Oranga Tamariki has announced it will be closing down its care and protection residence in Christchurch, Te Oranga, after a number of serious issues involving staff were been made public in the past week.
The agency's acting chief executive Sir Wira Gardiner believed closing the facility while the multiple investigations are underway was the safest option for the children and young people.
"Closing the facility is not a quick, instant or easy operation," he said.
"We are already in the process of planning the safe transition of all the tamariki currently staying at Te Oranga to other appropriate care arrangements.
Sir Wira Gardiner says the decision comes after a number of serious issues involving staff and tamariki.
"Each child’s needs are unique, and we will be taking any necessary time to ensure that every one of them is looked after and is moved in a safe and phased way.
"Oranga Tamariki is undergoing a period of extensive change. I am doing everything possible to right the wrongs and fix the hurt."
Sir Wira said the closure would affect 10 children, all of whom were about 14 years of age.
“We’ll be moving them to an unfamiliar environment, we’ll take our time with the children."
Investigations are also underway in the other three care and protection residences around the country to find out if there were similar concerns of the use of excessive force, he said.
From 12am Monday 5 July all current Te Oranga staff, except for those who were stood down while investigations are underway, will be asked to stay at home on full pay.
Sir Wira wouldn't say how many of Te Oranga's 60 staff would be impacted by this. He said other staff from around the country would move into the facility to replace them and care for the children while Te Oranga was being wound down.
He assured staff who "worked well will always have a job", and those who hadn't done what they were meant to would face consequences.
Final decisions about the future of Te Oranga will only be made once all reviews and investigations are completed.
Yesterday, Sir Wira said “a number” of Oranga Tamariki staff have been stood down in the wake of footage showing children in the care of the agency had been subjected to excessive force.
An internal investigation has begun, and the agency had invoked a “child protection protocol” with police “given the nature of the force that was being used”, Sir Wira said. This meant police are now also investigating the matter.
The move came one day after footage was published on Newsroom which showed two incidences of children in Oranga Tamariki’s Care and Protection Residences being tackled, restrained and held in a headlock by staff.
Several staff at the Christchurch facility have now been stood down.
It also emerged yesterday that the manager at Te Oranga knew staff used excessive force against a child but failed to report it .
Sir Wira said today 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 that saw young people repeatedly raise the issue.
When asked whether staff were too afraid to speak up, Sir Wira said a key part of the ongoing investigation would be to find out why staff hadn't reported incidents.
Sir Wira added he didn't care whether complaints came from within or publicly, as it has in this instance.
“I'm not chasing anyone for speaking up," he said of the whistleblower. He added that the person had done "a great service".
“It allowed me to focus on dealing with something I was not aware of until Monday morning, or aware of to the extent of it."
He said within the next four years, Oranga Tamariki would be building 10 smaller houses which would take in fewer children and staff. This would replace the care and protection residences.
Decision 'strongly welcomed'
Children's Commissioner Andrew Becroft said he "strongly welcomed" today's announcement.
“This could not come quickly enough. At long last this signals the ditching of an old-fashioned model that, along with orphanages and borstals has no place in the 21st century,” he said.
“Our office, including skilled staff who regularly monitor these places and talk with mokopuna there, are overjoyed that their repeated calls for action have finally been heard."
Andrew Becroft says he’s “mightily” relieved the agency is seriously investigating staff conduct.
Becroft added, however, that it was "very sad for tamariki in the care of the state that it has taken this long to commit to change".
His office has requested details about where the children affected by the closure would be placed, and additional specific information from Oranga Tamariki about restraints and other serious incidents.
“It’s important to recognise that there are some staff who work in these places who are committed to their work and passionate about bringing about change in the lives of young people."
Assistant Māori Commissioner Glenis Philip-Barbara said young people's wellbeing should be the focus "at times of chaos like this".
"The utmost care needs to be taken to ensure the wellbeing of mokopuna already living in residences, and their whānau, is kept paramount," she said.
“This is not a time for worrying about cost, it’s a time to spend everything necessary to keep them safe and with whānau."
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