Video posted to Facebook shows a man making disturbing claims against the government agency.
Offices of the Ministry of Children in Hawke's Bay have been thrown into a second public crisis in just over a week after the Facebook posting of a video claiming a caregiver dropped a boy at a gang pad to scare him.
A caregiver took a boy aged 13-14 yearsto a gang pad in Hastings on Thursday, people close to the child told Hawke's Bay Today on Friday.
It is understood the caregiver has been involved in the care of the boy including at a little-known residential facility in the city.
A video posted by a Hastings man was viewed at least 10,000 times before it was removed on Thursday night.
Ministry deputy chief executive Alison McDonald said Oranga Tamariki was "very concerned" about the video, because it identified the boy and revealed other details which breached privacy and could pose harm to others.
She said the person who posted the video had removed it from the social media and apologised for identifying the boy.
"We are very concerned that this video identifies the boy, and mentions various names and locations openly in the recording," she said.
She urged people not to circulate the video and identifying factors further to "protect the young boy's privacy" and the continued safety of him and others involved.
"Our priority is the safety of the young person and as soon as we were alerted to this issue, Oranga Tamariki staff quickly confirmed that he was safe and with whānau," McDonald said.
"We are working to wrap as much support as possible around him and his whānau due to the attention this is gaining on social media," she said, adding that while facts were being established Oranga Tamariki was not in a position to comment further.
Expressing his frustration, the man said in the video he was not a "patch member" and expressed his anger at what had happened.
"I understand he's made mistakes in his life, but he's a young fella.
"You wonder why young ... Maori like this go astray and then you go and turn around and blame it on him, but it ain't his fault."
The boy, who gave the first name of his caregiver, said she threatened to send him to the pad if he "kept getting cheeky".
"And then she ended up turning around and taking me to the pad," the boy said.
The Ministry wouldn't confirm if the boy had indeed been dropped off at a gang pad.
Last week Oranga Tamariki came under fire after an attempt to remove a newborn child from its mother in Hawke's Bay Hospital.
A man posted about the gang pad dropoff on Facebook on Thursday, but has since removed the video. Photo / Facebook
Former Hawke's Bay woman Lou Hutchinson, who has this week been warring up action group Whanau First in response to a meeting she staged in Raglan last Sunday to challenge Oranga Tamariki child removal strategies, said she's not surprised by the claims in the video.
"Everything we've heard, and it's overwhelming" she said, "is that Oranga Tamariki is in disarray and out of control.
"Earlier in the week we called for an extension of the boundaries of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care to include current and ongoing issues."
"The inquiry's terms of reference are set from 1 January 1950 to 31 December 1999, but even that would not be enough," she said. "There needs to be an inquiry right now to bring about some urgent change and restore public confidence in how any Ministry for Children should operate."
