November 08, 2019
Pressure on to speed up Oranga Tamariki reform
The Children’s Minister says a review showing significant failings by her ministry in the attempted uplift of a Hastings baby in May show the shift of Oranga Tamariki a child crisis service, to a proper care and protection service needs to be accelerated.
Tracey Martin says while Oranga Tamariki had legitimate reasons to be concerned about the safety of the baby, it went about things the wrong way.
The review highlighted some of the practice changes needed to support the wider policy shifts being made to build a better child care system.
She endorsed moves made by chief executive Grainne Moss to change the processes for taking children into care and put more resources into holding Family Group Conferences so family and whānau have a chance to have their say.
She also wants Oranga Tamariki to review the subsequent child provisions to make sure there are no unintended consequences, and to ensure that there is a path back for those parents who have turned their lives around to get their children back.
While the ministry needs to do better for all children, a focus must be to partner with Māori to turn the results around for Māori.
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