Oranga Tamariki adds to the trauma
Numerous foster carers have contacted Newsroom since our investigation last week highlighted a change in the children's ministry policy to take back tamariki from even 'forever care'
Oranga Tamariki’s change in policy to place tamariki back with whānau and Iwi has prompted a flood of messages from foster carers saying the way the agency is activating this legislation is far from child centred and is like being at the end of a swinging pendulum.
Newsroom’s latest investigation Oranga Tamariki: A New Wave of Trauma showed the agency removing children two and a half years after they had been placed by social workers in what was to be their “forever home” and moving them to whānau they had spent less than a fortnight getting to know.
The story was one of many removals that appear to be a response in part to new legislation known as section 7AA, brought in a month after a 2019 Newsroom investigation NZ’s own Taken Generation revealed Oranga Tamariki had been uplifting pēpi Māori when they shouldn’t have been.
Section 7AA has shifted Oranga Tamariki’s focus from “a safe, loving home for every child” to placing children “back with whānau” - however, there are deep concerns the ministry is not using best practice in this process to ensure children’s needs come first.
Link to article: Carers: Oranga Tamariki adds to the trauma | Newsroom
