WARNING: This article discusses suicide and may be upsetting to some readers.
Māori adults who were in the oranga tamariki system as kids are more likely than other Māori to be hospitalised for self-harm or in emergency housing and less likely to be employed, a new report finds.
The “oranga tamariki system” includes the agency Oranga Tamariki, police and several ministries including health, social development and education.
The new Aroturuki Tamariki - Independent Children’s Monitor report notes the vast majority of young Māori, who make up almost a third of New Zealand’s young people, have no involvement with this system.
But those that do are increasingly over-represented with about half of all reports of concern made to Oranga Tamariki relating to Māori kids or youth.
The survey, released today, was conducted between July 2023 and June 2024. Researchers spoke to around 1800 people, including 200 young people, across Auckland, Canterbury, Taranaki-Manawatū and the upper South Island about their experiences
The report’s findings include:
By age 27-30, most Māori who had been involved with the oranga tamariki system did not end up in prison or under home detention. But the system was not keeping those who had been in youth justice custody as kids out of the criminal justice system as adults.
Oranga Tamariki accepted the report’s findings and shared concerns about the over-representation of Māori within the wider care system. It acknowledged more work needed to be done within its own agency and the wider system to address this.
But it also said the report should have had more focus on the roles of all agencies involved in the system.
Children’s Minister Karen Chhour said resolving this “complex and historic challenge” would require an all-of-Government response and the Government working with communities.
Chhour said Oranga Tamariki had not been supported or managed well by previous ministers. But young people would now benefit from the large programme of work under way within the agency.
The report noted shortfalls within Oranga Tamariki that made it harder for social workers to meet the needs of children, including “competing policies, a low trust culture, layers of decision-making and the inability to make the best use of existing tools like Family Group Conferences”.
A “high thresholds for investigation and further action” meant almost half of reports of concern resulted in a decision to take no further action, the report says.
Te Kāhui, the Independent Children’s Monitor’s advisory group, is made up of key Māori leaders including Tā Mark Solomon, Katie Murray and Eugene Ryder.
The group provided a statement in the report which criticised the state for “falling short” in its efforts of help in-need children, saying the over-representation of Māori within the system was “unacceptable.”
“We remain deeply concerned about ongoing changes to the system that undermine effective and fair practices for our mokopuna. Some of these changes threaten to perpetuate years of disadvantage within hapori.”
Recent funding cuts, divestment and changes to contracts had exacerbated vulnerabilities.
In May, the Auditor-General, the country’s top government watchdog, blasted Oranga Tamariki’s decision-making in contracting social services, saying the agency’s processes “were not adequately informed by evidence or an understanding of how decisions would affect children and their families”.
Auditor-General John Ryan’s blistering comments arose from an inquiry his office conducted into Oranga Tamariki’s procurement and contract management practices.
Jane Fletcher, Oranga Tamariki deputy chief executive of system leadership, said there was a large amount of work under way to improve the outcomes for Māori youth in the system.
This included a focus on working more closely with Māori young people and their families; new tools for social workers including new technology and improvements to Family Group Conferences.
“A key priority for Oranga Tamariki is to decentralise and devolve services to iwi, Māori and communities through our strategic partnerships, and support tamariki and whānau voices to be at the forefront.”
The agency was disappointed there was not a stronger focus in the report on the roles of all agencies who shared responsibility for improving outcomes for young Māori and their whānau.
“The over-representation of Māori in the care system, and all levels of socio-economic deprivation data in Aotearoa is a complex societal issue. There is more work to be done to understand the factors that are driving poorer outcomes for Māori.
“It is the role of the whole children’s system to support all children, including tamariki and rangatahi Māori, to thrive.”
Arran Jones, chief executive of the Independent Children’s Monitor, said the one thing that stuck with him after reading the report was the strong dreams and aspirations of young Māori involved in the system.
“What stands out to me from the report is that the aspirations of these young people are no different to other Māori who are not in the system,” Jones said.
It was “heartbreaking” when those facing challenges within the system did not meet their aspirations, he said.
Regardless of what part of the system the young people were in, most were positive about their future, the report found.
“I feel I’m going to be successful for myself,” one young person told researchers.
“It’s a feeling I’ve got. When I leave school, I’ll become a waiter, save money, travel the world, make some more money and then start a business ... I feel like my dreams will come true even if [it] takes a while.”
Another person told researchers their father had encouraged them to be a mechanic.
“Before he passed away, he taught me how to fix cars. I listened to his words about doing good things for good people. My dad’s words were: ‘Son, make me proud’.”
Others told researchers they wanted to be a professional basketball player, start their own clothing brand, a technician because “I’m great with technology”, get into construction, be a tattoo artist or join the army.
“My parents are supporting me well,” one young person told researchers.
“I should be getting NCEA endorsement next year for uni.”
Overall, the statistics were “sobering” and painted a stark picture of what happens when the system does not do more to help, Jones said.
“Māori adults who had been in the system as children are less likely to be employed, less likely to have a driver licence, more likely to be on a benefit, more likely to be in emergency housing, and more likely to be hospitalised for self-harm than Māori who had no involvement.”
Jones said before young people came to the attention of Oranga Tamariki they would have been seen by education and health staff and the parents may be known to social housing and welfare.
“It should not take offending, or an incident of abuse or neglect to get the support that was always needed.”
Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.
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