In fact, it's a relatively small percentage of families.

More damage is done to children by these families than by the state.

Regarding the killing of children - and there is one every five weeks in New Zealand - the vast majority occur in the home and the perpetrators are family members.

And when these murders occur, too often there are examples of the family protecting the offender from prosecution, leaving justice for our most vulnerable horribly wanting.

And, of course, for each of the young kids brutalised to death in the home, there are scores who survive the horror of their environments and subsequently go on to endure highly dysfunctional and criminal lives.

Indeed, one of the great tragedies of state care is that it was very often protecting children who had already endured an abusive start to life, but on too many occasions the state just heaped more misery upon them. The cruelty of that is unforgivable.

Understanding, though, the role of highly dysfunctional families is consequential.

If, for example, we were to fix all the problems with, say, Oranga Tamariki uplifts and they were made to be the highest functioning organisation possible, we would still be left with horrors occurring to children in family homes.

Yet if we were to fix families and rid them of abuse, we would have no need for Oranga Tamariki uplifts.

Given that, fixing the actions and activities of the state are tremendously important, but the saviour of the country's vulnerable children is more fundamentally situated in private homes.

Solve that and we solve the lot. Read more

Dr Jarrod Gilbert is the director of Independent Research Solutions and a sociologist at the University of Canterbury.

This increase has raised concerns among abuse survivors and child welfare advocates, with worries that it goes against advice put forward by the landmark Abuse in Care inquiry, which released its findings yesterday.

In the financial year ending mid-2024, 1313 children were placed in state care, according to provisional data, up from 1082 in the previous period. Read more

New Otago University research says a "clearer consensus" is needed as to when cases indicating abuse or neglect should be reported to Oranga Tamariki.

The researchers say that when charities advise Oranga Tamariki about at-risk children and young people, decisions are often delayed or sometimes even silence follows.

They say more frontline funding is needed, both for Oranga Tamariki and the charities caring for children and young people.

Local experience

Claire Ramsay, chief executive of Otago Youth Wellness Trust, says the research "confirms our experience locally".

"We make reports of concern only as a last resort, as our priority is to keep rangatahi out of the statutory/state system. But more and more we are finding that they don't reach the apparently high threshold Oranga Tamariki is working to.

"It is frustrating and, like others in the community sector, our funding does not reflect the work we are doing."

Methodist Mission Southern director Laura Black says a standards-driven approach would be "really useful".

However it must produce reliable results for children and young people across different cultures and backgrounds.

Left waiting

A Dunedin charity's leader, who prefers not to be named, confirms their organisation is supporting ever more at-risk children.

Over the past five years, the charity's involvement with Oranga Tamariki cases has increased from "hardly any to around 40 percent".

Yet when charities file a "report of concern" to Oranga Tamariki, they might be left waiting.

The agency is less likely to get involved than it was formerly if a community organisation is already working on the children's behalf.

At risk, anxious

Emily Keddell, Otago University's associate professor in social and community work, is the study's lead author.

She says the current situation leaves children at risk and creates anxiety among charity workers.

Charities are tasked with helping families to stay together she says. Their objective is to have fewer children in care - but they need appropriate resourcing.

Families deserve the best

Acting Oranga Tamariki chief social worker Nicolette Dickson says children, young people and their families "deserve the best".

She says Oranga Tamariki is working to "change a system which has not always consistently provided this to them".

She explains delays occur because the agency workloads are often greater and more complex than the staff's ability to cope, which affects their response times.

"However, we will always seek to prioritise the safety and wellbeing of those children and young people who are at most risk."

Dixon says the agency is grateful for the Otago University research, as it helps identify gaps requiring attention.

She says it is a "key focus" of how the agency is working to strengthen relationships in the community.

"It is often our community partners who understand this best."

She is disappointed some community organisations feel they have nowhere to turn. "We encourage them to raise these concerns with us when this occurs" she says.

