KEY POINTS:
Details emerged last night of an alleged culture of smoking marijuana, drinking alcohol and learning bush and hunting skills - including handling firearms - at CYFS courses in the Bay of Plenty.
The claim from a a former CYFS worker comes a day after two 14-year-olds in Child, Youth and Family Services care absconded from the Wairaka Kokiri Trust at Ruatoki, south of Whakatane, and went on a crime rampage during which two Tauranga police officers were shot at with a .303 rifle.
The trust has a troubled past. Two years ago, it was revealed that two youths ran away from its care and CYFS did not file a missing persons report with police for three months.
CYFS said yesterday that inquiries were being made into the programmes and the level of care given by Wairaka Kokiri Trust.
A spokeswoman said a comprehensive review of the trust's activities would be made.
CYFS operations general manager Lorraine Williams confirmed that the two 14-year-old boys apprehended by Tauranga police after shots were fired from a stolen car were in the service's care at the time.
"We are working to identify how these young men were able to abscond from the supervised camp they were attending," she said.
Trust spokeswoman Beatrice Ainsley could not be contacted yesterday, but a prosecuting sergeant said the boys had been doing a bush course at Ruatoki.
The former CYFS worker, who contacted the Herald yesterday, said the Ruatoki facilities were a "cluster of houses together" and the caregivers were all related.
He said the youths on the courses "thought it was a bit of a joke".
"There might be four or five kids in close proximity.
"The stories they were telling us about how much they used to drink and how much pot they used to smoke - they used to get together in paddocks and here, there and everywhere."
Samuel Badawi, who a fortnight ago escaped from a youth offending unit at Waikeria Prison, was at another Whakatane caregiving organisation, which has since closed.
But the source said it was while at Whakatane that Badawi learned bush skills that were probably now being used as he continued to evade the police.
The source did not wish to be identified because of confidentiality reasons relating to his contract.
He said there had been problems at another camp in Katikati, in the western Bay of Plenty.
"You have instances like the one in Katikati, where the mentor used to take them into the bush and teach them how to use guns.
"His house was burgled [about a year ago] and all his firearms got stolen. He's since installed an alarm system. The method with which the burglary was done - they went in for the firearms. He very much felt it was related to some youth having been to his house with him."
A CYFS spokeswoman said it would be "completely inappropriate" for any youth offender to handle guns while doing a course under CYFS care.
Asked if bush courses involved weapons of any kind, she said some offered skill development in the "skinning of possums and rabbits and the like".
The former CYFS worker said motels were commonly used to house offenders and a mentor did the work of a guard, costing the department thousands each week.
CYFS said the allegations were hard to investigate, particularly without specifics such as dates.
East Coast MP Anne Tolley said she had heard murmurings about the level of care in Ruatoki.
Although many children from the East Coast grew up in a fishing and hunting environment, youth offenders were the "last ones" who should be taught such skills.
