"We do so well with so many children and young people but theres that small group that really troubles us and we cant ignore them."
Judge Becroft was the sole district court judge in Whanganui from 1996 to 2001 and credits that experience as a formative influence on him. Yesterday he was back in his old stomping ground, meeting with members of the local Children's Team and holding a hui with all his staff and members of their families at Putiki Marae.
He left Whanganui with a farewell at the same marae after being appointed Principal Youth Court Judge. In July 2016, he became Children's Commissioner.
Judge Becroft met with members of the city's Children's Team in the morning. Children's Teams have been established throughout New Zealand by the new ministry, which replaced Child, Youth and Family in April. They are inter-agency teams that create a single plan to help and support children at risk of abuse or neglect.
The challenge is operationalising the vision for Oranga Tamariki into communities like Whanganui, Judge Becroft told the Chronicle.
"I'm reassured and excited by the commitment of the team here but sobered because more resources are required at a provincial level for them to be able to do their job.
"With Oranga Tamariki, we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build a world-leading care and protection system. The launch in April was the beginning of a three- to five-year establishment programme but it needs to be operationalised on the front line."
The spent part of the day discussing how to better advocate for the needs of Maori children.
"Better outcomes for our tamariki is one of the most pressing issues for our country," Judge Becroft said.
"There are 1.2 million under-18-year-olds in New Zealand without a vote or much of a voice. Our role is to be their advocate.
"Seventy per cent of children do really well, 20 per cent do badly and struggle, and 10 per cent do significantly badly ...
"As an office, we are looking carefully and talking through how we can better respond to particular needs of Maori children, work better with iwi and how they can be involved in a process where we improve outcomes for Maori children who are touched by the care and protection and youth justice systems.
"We know that if our office is going to have influence, how well we do will be judged by how well we engage and work with Maori."