Children's Minister Karen Chhour has criticised Oranga Tamariki in the past for poor communication. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Children's Minister Karen Chhour has criticised Oranga Tamariki in the past for poor communication. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Oranga Tamariki is continuing to refuse requests to release detail on the level of re-offending committed by participants of the Government’s bootcamp pilot, despite its minister promising transparency.
It comes as the agency releases its first review of the military-style academy pilot’s three-month in-residence phase in a youth justice facility, which Oranga Tamariki believes was “largely positive” even though the review found the pilot’s design was “untested”, local iwi members were not consulted early enough and staff being put through “unsustainable” workloads.
In response to regular update requests and criticism from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour over its poor communication, Oranga Tamariki decided it would only release information alongside significant milestones during the 12-month pilot, set to conclude in July.
Oranga Tamariki has repeatedly refused requests from the Herald about any further participant re-offending. In a statement today, deputy chief executive Iain Chapman acknowledged “alleged re-offending has occurred” but did not elaborate, citing privacy concerns.
“We are acutely aware of the impact the intense level of public scrutiny has already had on this small group of young people, together with the tragic passing of their fellow participant and friend.”
Chhour, who has said she and Oranga Tamariki would be transparent throughout the pilot, reflected that sentiment yesterday while under questioning from Labour’s children’s spokeswoman Willow-Jean Prime in the House.
“We tried to be as open and transparent as possible when it came to this pilot programme, but then it became very apparent that the Opposition used that opportunity to drag these young people through the mud with venom, trying to make them be unsuccessful,” she said.
Labour's children's spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime questioned the minister inside the House yesterday. Photo / Mike Scott
Asked how many participants had returned to a youth justice facility since the beginning of the pilot’s nine-month in-community phase, Chhour said some of the nine participants were residing in those facilities but would not provide a number, even after Prime asked whether six participants had returned to a youth justice facility.
“I’m not sure where [Prime] has got those numbers from and I can neither confirm nor deny those numbers.”
Today’s report, released this morning, detailed the review into the pilot’s three-month in-residence phase at the Te Au Rere a te Tonga facility in Palmerston North.
It found the time spent designing the pilot was “very limited” as officials were only given from March to plan ahead of the pilot’s start in July.
“Stakeholders considered the limited time for design meant aspects of the design were untested.”
That, along with the pilot’s location not being confirmed, contributed to members of the local iwi, “Rangitāne, not being involved in planning early enough”, which was acknowledged as a “key learning”.
Staff for the pilot were brought in from around the country but the review found being away from home was “difficult and not sustainable”, particularly given they worked “long hours” and at a “high intensity”.
“In particular, the clinical team felt their workloads were unsustainable and felt under very high pressure throughout the pilot.
“Their workload was exacerbated by unexpected work on transition planning and additional work to support engagements between rangatahi, their whānau and the professional development of care team members.”
The report noted how the participants made “limited comments” about what difference the pilot had made to them, but stated they were motivated about being able to leave the justice facility earlier through the in-community phase.
It acknowledged how there were no physical fights between participants and staff during the residential phase, which was “markedly different” from other facilities where such conflict was “regular”.
While the review found participants thought therapeutic work was a “waste of time”, staff and their families believed it had improved their ability to communicate and solve issues verbally rather than lashing out physically.
Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the NZ Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.
