December 07, 2016
Law change sets stage for state care reform
Critics are warning that changes to the laws covering state care could lead to a repeat of past abuses.
A bill passed on Tuesday will extend the age of state care and protection to a young person's 18th birthday, provide for the views of children and young people to be taken into account as part of the decision-making process, and support the establishment of an independent youth advocacy service.
Labour and the Greens voted against the bill because it gives wide ranging power to the chief executive of the new Ministry for Vulnerable Children to delegate powers now held by social workers or other professions.
Also missing was any requirement a child’s whanau, hapu or iwi connections be given any priority when making placements.
Greens co-leader Metiria Turei says it’s an alarming development.
"They’ve already got in place law to remove more children from families including our Maori children and babies, and they say they want to reduce the number of whanau placements. They are going to do the same things again. They are going to take our kids, they are going to put them into other people's homes or other types of agencies and institutions, and the same thing is going to happen to our kids as happened to our parents and grandparents," she says.
The Public Service Association has also opposed the changes.
National secretary Glenn Barclay says removing tamariki permanently from their whanau will sever their connection with their culture – and it risks a return to the ‘stolen generations’ of the 1950s and 1960s.
He says the PSA supports a Maori Women’s Welfare League Waitangi Tribunal claim against the reforms.
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