Children’s Commissioner Andrew Becroft is repeating his call to close Oranga Tamariki care and protection residences as details emerge of another facility that’s not fit for purpose.
It comes just one day after Oranga Tamariki closed its care and protection residence in Christchurch after footage obtained by Newsroom showed staff appearing to use excessive force against children.
Reports by the Children’s Commissioner into the Epuni Care and Protection Residence in Lower Hutt were released today under the Official Information Act .
The Commissioner's monitoring of the Epuni residence under the United Nations Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT) found the facility was run down.
In its announced visit in September last year, children reported they didn’t feel safe from others or themselves. At the time of the visit, nine youth between the ages of 12 and 16 were at the residence.
A great proportion of those children had complex mental health needs, some had been in inpatient mental health facilities prior to being placed in the residence, and several were on 24-hour observations, the report noted.
Andrew Becroft says he’s “mightily” relieved the agency is seriously investigating staff conduct.
Staff told the Commissioner serious self-harm was widespread among the young people at Epuni, and they were worried about the impact of up to 10 children with high needs being in the same place at once.
One staff member said they were worried there could be a “sentinel event” meaning that a child would die or be seriously harmed.
Another staff member noted “the residence felt as if it was a ward on a mental health unit, without the appropriate environment and staff training to match the needs of the children and young people”.
“Most” of the youth at the residences also reported staff were using force “inappropriately”, the report said.
They reported staff were not adequately trained in the restraint process. Young children reported feeling “manhandled” and had seen staff “picking up” children when using force.
Staff told the Commissioner they restrained young people less than in the past, and emphasised de-escalation as an alternative to force.
“These reports, along with the video of apparent assaults at a Christchurch residence, provide graphic evidence of the need for these outdated residences to close as soon as possible,” Becroft said.
“We welcome the fast and serious response to the video showing a boys’ treatment at Te Oranga, in Christchurch.
“However, enough is known already about the unsafe situation in other residences to urgently accelerate efforts to close these, in favour of small home-like places where young people are cared for by people they trust, close to home.”
Assistant Maori Commissioner Glenis Philip-Barbara said many staff at Epuni were “doing their best in very poor circumstances”.
She said staff reported needing “significant upskilling” to provide care for children with complex mental health needs.
The decision comes as the Government admits it's aware of more problems at the facility.
Yesterday, Oranga Tamariki acting chief executive Sir Wira Gardiner reiterated his promise that the care residences would be wound down within four years.
He said Oranga Tamariki would be building 10 smaller houses which would take in fewer children and staff. This would replace the care and protection residences.
"Oranga Tamariki is undergoing a period of extensive change. I am doing everything possible to right the wrongs and fix the hurt."
On Wednesday, it emerged that the manager at Te Oranga knew staff used excessive force against a child but failed to report it .
Several staff at the Christchurch facility have now been stood down.
Sir Wira said yesterday he only found out about the use of excessive force when the Newsroom report was published.
That's despite multiple reports from the Children's Commissioner where young people repeatedly said staff were using excessive force in Oranga Tamariki's residences.
Data released to 1 NEWS through the Official Information Act shows that between April 1, 2017 and June 30, 2020, three young people died of suicide while a ward of the state.
Oranga Tamariki does not collate data on the number of children in its care who have mental health needs or who have attempted suicide, saying it would be too much work to collate data from individual case files.
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