Merepeka Raukawa-Tait, the head of the Whanau Ora Commissioning Agency, has openly criticized the services of the child protection agency Oranga Tamariki, voicing her fears about the safety of children under their care. If the implicit inadequacies of the agency are not urgently addressed, she fears, many more toddlers will tragically lose their lives.
It was the regretful case of young Ruthless-Empire that brought this issue into a glaring spotlight. This toddler’s life was cut tragically short, dying while under the hospital’s care, adding to the growing list of children who have been failed by the system. Pertinently, Ruthless-Empire’s uncle had raised alarms about the child’s safety, citing disturbing living conditions, extreme negligence, and a palpable sense of danger surrounding the child’s environments.
In a rather exasperated tone, Raukawa-Tait stated, “Here we go again.” She further questioned the agency’s effectiveness in protecting the vulnerable children it’s supposed to safeguard. Critical yet considering, she acknowledges the agency’s determination to do its best, but regrets the recurring nature of such situations.
Each week, Raukawa-Tait shares, she receives calls from worried parents and grandparents who express fear for their kids’ wellbeing. Their concerns, however, often lie dormant until an incident happens as Oranga Tamariki seemingly struggles to intervene proactively.
Starkly, she stated, “we’re going to have children that will live and die before they turn three. They need monitoring, and if this government agency can’t do it, someone else must.”
Still, Raukawa-Tait believes the responsibility isn’t solely on the shoulders of the agency. Families, too, need to take the issue more seriously, particularly those adults who are aware of the ongoing abuse and choose to ignore it.
Echoing these pressing concerns, Jane Searle, the CEO of Child Matters, revealed the numerically unsettling fact – out of 70,000 reports annually, just over half concerning 51,000 children are assessed or investigated. Shockingly, there are no records held by the agency on the number of children who died due to abuse or neglect. Searle agrees with Raukawa-Tait on the urgent necessity for major reforms and emphasizes how each of these deaths is entirely preventable.
She concluded, “Oranga Tamariki is not fit for purpose,” solidifying the call for an urgent reassessment of the system’s ability to protect the children it is supposed to serve.
