYF did not properly consider how to care for the young people involved.
The Roast Busters were a group of mainly West Auckland youths who bragged on social media about having sex with drunk and underage girls.
In late 2011 police investigated complaints by teenage girls in relation to alleged offending by some of the Roast Busters. Charges were not laid.
CYF was also involved in responding to concerns about the group after receiving six referrals involving a total of 14 young people.