Displaying 1 - 9 of 9
The Children’s Commissioner of New Zealand announced in June 2019 that his Office would undertake a thematic review of the policies, processes and practices of Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children relating to care and protection issues for pēpi Māori (Māori infants) aged 0-3 months.
This second report comes to the clear conclusion that to keep pēpi in the care of their whānau, Māori must be recognised as best placed to care for their own: this involves by Māori, for Māori approaches that are enabled by the transfer of power and resources from government to Māori…
The Children’s Commissioner of New Zealand announced in June 2019 that his Office would undertake a thematic review of the policies, processes and practices of Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children relating to care and protection issues for pēpi Māori (Māori infants) aged 0-3 months.
This first report, released in June 2020, presents the insights gained from interviews with mums and whānau (family) who had experience with pēpi (aged 0-3 months) who had either been removed, or were at risk of being removed, from their whānau by Oranga Tamariki or its predecessor Child,…
Abstract
Families are significantly affected by decisions made in the child protection context, yet decision outcomes differ even when cases are similar. Understanding the concepts, practices and processes of differentiation that push some cases over the threshold of key decision points, but not other similar cases, is crucial. Drawing on interviews and focus groups with child protection social workers from three site offices in Aotearoa New Zealand (interviews, n = 26; focus groups, n = 25) and using thematic analysis, this study identified the case, internal…
Abstract
Preventing child abuse is a unifying goal. Making decisions that affect the lives of children is an unenviable task assigned to social services in countries around the world. The consequences of incorrectly labelling children as being at risk of abuse or missing signs that children are unsafe are well-documented. Evidence-based decision-making tools are increasingly common in social services provision but few, if any, have used social network data. We analyse a child protection services dataset that includes a network of…
Abstract
Contact with child protection systems are a key site of the expression of social inequalities, yet research into the size and nature of this relationship remains sparse in the Aotearoa New Zealand system context. This article reports on a study of the relationships between child protection system contact and small area-level deprivation. Using a national linked dataset including all children with system contact in 2013–14, (n = 13,851 children) it found a marked relationship between deprivation and system contact, and significant differences between regions for all three…
INTRODUCTION
Decisions in the child protection context take place in a complex environment influenced by individual decision-makers, institutional resources and practices, demographic inequalities, and family responses. While some variation in decision outcomes are inevitable and desirable in order to respond to unique family and whānau contexts, the principles, logics and resources informing such decisions should be consistent. Where they differ too much, families in similar situations receive different responses, contributing to inequities and inconsistencies in decision outcomes. Both…
Introduction
This paper urges the government and nation to give effect to long-standing Kaupapa Māori models for developing the new required evaluation measures aimed at reducing the disparities for Māori children and young persons who come to the attention of Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children. Section 7AA(2)(a) will soon come into force in the recently amended and renamed Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 / Children’s and Young People’s Well-being Act 1989 due to reform measures in 2017. This provision, which is effective from July 2019, has great potential to change care and protection…
Abstract
Indigenous children have a long history of overrepresentation in child protection systems. This exploratory, mixed methods study examined practitioner perceptions of risk in response to client ethnic group (n = 67). A staged online survey elicited responses to a blinded vignette. Half the sample received the vignette as a Pākehā (White) family and the other half as Māori (Indigenous). Apart from this, family descriptions were identical. Respondents rated their perceptions of the children's risk and related constructs and stated what decisions they would make.…
This report examines and shares learnings from ATD Fourth World UK's social work practice framework with families experiencing poverty, discussing its strengths-based collaborative approach to build relationships and reduce power imbalances between practitioners and families. Implications for the feasibility of implementing this framework in child protection social work practice and policy in Aotearoa New Zealand is also addressed.
"Overlooking poverty’s impact on families not only sidesteps addressing underlying structural issues of inequality but also…