The Government's military-style bootcamp pilot is nearing an end and Oranga Tamariki executives are defending not releasing the level of re-offending. Video / Mark Mitchell
Oranga Tamariki leaders are standing by the Government’s bootcamp pilot, despite their minister admitting the tragic death of one of the programme participants derailed some of his counterparts.
Chief executive Andrew Bridgman and pilot lead Iain Chapman accept the teen’s death in a car accident unrelated to the pilot programmewas a “watershed moment ... which changed everything”, but they deny the incident compromises findings from the pilot.
It comes as a new evaluation, released quietly on Oranga Tamariki’s website last week, states the pilot is too small to indicate how the Government’s military-style academy programme could decrease youth offending, despite it being a core reason behind its creation.
Children’s Minister Karen Chhour today fronted a Parliament select committee and received a barrage of questions from Opposition MPs about the controversial 12-month bootcamp pilot.
In exchanges that were at times heated, Chhour stuck to her persistent refusal to divulge how many of the nine current pilot participants – a selection of some of the country’s most recidivist young offenders – had reoffended since they concluded the three-month, in-residence stint and began the nine-month, in-community phase.
Oranga Tamariki chief executive Andrew Bridgman is confident improvements can be made to future programmes. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Labour’s Willow-Jean Prime attempted to pry the information from Chhour by citing how last week’s report revealed six participants were interviewed in a youth justice residence during the in-community phase, but Chhour wouldn’t bite.
She instead spoke “with sadness” about the impact of one participant’s death last year in a car crash in Tīrau.
“I would have to say the death of one of the participants did cause a lot of grief and did derail some of these young people mentally.”
After the death, there were several absconding incidents involving some of the participants, including one fleeing after the boy’s tangi was held.
Chhour would not be drawn on whether the pilot could be considered a success, noting it was not yet concluded and its final evaluation hadn’t occurred.
Speaking to the Herald after the select committee hearing, Chapman said he could not underestimate how impactful the teen’s death was for his fellow participants and explained why Oranga Tamariki had refused to publish the reoffending levels.
“A key watershed moment happened in that death, which changed everything for us.
“From that point on, it was really key for us as professionals, the social workers looking after these kids, that we did everything we could to take the spotlight away from them.”
Oranga Tamariki deputy chief executive Iain Chapman is the agency's pilot lead. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Bridgman believed the incident didn’t compromise any findings from the pilot and maintained valuable lessons would be used to inform a wider bootcamp programme.
Several problems related to the pilot had been highlighted in Oranga Tamariki’s latest evaluation of the in-community phase, including how the pilot’s size limited what could be learned to restrict youth offending.
“It is important to note that the small number of participants means it is unlikely any statistically robust conclusions may be drawn about the impact of the [military-style academy] programme on reoffending in comparison to other youth justice residences,” the report read.
The bootcamp pilot was created after campaign promises from National and Act to address a wave of violent youth offending that became prevalent, particularly in main urban centres, in 2022-23.
However, Chapman argued reducing reoffending had never been a key metric for the programme. He then accepted it was a relevant metric but maintained it was about trying “something different”.
Another issue raised in the report was the excessive workload put on the social workers involved and unclear direction for the mentors who worked closely with the participants while in the community.
Chapman acknowledged the transition into the community was always going to be the “most difficult point”, while Bridgman said there would be improvements the agency could make.
Oranga Tamariki deputy chief executive Iain Chapman (left) and chief executive Andrew Bridgman speak after attending a select committee hearing. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Previous pilot reports released by Oranga Tamariki had come with press statements alerting media to new publications. However, last week’s report was uploaded to the agency’s website without one.
Prime accused Chhour of avoiding scrutiny but the minister hit back, saying: “I don’t usually make it my personal job to pick up the phone and ring you to tell you when I release something.”
Adam Pearse is the Deputy Political Editor and part of the NZ Herald’s Press Gallery team based at Parliament in Wellington. He has worked for NZME since 2018, reporting for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei and the Herald in Auckland.
