“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.
Acting chief executive of Oranga Tamariki Sir Wira Gardiner confirmed the news on Breakfast this morning.
Yesterday, 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.
Sir Wira said immediate action was taken, and the use of excessive force against young people isn’t acceptable in any circumstance.
He said the young person was checked on, who was “fine”.
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”, he said.
Sir Wira said police are now investigating.
“Yesterday afternoon, I stood down a number of staff,” he said.
He said he wasn’t able to confirm which staff had been stood down, and whether it included staff in the video released yesterday.
He also wasn’t able to say how many staff were stood down.
“These children come from traumatic backgrounds … so, their start in life is not great. Therefore, we have a high duty of care to make sure when they're in our care, they are actually in our care and they’re not subject to the kinds of things that we saw in the video.”
He called what was depicted in the video "dreadful" and "stressful".
He acknowledged Oranga Tamariki needed to continue to change after decades of issues. Staff also needed to have an "attitude change".
There are four Care and Protection Residences in the country, which house young people with high needs in secure premises, meaning they can't leave. They are distinct from Youth Justice facilities, which hold young people who have been arrested, remanded or sentenced for criminal charges.
Sir Wira said the model was no longer fit for purpose because it meant 10 young people with complex needs were “cramped into one antiquated building” alongside 50 to 60 staff.
In the next three to four years, Oranga Tamariki would be building 10 smaller houses which would take in fewer children and staff, he said.
He said the new model would better replicate a loving environment.
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