Source

• Otago Daily Times

An Independent Children's Monitor report, Returning Home From Care, looks at experiences and practices when children and young people's parents care for them while in state custody.

Report findings

As at 30 June 2022, 627 children and young people in care (12 percent) were living at home while in state custody.

The report says planning is important to success when the child or young person goes home. However, it says it found almost half the home stays were unplanned.

The Returning Home From Care policy used at the time recommended children be visited weekly for the first four weeks. The report says only 19 percent of children received these visits.

The report also says the children and young people whose return home was unplanned were visited less frequently during the first four weeks than those whose return was planned.

The report says that barriers arising from communication, collaboration, funding and inconsistent policies also pose problems.

These problems included long waiting lists for assessments and specialised support - like alcohol and drug counselling - for parents.

Data on children in state care successfully returning home was limited.

The report says Oranga Tamariki was unable to provide details about how many children and young people were removed from their parents' care following a return home.

Going home - pros and cons

Aroturuki Tamariki Independent Children's Monitor chief executive Arran Jones says the goal is for those in care to return home as long as it is assessed as safe.

"We heard that for many tamariki (children), rangatahi (young people) and whanau (familes), the supports and services are not in place," Jones said.

"Our report found that planning is important to the success of tamariki returning home, however, data shows that almost half of these are unplanned.

"Some of those unplanned returns may be rangatahi voting with their feet, but it is important that social workers are checking on the safety of tamariki and rangatahi.

"We also heard that communication, collaboration and funding across the social sector were barriers to success. Lack of co-ordination in the policies and practice of government agencies was also identified as a barrier to a successful return home."

Jones says there was room to do better for the sake of children and their parents.

Improvements promised

Oranga Tamariki's Nicolette Dickson says work is underway to address many of the report findings.

These include developing new policy and supporting guidance for social workers when determining how and when to support children in state care to return home, and the way transitions from one environment to the other occur.

Technology systems are also being upgraded, Dickson says.

Oranga Tamariki's strategies to simplify core processes and systems include working with other agencies to deliver Oranga Tamariki's Action Plan best.

Oranga Tamariki is developing an information-sharing process with the Ministry of Social Development to fast-track eligible families' position on the public housing register.

Source

• RNZ

Both these things have to change, say child advocacy campaigners.

They want teachers and daycare staff to get compulsory training so they can spot abuse. They also want the Children's Act to sharpen up, so it's "feared" like health and safety laws.

Their calls for change follow the murders of five-year-olds Malachi Subecz and Ferro-James Sio. In both cases, staff at their preschools knew they were being abused.

Safeguarding Children chief, Willow Duffy (pictured), says mandatory reporting "can seem like an effective solution", but it's not that simple.

Oranga Tamariki needs an effective and well resourced system around mandatory reporting first. If not, the child protection agency could become overwhelmed. Children would still be at risk or in an even more vulnerable situation.

Duffy says the Children's Act 2014 is "a weak, forgotten piece of legislation that could seriously contribute to the prevention, recognition and response to child abuse and neglect".

She wants it fully reviewed to ensure it includes mandatory child protection training for anyone - including volunteers - providing services for children and young people.

Safeguarding Children is one organisation that provides such training.

Over the past 12 years and 35,000 trainees later, Duffy says they hear the same concerns raised ahead of the training:

Fear of getting it wrong, fear of making it worse for the child, concerns over losing their relationship with the child and family, fear of breaking the law, getting into trouble at work and fears for their own safety.

"When we survey people after the training the top response is that "nothing would stop me," she said.

"Crucial to preventing and intervening early in child abuse is mandatory training.

"The sad fact is that, due to the partnership between Safeguarding Children and Sport New Zealand, there are lifeguards on the beaches of New Zealand who have had more child protection training than teachers, doctors, nurses and social workers in our country."

Regular refresher courses in spotting and reporting child abuse should also be mandatory, Duffy says. Just like First Aid courses.

