June 16, 2019
Children’s Commissioner trumps Oranga Tamariki review
Oranga Tamariki's policies around uplifting children are to come under both internal and external scrutiny.
In an attempt to address growing public concern over a case where ministry staff tried to take a six-day-old baby from Hawke's Bay Hospital, Children's Minister Tracey Martin yesterday travelled to Hastings to announce an inquiry into how Oranga Tamariki staff dealt with the family.
She also met Ngāti Kahungunu and Māori Council representatives.
Meanwhile, Children's Commissioner Andrew Becroft announced a review of the agency focusing on its policies around the uplift of Māori children aged from 0 to 3 months.
He says the mother-child relationship is critical, and it's a relationship that is denied to too many Māori children.
Judge Becroft says it had become clear over recent weeks that the community was "profoundly uneasy" with the way the current care and protection of tamariki Māori was carried out.
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