Young people in state care are still waiting for better support and stability, an advocacy group says. Photo: Unsplash/ Simeon Frank
Young people in state care say the government is yet to honour demands made by advocacy group Voyce - Whakarongo Mai in 2020, calling for better support and stability for rangatahi.
Five years ago, the group called on politicians to agree to six promises around standard of care, stability, education, health, culture, and inclusion in decision-making, based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Now, a new report by the group has gathered information from more than 50 existing submissions and 140 official reports featuring young people's voices, published since 2020, to gauge whether progress has been made.
Co-author Ihorangi Reweti-Peters explained: "We didn't need to ask them to retell their stories in care, and it was important that we didn't because retelling them is so painful. Those stories were already out there for the world to see and they should have been properly heard from the beginning."
The report highlighted problems which still existed in the system: that tamariki were still being harmed, with more than 500 children hurt in state custody last year alone, and some rangatahi living in cars, garages or motels for extended periods of time.
More than 1000 young people in care did not have a social worker, and many were being turned away from schools, denied mental health care, or left without stable housing after leaving care.
It reproduced quotes from care-experienced rangatahi. "My social worker is s***, is always on leave, never visits me," one said.
"The minute I turned 18, I was left alone to fend for myself," said another.
And: "I feel like the emergency housing is kind of like foster care for adults, but it's a very vulnerable place for an 18-year-old to be in because there's a lot of odd people."
Others were more positive: "[My care worker is] really nice and helpful. I can talk to her about anything. I can tell her my feelings. She's comforting."
"She's [transition worker] amazing. She's like the mum you didn't have, you know... Growing up I didn't really have any parental guidance, and she showed me a lot of that guidance."
And: "Every time I've called them, I've never come back disappointed. I've always been very, very happy and grateful for the conversation, and I feel like I'm really supported by the [transition] line."
But, it found children were still being abused in care, with 20 percent of rangatahi involved with Oranga Tamariki saying they did not feel safe where they usually lived, with the rates highest among takatāpui and rainbow rangatahi.
"My foster 'parents' were abusive, did drugs and locked me out of the house," said one.
It asserted that harm had been under-reported for years, and was still not reported well - although that was improving.
Voyce Whakarongo Mai chief executive Tracie Shipton said, "As a parent, you would feel deeply wounded if your children ever felt that these things weren't achieved for them - that you have the things that you need, a promise that you'll have safety and stability in your life."
"They're easy wins," she said.
But it would take a cross-party, cross-agency approach. "Our young people are saying, 'We need health, education, social development, housing - we need all of you around the table.'"
Oranga Tamariki committed to improving 'complex system'
Oranga Tamariki acting chief executive Andrew Bridgman. Photo: Reece Baker/RNZ
Oranga Tamariki acting chief executive Andrew Bridgman acknowledged the work that had gone into the report, and the young people whose voices it reflected.
"We want tamariki and rangatahi to continue sharing their honest thoughts about Oranga Tamariki and the wider children's system, because it is their voices that will help to guide the future of care in Aotearoa," he said.
This was the first report of its kind in Aotearoa, he said, and included "many insights which highlight the impact being in care has on the lives of tamariki and rangatahi", analysis of what needed to change, and "a description of what good care should look and feel like in the words of rangatahi themselves".
"We are reminded that being cared for means having what you need, feeling safe and stable, getting support to meet education goals, having the right healthcare, being included in decisions and having identity affirmed."
Oranga Tamariki was committed to improving "a complex system which has not always consistently provided this in the past" alongside government agencies, community providers, hapū and iwi, he said.
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