Up to date training should be part of the registration process of any professional working with children and "definitely part of any government licensing or funding process." she says.

"Currently this is not the case, this is a failure of The Children's Act once again, which has become a "tick box" compliance mechanism to achieve funding. A "tick box" approach will never protect anyone."

So far the Government has chosen not to comment, similarly the Office of the Children's Commissioner, Kohanga Reo National Trust, New Zealand Principals Federation, Youth Law and The New Zealand Post Primary Teachers' Association.

While supportive of mandating training and reporting, the New Zealand Education Institute warns that mandating reporting could create some perverse consequences with children's parents and families "that would need careful consideration."

Source

• Stuff

Eivers' comment comes as abuse of New Zealand children in state care keeps increasing.

Oranga Tamariki's new Safety of Children in Care Report says almost 500 were harmed in 2020-21 alone.

The reported statistics are an indictment on the system of care, Eivers says.

"At a time when the state needs to be improving the outcomes for our young people, we as a country are moving backwards.

"Behind every statistic is a mokopuna, a child being harmed or hurt and a family, a whanau, under stress, and that is shameful.

"I am especially concerned that physical harm has increased in the context of young people being physically restrained often where there is no mandate to use force and often the holds were applied incorrectly, and the young person was harmed as a result or when unlawful physical actions were used by the staff member."

Eivers says under her powers as Commissioner, she will be asking Oranga Tamariki to report further on the degree of harm experienced by children.

"I look forward to this dialogue," she says.

Leaving State care for home doesn't mean kids will be any safer, the report notes. The statistics on parents physically harming them haven't improved.

The report's shameful statistics

• 289 children suffered 344 incidences of physical harm
• 183 children suffered 252 incidences of emotional harm
• 77 suffered 88 incidences of sexual harm
• 58 cases of neglect in 34 children
• 27 cases of staff in residences causing harm to teenagers they were restraining.
• More harm was done to children older than 10 than to younger ones.
• Maori and Pasifika suffered disproportionately.

According to the independent Children's Monitor (ICM), Oranga Tamariki was fully compliant just two per cent of the time across all 12 of its own practice requirements. It was compliant across six or more practice requirements three quarters of the time.

The ICM says Oranga Tamariki's poor self-monitoring makes gauging its performance impossible.

"In nearly two-thirds of cases, Tamariki are not visited as often as outlined in their plan. This means there may not be opportunities to continue assessing their safety, wellbeing and health and education needs."

The agency cannot report on Tamariki's access to health services, whether they are informed of and understand their rights; or whether caregivers are given appropriate training and information about the Tamariki they care for.

Children's advocacy group Whakarongo Mai has similar concerns.

It also notes "important assessments around wellbeing, including cultural, health (physical and mental) and transition to independence are largely not being completed".

Where to from here

Eivers says family violence, education and mental wellbeing are key priorities for her as Children's Commissioner.

"I will be ensuring a laser-like focus in my advocacy in this area.

"Our mokopuna, our children deserve better. The release of this report is the wake up call for us as a country to address this huge issue."

Source

• 1News
• Voxy
• Image: Stuff

Of the 27 children who have died since April 2017, five died by suicide, 15 from natural causes, five from accidents, and two as a result of child abuse, homicide or manslaughter.

University of Otago associate social work professor Nicola Atwool told the Herald the numbers reflect how the care system is struggling.

"The high suicide rate, there are a number of explanations, and often people blame the experiences that led to younger people being in care for that vulnerability. But in actual fact, it's usually a combination." Read more

The grim statistics were released to Hawke's Bay Today under the Official Information Act for the years 2016 to 2021.

The data covers the period of July 1 to June 30, apart from the current financial year, for which data covers from July 1, 2020 to January 31, 2021.

Between 2016 and 2020 there were a total of 23,798 reports of concern of physical and sexual abuse in Napier and Hastings, of which a total of 784 cases (3.2 percent) were substantiated. Read more