More routine than exceptions: Ombudsman rules on Oranga Tamariki baby uplifts

Thursday, 6 August 2020

Oranga Tamariki has been removing babies from their parents more by routine than exception, the Chief Ombudsman has ruled.

Peter Boshier has released a report, He Take Kōhukihuki: A Matter of Urgency, following his investigation into the policies and practices of the ministry’s removal of newborn Māori babies, which was sparked following the attempted uplift of a newborn from a mother in Hawke’s Bay last year.

'Removing newborn pēpi from their parents is one of the strongest uses of state power. New Zealanders must have confidence in how the law is being applied.

“The Oranga Tamariki Act permits the Ministry to act quickly to ensure the safety of pēpi who are at immediate risk of serious harm,” Boshier said.

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**

Uplifts without notice should be made only in the most exceptional cases.

He looked at 74 cases of babies removed without notice over a two-year period.

“In most cases the Ministry knew about the mother’s pregnancy for months before the birth. There was time for the Ministry to engage with parents, whānau, and other parties to determine the best place for pēpi

'I found decisions were being made late, without expert advice or independent scrutiny, and without whānau involvement. This meant other options were often not fully explored, and in almost all cases a without notice application was made.”

He said high caseloads, and limited number of numbers of Māori specialist staff resulted in babies not being prioritised until birth was imminent.

Over 20 per cent of cases he reviewed involved parents with an intellectual disability, but they did not receive the assistance or advocacy needed.

'As someone with oversight under the Disabilities Convention, I was very concerned to find that the rights of disabled parents were not visible in either policy or practice.”

Parents were not provided the opportunity for ngākau maharatanga me te ngākau aroha; a period of ‘quality time,’ when children were uplifted at birth.

”The Ministry has the tools and resources to meet the requirements of the Oranga Tamariki Act.”

He had made 32 recommendations, including improvements to the Ministry's guidance and practice; the use of all tools available in a timely way; establishing effective reporting frameworks and quality assurance; prioritising engagement with whānau, hapū, and iwi; and enhancing cultural competency of staff.

Oranga Tamariki chief executive Grainne​ Moss said she welcomed the report and recommendations, as they would help guide work to improve practices for when newborn babies needed to be brought into care.

“While we accept there have been historical issues with our section 78 practice, we are pleased to be able to provide evidence of real progress since the ombudsman’s investigation concluded.”

She said since November, when the organisation made changes based on its own review into the Hawke’s Bay uplift, fewer children were coming into care.

“For those who do need to enter care it is more likely to be in a planned way and less likely to be under a section 78.”

Minister for Children, Tracey Martin, said she was grateful for the “balanced report.”

“It highlights what the situation was for Oranga Tamariki, particularly around section 78 between 2017 and 2019.”

She said Oranga Tamariki was no longer using no notice uplifts as routine.

“Since the Hawke’s Bay case, there has been a complete change, multiple level change, about the way section 78 can be used. The first and biggest one is it now takes four people, not just the social worker working with that family, to sign off on whether a non-notified section 78 will be applied for.”

She said she could not guarantee every social worker was doing the job to the standard she would like.

“But we will get there, because the ombudsman is going to work with us to do that, Oranga Tamariki is going to do that, and is more transparent, we have an independent child’s monitor, and we are devolving to Māori.”

The ombudsman’s review is one of five being held into Oranga Tamariki, after a Newsroom investigation into the attempted uplift in Hawke’s Bay.