Just released this morning by the Office of the Children's Commissioner is another report in its series on state care for children and young people.
It puts forward a strong case to end the use of large-scale secure residential institutions for children.
The report, called "A Hard Place To Be Happy" records a reality that Children's Commissioner Andrew Becroft says he found extremely difficult to read and he think most New Zealanders would too.
“These are kids who have done nothing wrong, they haven’t broken the law, they are being removed often from their families because their own trauma, violence, abuse and neglect are such that they can’t manage their behaviour,” he says.
Mr Becroft says the report has found that children are “being grouped together” in large numbers and “in that context, they find life pretty hard”.
He says the current model of state care means children are housed in large groups and are “effectively locked up”.
“That model makes it really tough for a child to flourish and to thrive,” he says.
Mr Becroft says it should be phased out and replaced with smaller, well-supervised, well-secure, family-based local residences throughout New Zealand.
“That is a much better way to go than the model we use now,” he says.
He says it’s encouraging that Oranga Tamariki “seem to be committed to change,” with a downsizing of a 20-bed residence already with a view to moving towards community-based models.
“In my view that couldn’t happen fast enough – this is outdated infrastructure,” he says.
He says Oranga Tamariki have inherited the model but it needs to change.
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