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National | Andrew Becroft

Childrens commissioner says 'by Māori, for Māori' approach is the way forward

Following a two-part review into the care and protection of pēpi Māori, Children’s Commissioner Andrew Becroft is recommending a total transformation of the current system for a 'by Māori, for Māori' approach.

"The current statutory care and protection system, in its delivery of services to tamariki Māori and their whānau, is fundamentally flawed," Becroft says.

"In this report, we conclude that a 'by Māori, for Māori' approach that is transformative, that transfers power and resources to Māori must be the priority. Nothing less than this approach will do." 

Becroft's recommendations 

The second part of the review, Te Kuku O Te Manawa, Moe ararā! Haumanuitia ngā moemoeā a ngā tūpuna mō te oranga o ngā tamariki' was launched today and contains several recommendations for government and state agencies, for which Becroft says "there is no principal reason this could not start tomorrow."

The first recommendation asks the Prime Minister and Cabinet to commit to transferring power and resources from government to enable "by Māori, for Māori" approaches that keep pēpi Māori in the care of their whānau.

Subsequent recommendations form a blueprint for making immediate changes to the statutory care and protection system while that transformation is achieved. These include that Oranga Tamariki makes urgent changes, including capping the caseload of social workers.

Both parts of the review sought to answer how pēpi Maori could stay with their whānau when there was a care and protection concern. The first, published in June, included heart-breaking experiences of whānau, supported by data and historical analysis, describing deep systemic issues facing the statutory care and protection system.

This second stage included interviews with a wider group of parents and whānau, midwives, community support people and Oranga Tamariki staff.

“This report asks if we, as a country, are prepared to make the transformation needed. Our tamariki Māori, both now and to come, demand we must be,”  Commissioner Becroft says.

'By Māori, for Māori'

Assistant Māori Commissioner Glenis Phillip-Barbara explains what the 'by Māori, for Māori' approach looks like. "The power to determine, define and decide what the care of tamariki and mokopuna looks like in the future must be held by Māori.

"The system in its current form, informed by a predominantly western worldview, is not delivering wellbeing for tamariki Māori. 

"What we're asking for the government to do, right now, is to let go of its power and invite its treaty partner to the table," Phillip-Barbara says.