February 03, 2020
Child protection system continues to fail Maori
The chair of the governance group overseeing the Māori inquiry into Oranga Tamariki says government must trust Māori to look after their own children.
The inquiry found over the past decade the percentage of Māori and Pacific children and young people being taken into care increased 7 percent even while the total number in care dropped by a third.
Dame Rangimarie Naida Glavish says the report confirms systemic failure, discrimination and inexplicable breaches of human rights towards Māori.
She says it’s clear that despite 14 inquiries the child protection system and a change in name from Child, Youth and Family Services to Oranga Tamariki, the agency still doesn’t understand where it is going wrong.
"There’s a high number of our people who began their life in CYFS, in Oranga Tamariki. it's got to stop. Of course, there has to be changes. We are looking to Māori, by Māori, with Māori, and the government, of course, having the courage to do that," she says.
Dame Naida says Oranga Tamariki head Grainne Moss needs to stand down because she has failed to show she cares.
Copyright © 2020, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com