Rangatahi Māori getting less timely help from Oranga Tamariki system - report

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 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, 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 shows that despite being only one quarter (27 percent) of the youth population, tamariki and rangatahi Māori are over-represented in every part of the oranga tamariki system.

• 57 percent of reports of concern were for tamariki and rangatahi Māori.
• 68 percent of tamariki and rangatahi in care are Māori.
• 59 percent of police proceedings against those aged 10-18 were for tamariki and rangatahi Māori.
• 80 percent 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 you get.

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.

The majority of reports of concern are made by government agencies and 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 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 percent 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 percent. So there's something happening in the system, which is leading to a slower response," he 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 acknowledges Māori over-representation is evident

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 over-representation in the system.

"Overrepresentation of tamariki and rangatahi Māori in the system is evident. Additionally, there are significant wider socio-economic issues that disproportionately affect Māori and have a significant impact on the likelihood of child abuse, family harm, and tamariki becoming involved in the system. These factors include the ongoing impact of colonisation, inter-generational involvement with the criminal justice system or the oranga tamariki system, worse health and education outcomes, and higher instances of mental health issues and substance abuse.

"The system itself does not have the resources or the mandate to address many of these factors which require a coordinated and sustained effort from across government to address."

The response said Oranga Tamariki is committed to continuing the work identified in the response.

"We are confident these work programmes will contribute to addressing the report's findings and improve outcomes for tamariki and rangatahi Māori and their whānau over time."

Iwi-led initiatives showing success

Jones said there are initiatives, which are generally pilots and prototypes that are being developed within communities, to try and respond to the needs of tamariki Māori in a better way.

The report profiles three iwi-led initiatives which are showing success, including Te Pūkāea o te Waiora in Whakatāne, where help is asked of Ngāti Awa Social Services in the first instance and they make the decision about whether a statutory response from Oranga Tamariki is needed.

"But we know a lot of reports of concern aren't at that level that requires that state involvement, but are about putting support in place for the family so they can continue to hopefully care for their young people in that family environment, but have the help that they need.

"So they offer a kaupapa Māori referral and triage model. Their commitment is that every one of those reports of concern gets a response. And that's quite different from what you see around the country," Jones said.

In general, half of reports of concern receive no further action, whereas Te Pūkaea make sure 100 percent of cases get a response, which may include visiting the whānau, seeing tamariki, seeing whether the family is stable and no further action is required, he said.

"Looking at Ngāti Awa, they were able to provide us with some of the data that they're seeing out of the model, talking about of the whānau that they're visiting, 69 percent of them are now considered to be stable, whether they didn't need services or they've been provided with the support to get them to that point."

Part of Oranga Tamariki's strategic partnership with Te Rūnanga-ā-iwi-o-Ngāpuhi includes Mahuru, a youth remand service in Te Tai Tokerau.

Jones said Mahuru takes young people on remand who would otherwise be in group homes or in secure residence, and places them in a home environment.

"When you think about young people that end up in youth justice custody, when over half of them have had 10 or more care and protection concerns raised about them in the past, what you see is a young person that's always needed care and love and so the question is, how can that be provided early?

"It's good that Ngāpuhi are doing that at the youth justice end, but Te Pūkaea show you another model, Ngāti Awa show you a model of how you do that at the early end as well, with the hope that we prevent this further involvement in the system."

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