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By Pokere Paewai of RNZ Tamariki and rangatahi Māori in state care continue to have unmet care and protection needs and receive less timely responses from Oranga Tamariki. Aroturuki Tamariki the Independent Children’s Monitor released its second annual report on the performance of the oranga tamariki system on Tuesday. Chief executive Arran Jones told RNZ the report found poorer outcomes for Māori compared to young Māori (rangatahi Māori) that aren’t in the system, and clear disparities when compared with other ethnicities within the system. “So the conclusion is that actually if you want to address these disparities and ultimately improve outcomes, prevent intergenerational involvement, what we’re saying is that better responses are needed at the earliest opportunity to help tamariki [children], rangatahi and their whānau to prevent further involvement in the system and escalation within it.” While most Māori have no involvement with Oranga Tamariki, data in this report show that despite being only one quarter (27%) of the youth population, tamariki and rangatahi Māori are over-represented in every part of the oranga tamariki system. Fifty-seven per cent of reports of concern were for tamariki and rangatahi Māori, while 68% of tamariki and rangatahi in care are Māori and 59% of police proceedings against those aged 10-18 were for tamariki and rangatahi Māori. Fully 80% of tamariki and rangatahi in youth justice custody are Māori. Jones said it’s quite clear within the report that outcomes only get worse the more involved in the system someone gets. For example, most tamariki and rangatahi Māori who had a report of concern made about their safety or wellbeing in the last year had a previous report of concern made – one quarter had 10 or more. Chief executive of Aroturuki Tamariki, the Independent Children's Monitor, Arran Jones. Photo / Mark Tantrum The majority of reports of concern are made by government agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that work with whānau and have concerns for the wellbeing, for the safety and the care of young people, they will then contact Oranga Tamariki for help, Jones said. “What we know is about a half of those reports of concern that get made result in no further action, because there just isn’t the capacity in the system to be able to respond to the level of need. And so we talk about then [are] disparities through the system, you’ve got a disproportionate number of those reports of concern are about tamariki Māori. But then what you then see is that disparity grows the further into the system you get.” When a report of concern is made and if it’s considered to be critical or very urgent, there is a disparity already in terms of the level of response that is activated. “For Māori, 16% of those critical or very urgent reports of concern [are] not being responded to on time, when you compared to non-Māori, it’s only 10%. So there’s something happening in the system, which is leading to a slower response,” Jones said. “By far the majority of young Māori aren’t involved in the system, but when they do, we just need to make sure we have a system that helps them at the earliest. And the thing that I’d also point to is that we know the aspirations of young Māori ... that have become involved in the system, aren’t any different from those that aren’t. They have very high aspirations for their future. And the question is, how can the state, when it has this opportunity to help, help them realise those aspirations?” Jones said they haven’t seen any change in the data when compared to last year. “When you’re looking at outcomes, the change will take some time. The important thing is that we keep looking at it and keep reporting on it to see whether things are changing.” Oranga Tamariki, in its formal response to the report, which is a statutory requirement, acknowledged more needs to be done to respond to the needs of tamariki and rangatahi Māori to address the impact of overre...
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