This article was first published in eMessenger in July 2019.
The recent Newsroom video “New Zealand’s Own Taken Generation” recorded Oranga Tamariki’s attempted uplift of a child from its mother and whanau at a maternity ward of a hospital.[1] The video revealed to the wider public the lived reality of many whanau. Many Methodist Alliance members work in this challenging area to support just outcomes for these whanau.
The Methodist Alliance is pleased that since the video was released, four inquiries have been announced:
An internal inquiry by Oranga Tamariki’s chief social worker and a nominated representative from Hawkes Bay iwi Ngāti Kahangunu;
An inquiry by the Children's Commissioner into the uplifts of Māori babies;
A broader inquiry into Oranga Tamariki's uplifts by the Chief Ombudsman; and
A Māori-led inquiry called by a group of leading names in Māoridom.
As communities we need to learn how we can reduce the trauma caused to whole whanau by uplifting babies from their mothers and how we can keep children safe. The numbers of children taken into care has increased dramatically in the year ending 30 June 2018 with 6,350[2] children in the custody of the Chief Executive of Oranga Tamariki – an increase of 11.3% from the previous year, and an increase of 28% since June 2013. The number of Māori tamariki in care continues to increase disproportionately - increasing from 55% of all children in care in 2013 to 68% of all children in care in 2018. The graphs illustrate this.
The number of babies under 30 days old that have been taken into care has also increased from 157 in the year ending 30 June 2009 to 256 in 2017 – an increase of 63%.
The numbers of Māori tamariki under 1 year old entering state care continues to be disproportionate, with numbers peaking at 311 in 2017.
We believe that the traumatic step of removing children from whanau should be the last resort and it should be rare, brief, and non-recurring. Our current statistics tell another story.
We know from our work that the background circumstances that lead to uplifting children is the reality of entrenched poverty and the stress this places on whanau over generations. As a nation we need to take more radical action to tackle systemic poverty that leads to tamariki being highly vulnerable to abuse. We also know that sometimes decisive action is needed to protect children at risk of harm. From our collective experience we know this can be done in a more humane and respectful manner than is demonstrated on the video. Methodist Alliance members are actively working with Oranga Tamariki to design approaches that reduce the likelihood of removing children from families and are supporting the reunification of whanau after tamariki have been uplifted.
Aotearoa New Zealand has appalling rates child abuse and we know that we cannot guarantee positive life outcomes for children and young people that are taken into care. Too many experience unacceptable levels of re-abuse and re-victimisation, and also have poor long term outcomes in health, education, employment and in living crime-free lives.[3]
We all need to work together to ensure that vulnerable children and young people achieve better life outcomes. We need to ensure the voice and power of the parent and child are central and we need to name and tackle the underlying issues of compounding stress caused by poverty and punative welfare policies. Members of the Methodist Alliance work in partnership with families/whānau, other community organisations, hapu and iwi organisations and with Oranga Tamariki to keep children and young people safe and to increase the abilities of parents to parent their children/tamariki safely and well.
Ngā mihi nui
Carol Barron, Methodist Alliance National Coordinator, Carol@MethodistAlliance.org.nz
[1] The video can be viewed here: https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/06/11/629363/nzs-own-taken-generation# [2] Oranga Tamariki Annual Report 2017/2018 at page 6 [3] Expert Panel Final Report, Investing in New Zealand’s Children & their Families, December 2015, at page 7