Outcomes for tamariki and rangatahi Māori and their whānau in the oranga tamariki system 2023/24

Most tamarikiClosetamariki
Children (plural) aged 0-13 yearsView the full glossary and rangatahiCloserangatahi
Young person aged 14 – 21 years of ageView the full glossary Māori are not involved in the oranga tamariki system.

However, there are more tamariki and rangatahi Māori in the oranga tamariki system than non-Māori tamariki and rangatahi – and more than you would expect from the size of the tamariki and rangatahi Māori population. 

It has been this way for a long time. When there are fewer tamariki and rangatahi Māori in the system, we will know it is is improving. 

When tamarikiClosetamariki
Children (plural) aged 0-13 yearsView the full glossary and rangatahiCloserangatahi
Young person aged 14 – 21 years of ageView the full glossary Māori become involved with Oranga Tamariki, they are more likely to be taken into care or custody. They are also more likely to be charged by the Police if they break the law.

TamarikiCloseTamariki
Children (plural) aged 0-13 yearsView the full glossary and rangatahiCloserangatahi
Young person aged 14 – 21 years of ageView the full glossary Māori involved in the oranga tamariki system have the same hopes and dreams for their future as those who are not. However, they are not doing as well as tamariki and rangatahi Māori with no involvement. Their health and education are not as good, and they don’t have the same chances of having a good life.

One reason for this is that tamarikiClosetamariki
Children (plural) aged 0-13 yearsView the full glossary and rangatahiCloserangatahi
Young person aged 14 – 21 years of ageView the full glossary Māori don’t always get the help they need early enough. We heard Oranga Tamariki isn’t always able to respond when they first hear about concerns. Most rangatahi who get in trouble with the Police had someone tell Oranga Tamariki when they were younger they were worried about them, but often didn’t get the support they needed. Sometimes they didn’t get any help at all.

Family group conferences (FGCs) are meant to help. FGCs are where Oranga Tamariki, NZ Police and other agencies meet with whānauClosewhānau
Whānau refers to people who are biologically linked or share whakapapa. For the Monitor’s monitoring purposes, whānau includes parents, whānau members living with tamariki at the point they have come into care View the full glossary to make a plan and get support for tamarikiClosetamariki
Children (plural) aged 0-13 yearsView the full glossary and rangatahiCloserangatahi
Young person aged 14 – 21 years of ageView the full glossary. We heard FGCs don’t always work well. This is because kaimahi (staff) don’t have the time or money to run FGCs properly, or kaimahi from Oranga Tamariki, Police or other government agencies can’t agree on whānau plans. We also heard tamariki, rangatahi and whānau sometimes feel like they don’t have a voice at the FGC – this means the plan doesn’t always have what they need in it.

We heard about some tamarikiClosetamariki
Children (plural) aged 0-13 yearsView the full glossary and rangatahiCloserangatahi
Young person aged 14 – 21 years of ageView the full glossary Māori getting help that works for them. This help is often from iwiCloseiwi
TribeView the full glossary and Māori organisations working in the community. Oranga Tamariki has partnerships to make these things happen. We heard recently there have been cuts to some of the funding for services that provide this help. This means there isn’t as much help available for tamariki and rangatahi as before.

There is intergenerational involvement in the oranga tamariki system. This means tamarikiClosetamariki
Children (plural) aged 0-13 yearsView the full glossary and rangatahiCloserangatahi
Young person aged 14 – 21 years of ageView the full glossary involved in the system now, might have parents who were also involved when they were young. When these tamariki have their own children, they are more likely to be involved in the oranga tamariki system too. This cycle means the system isn’t doing a very good job of supporting tamariki and rangatahi Māori. Stopping this cycle is one of the ways we will know the system is getting better.

When tamarikiClosetamariki
Children (plural) aged 0-13 yearsView the full glossary and rangatahiCloserangatahi
Young person aged 14 – 21 years of ageView the full glossary Māori are involved in the oranga tamariki system, they need the right support at the right time so that they don’t stay involved for a long time.