'Employment process' underway at Oranga Tamariki following release of Hastings review

Friday, 8 November 2019

Had a social worker made and kept adequate notes there would likely never have been an attempt to uplift a baby from Hawke's Bay Hospital. There may never have been so much confusion and anger.

And the Oranga Tamariki staff sent into collect the child would not be the faces of a decision they had nothing to do with.

The Practice Review into the uplift case, released on Thursday, covers a list of failings, but had it not been for the social worker's inadequate record keeping none of those failings might have come to light. At least not now.

'Some of the decisions we took lacked compassion and humanity. That's the element that disappoints me most,' says Oranga Tamariki Chief Social Worker Grant Bennett. (File photo)

Oranga Tamariki chief social worker Grant Bennett says, as the report identifies, that there were 'multi-factorial' failures, but concedes that matters at the hospital on May 6 would not have played out the way they had, had the social worker's notes been adequate.

* Who Cares? When kids are taken by the state

* The other side of the Oranga Tamariki baby uplift story

The Oranga Tamariki review was released on Thursday.

* Māori will no longer tolerate the removal of babies by the state**

Bennett won't discuss staff other than to say there is an employment process underway.

The Oranga Tamariki staff caught on film in the Newsroom article were acting on a case in the hands of the social worker who was on leave.

They had a custody order for the child, but had no idea about the nature of communications between the child's whānau and the social worker. The social worker had not recorded them, nor disclosed to the whānau that there would be an application for a custody order.

Oranga Tamariki Chief Executive Grainne Moss.

Bennett said there had been several hui between the social worker and the whānau and other agencies in which a plan was discussed.

The whānau and agencies believed the plan, which would see the baby remain with the mother, had been been agreed to. But it hadn't been agreed to, and the social worker never informed them of that.

'I can understand the social worker at the time possibly not wanting to take the decision there and then in the meeting and wanting to go back and consult, but what didn't happen was going back and saying we agree with it or we don't,' Bennett said.

The incident provoked widespread concern and led to iwi leaders calling for a new national approach to resolve the high incidence of Māori parents losing their babies through Oranga Tamariki applications to the Family Court. Hundreds of people gathered outside Parliament in Wellington in July for the Hands Off Our Tamariki protest.

It meant that the three staff filling-in during the social worker's absence had none of the historical information or details that they should have.

'Had there been strong communication in terms of where we stood and what was proposed there certainly wouldn't have been the level of confusion and we may not have got to how the hospital situation played out,' he said.

'I feel for those social workers because they're the public face of this and they're the ones who've had the greatest ramifications, yet had the pre-work been done we'd have been in a very different place.'

Minister for Children Tracey Martin says 'what this review tells us is we need to be pushing harder, faster, at the frontline level to support our social workers'.

The review also makes it clear that a view, or bias, had been formed about this particular family despite a lack of evidence supporting it.

While the review and Bennett are clear that it was a situation where there were legitimate concerns for the baby that warranted Oranga Tamariki involvement, they also acknowledge there had been insufficient consideration around the current situation of the parents and whanau.

'There was definitely a very strong view formed based on historical information, both in the history of the parents and the people as parents. What didn't happen was an adequate assessment,' he said.

'Critical questions weren't asked. I'm devastated for the family. Some of the decisions we took lacked compassion and humanity. That's the element that disappoints me most.'

Bennett said the impact on the Hastings office of Oranga Tamariki had been huge, 'but there's a steely determination now to move on'.

Children's Commissioner Andrew Becroft says Oranga Tamariki's review had been 'rigorous and robust' but described the case as a 'litany of failure at every step'.

'What was worrying me was that the discourse [around the report] would fragment communities and not bring them together, but through the course of this there has been a coming together. And we can't do it alone,' Bennett said.

'There are things that have come out of this report that will strengthen practice across the country'.

CHANGES FOLLOWING HASTINGS CASE

* Unless there is a need for action to protect a child from immediate danger, all interim custody order applications will be made 'on notice' so the family is given the opportunity to have their say before a judge makes a final decision

* Every 'without notice' application will receive additional checks with a regional legal manager, a site manager and practice leader

* Extra investment will be made into Oranga Tamariki staff training and greater supervision for Family Group Conferences will take place

* Practice leaders on every site will look at all reports of concern for unborn and newborn babies, and check the Ministry is putting the right planning around vulnerable mothers earlier

* More resources and training will be given to staff in Hastings and a new regional supervisor has been appointed