One year on from the formation of Oranga Tamariki, a domestic violence advocacy group says there is still much to improve - but the chief executive says it's a five-year journey.
The organisation was formed from the ashes of Child Youth and Family, with an overall aim to improve outcomes for children through a more holistic and child-led approach.
Speaking today on TVNZ 1's Breakfast programme, Co-founder of the Backbone Collective Deborah MacKenzie said her organisation still hears from "hundreds of New Zealand women who've experienced violence and abuse and ended up in the New Zealand family court".
"Those women are saying that Oranga Tamariki is not keeping their children safe," Ms MacKenzie said.
"We ran a survey last year to ask mothers about what was happening for their children when they were involved in the court ... what we found is that social workers overall seem to not have a good understanding of violence and abuse - so when children and mothers are talking about what it's like living with an abusive husband or father and trying to get away, the response is very poor."
The Minister for Children says whereas CYFS was a reactionary agency, the new organisation will treat causes and support kids for more of their life.
Ms MacKenzie said "48 per cent of the mums told us Oranga Tamariki staff recommended that the abuser have unsupervised care and contact with their children ... which is really worrying".
"We've met with senior officials from Oranga Tamariki twice this year and while we're happy that they're open to meet with us and talk about concerns we're raising, and they are saying they want to be child-centred and they want to use evidence-based practice, and they want to have consistent practices across the across the country - we're not seeing that."
Oranga Tamariki chief executive Grainne Moss told Breakfast that she is pleased with her organisation's progress within the past year, but that "we always said it would be a 4-to-5 year journey".
"I think there's a number of tangible changes - one is that we have more social workers spending more time with kids," Ms Moss said.
"We have spent a lot of time listening to children and how they feel the system is working for them and not working for them, we've also been listening to caregivers and listening to partners - so we've been re-designing services and delivering services differently.
"We've been really well-guided by children who are care-experienced ... it does take special skills to engage with a child who is going through trauma.
The PM said at the launch of the new Oranga Tamariki ministry, replacing CYFS, that there will be many challenges along the way.
Ms Moss said sometimes the wants and opinions of the adults involved in domestic violence incidents were quite different to those of their parents or caregivers.
"We need to look after the interests of the child and sometimes that does mean that we do upset some adults - because sometimes, unfortunately, there is a conflict between what is best for the child and what the adult wants."
Ms Moss added that recent high staff turnover at her organisation had improved significantly, with a turnover rate now of about ten per cent, and "tousands of people" applying to work for Oranga Tamariki.
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