The Office of the Children’s Commissioner has asked Oranga Tamariki to activate a Child Protection Protocol which includes calling in police, following the publication of Newsroom’s videos of staff treatment of children in one of the agency’s Care and Protection Residences.
A video released today showing a young person being thrown to the ground and one put in a headlock by Oranga Tamariki staff in a Care and Protection Residence highlights a fundamental problem with the model, says the Children’s Commissioner Andrew Becroft.
“On the face of it, the videos show violent attacks on children, by those who are supposed to be caring for them. These children are living in Care and Protection Residences usually because they’ve experienced traumatic upbringings and there is often nowhere else for them to go. These are not youth justice residences and children are not there for criminal offending.
“The behaviour on the video appears to be neither care nor protection; and it should shock every New Zealander to the core. There is a clear need for Oranga Tamariki to active the CPP and trigger an investigation of possible abuse.”
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* Whistleblower video shows assault on state care kids
* Davis demands answers over 'restraints' in state care
A whistleblower risked his professional career to bring Newsroom footage from inside a secure youth residence that shows young people being assaulted by staff, in direct contravention to their training and Oranga Tamariki policy.
Oranga Tamariki interim chief executive Sir Wira Gardiner has issued a response to the Newsroom video, saying they “must do better” to ensure young people feel safe in care, launching an investigation today into the circumstances shown in the video.
“Our first priority is to support the young people shown in the footage and their whānau.
"We will be talking with all our tamariki and rangatahi currently in our Care and Protection Residences.
“We have CCTV in all our residences to support keeping young people and staff safe. There are well established systems and processes in place to review events like this when escalated to us. Any restraint or use of force is expected to be reported and is investigated. Referral to the police and subsequent employment authority is taken whenever the actions were incorrect, unnecessary and, or unlawful.”
Legal experts weigh in
Experts say what happened to the boy is illegal and the staff members, management and Oranga Tamariki must be held to account.
University of Auckland Law Professor Mark Henaghan says what happened in both instances featured in the video* were “clear assaults” and the actions of the staff members who assaulted the boy were not only illegal but also in contravention of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which New Zealand is a signatory.
“If you can’t be safe in a state-run residence where can you be safe?"
“The video speaks for itself. Even if the young people said something abusive to the staff that does not justify that sort of force. If someone says something to me on the street, I can't just go and throw them to the ground. Even if they said 'He provoked us' that's no defence to assault.”
He adds that the whistleblower was “very brave” to come forward, because as a secure facility “no one knows what’s going on inside”.
“The worry is I don't know how prevalent it is, but it is a concern. Here we are having the State Abuse Inquiry, and these are residents now, and this is what's happening. It really highlights the lessons aren’t being learned.”
One of Aotearoa’s most prominent human rights lawyers, Dr Tony Ellis, says it would also be considered battery in civil law and is a breach of the bill of rights.
“People who work in custodial care should be held accountable for these things because the children are there because they need help.”
Ellis says at very least there should be a ministerial inquiry into the culture that allows these situations to be happening in Care and Protection Residences, and is calling for some “beefing up” of reporting structures around use of force in these facilities.
“Throwing people to the floor and having their arms twisted behind their back, it’s not what one would expect to see in the 21st Century. Essentially what we’ve got here is a licence to abuse children because they’re held in state care. They should be setting an example to how rest of us should behave.”
As a result of Newsroom's story, Minister for Children Kelvin Davis has asked Oranga Tamariki to look into the restraint of children in youth residences.
Culture of normalised behaviour
Oranga Tamariki’s Care and Protection Residences house children up to 16 who need intensive support. They spend up to a year in these secure facilities where they’re educated onsite.
Associate Professor in the Social and Community Work Programme at the University of Otago Nicola Atwool says these incidents are “very disturbing, as they are indicative of a culture in which such behaviour is normalised".
"To undertake such actions in full view of surveillance cameras suggests that the staff members responsible do not see this as outside the guidelines and have become desensitised to the impact on the young people directly involved and any bystanders. This is the opposite of the trauma-informed practice I would expect to see in an environment set up to provide care for traumatised children and young people.”
“If you can’t be safe in a state-run residence where can you be safe? This echoes what has been said by people presenting evidence of their experience in state care before the Royal Commission. It makes a mockery of those processes when such behaviour continues in the present day. The damage is at multiple levels: the young people, the culture of the residence, public faith in the organisation.”
In a statement, Oranga Tamariki, said it would remind staff in Care and Protection Residences of the correct MAPA (Management of Actual or Potential Aggression) hold techniques “and working alongside them to ensure that they’re equipped and confident to use MAPA safely and correctly”.
“All young people in our Care and Protection Residences are particularly vulnerable and have suffered trauma. We must do better to ensure that they feel safe and supported while in our care.”
Tracie Shipton, CEO of VOYCE - Whakarongo Mai, an independent group that advocates for tamariki and rangatahi in care, says while she’s disappointed to see the footage, it doesn’t come as a surprise.
“It is appalling that young people who require care and protection are manhandled and it is indicative of a system that simply does not value the depth of skill and expertise required to work with traumatised children and young people.”
A young person who had been in such care described the situation to VOYCE as “crushing” and “demoralising”, asking what part of the approach showed either care or protection.
“It is long overdue to close these places and invest in supporting children to heal and recover. No one can do that in what is essentially a prison environment,” says Shipton.
“Bring on the changes, and fast.”
* An earlier version of this report referred to 'children' in the video segments Newsroom has shown. The two in this story are of staff manhandling the same boy at different times.
