Oranga Tamariki. Photo: RNZ
A watchdog of Oranga Tamariki says social worker visits to children at risk are not looking as good as the government says they are.
The government said new figures showed strong progress, including in a ministerial priority for a visit once every eight weeks.
But the Independent Children's Monitor Aroturuki Tamariki said this was a lower target than what the National Care Standards demanded.
The standard was for a visit in line with a child's own plan that factored in specific risks.
"This is an important distinction," chief executive Arran Jones told RNZ.
"Many tamariki and rangatahi require more frequent visits than once every eight weeks."
In 2023/24, only two thirds of children were being visited to this standard and this had not improved in four years, Jones said in a statement on Tuesday.
Oranga Tamariki's own measure was closer to this standard, than to the ministerial priority.
"Unlike the quarter two Performance Measures for Ministerial Priorities 2024/25 report, the Oranga Tamariki appropriation measure is showing no improvement in social worker visits to date."
The monitor would be assessing how the once-every-eight-weeks approach measured up against the standard.
Jones noted the Royal Commission of Inquiry into abuse said social workers should have been a lifeline to the outside world for children abused in care, but they often had had such high workloads they failed to visit enough.
"Although the royal commission focused on events in the past, this further highlights the importance of prioritising social work visits."
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