Māori mothers fear and mistrust 'systemically racist' authorities

Thursday, 18 July 2019

Oranga Tamariki Minister Tracey Martin says Māori can start to have a greater level of 'hope' that her agency is changing. This despite the number of Māori children being removed from families and into state care. (First published June 2019)

An 'alarming' one in 14 Māori children have a chance of being removed from their parents, compared with one in 50 Pākehā children. Michelle Duff reports.

When Marama had her first baby uplifted, she was staying in women's refuge taking shelter from an abusive relationship. She brought her child to hospital, to be treated for bronchiolitis. When she went to leave, she was met by social workers.

In her mid-30s, a professional Māori woman, she says she tried to work with Oranga Tamariki. She was honest. This did not work. Her baby was removed. So were the next two.

She has never had an allegation of abuse substantiated against her.

'Did I feel confident asking for help? I tried,' Marama (not her real name) says. 'I worked as openly and honestly with Oranga Tamariki as I could. I don't mean to say this to sound like a snob, but I was 36, I have a degree, I had a work-orientated life, I was career-focused. Yes, I feel I was discriminated against for being a Māori woman.

**READ MORE:

'Some children do need to be placed out of home, but the current system isn't providing support to the whānau that need it,' says Professor Denise Wilson, director of AUT's Māori Health Research centre.

* We have a right to stand up for our babies

* 10,000 child removals in five years - is this system working?

* New Zealand's own 'stolen generation'

* Maori will no longer tolerate the removal of babies

* Who Cares? An investigation into state care**

'I feel like I've been made into a monster, which I'm not. I really feel like my children have become these prized acquisitions in a war of alienation. Now, I feel vilified. I feel powerless.'

Of course, every story is different. But Professor Denise Wilson, director of the Māori Health Research centre Auckland University of Technology, says Marama's experience is not unusual.

Māori kids are almost four times more likely to be removed from their parents than Pākehā, new research suggests – a disparity that exists whether they come from the richest or poorest neighbourhoods.

The study, which Wilson co-authored, tracked 56,904 children born in 1998 until the end of 2015. It found 42 per cent of Māori children came to the attention of child protective services, compared to one in five Pākehā kids.

A Māori child had a one in 14 chance of being removed from their parents, while for Pākehā children it was one in 50.

'This is alarming, and it suggests Māori families are at greater risk of having their children removed,' Wilson says.

L-R: Minister for Children Tracey Martin and Oranga Tamariki chief executive Gráinne Moss have promised further changes to child care protection.

'Some children do need to be placed out of home, but the current system isn't providing support to the whānau that need it. It isn't doing anything to break intergenerational patterns, and we need a different approach.'

Wilson says many Māori women distrust the system and fear asking for help because of the risk their child might be removed. This creates a miserable cycle it is difficult to break, with penalties either way.

'That is a very prevalent fear among Māori women I do research with, and have for some time. It's a bit of a sad indictment on our system.

'They need to secure a safer environment for them and their children, but they're often met with judgmental eyes and racism. It certainly narrows their options dramatically for getting the help that they need.'

Children's Commissioner Andrew Becroft says the study proves yet again the need to do better for Māori children.

'This reveals very clearly the extent of the problem and the need for change. The enduring legacy of colonisation together with systemic racism is a pretty lethal cocktail, and its evident throughout all government departments in New Zealand.

'This is unconscious bias that leads to a systemically racist outcome. I think we are courageous enough as a nation to confront that reality and address it.'

The research builds on work by others like Otago University's Emily Keddell, who found Māori children are more likely to be assessed as 'at risk.' They are 20 per cent more likely to be taken into care after their first contact with a social worker than a Pākehā child.

But momentum for change is building. At a hui in South Auckland on Saturday, more than 400 people gathered to strategise a way forward for Māori in child protection. 'Hands Off Our Tamariki' spokeswoman Paora Moyle says her group is working to stop the kind of systemic racism highlighted in the AUT research.

'The analysis of risk is always based on a Pāhekā-centred view. Just by being Māori, just by being poor, you're going to be at risk some time in the future so that means bringing you into care. This has to stop.'

Oranga Tamariki deputy chief executive Hoani Lambert says while the study predates the agency's establishment in April 2017, Māori did account for 68 percent of all children in care.

Staff are warned about unconscious bias. 'Structural disadvantage is always a risk within any system that relies on individual decision-makers and we are alert to that risk.'

As 'Hands Off Our Tamariki' organise a march on Parliament on July 30, Marama still hopes to get her children back.

'It's very important for us as Māori women to believe in ourselves, and if there's one thing I've really taken from this experience that is it. I'm not giving up.'