Purpose
The National Care Standards and Related Matters Regulations (NCS Regulations) came into effect in 2019 and set out the minimum standard of care that must be provided when tamariki (children) or rangatahi (young people) are in care. The NCS Regulations were developed by Oranga Tamariki and informed by what tamariki and rangatahi with experience of care said they need – such as supporting them to express their views, keeping them connected to their family and whānau (extended family), giving them opportunities to participate in their culture and ensuring their health and education needs are met.
The agencies that have custody of tamariki and rangatahi are Oranga Tamariki, Open Home Foundation and Barnardos, and we have been monitoring them for over three years.
We started monitoring compliance with the regulations in 2019, with our first full report covering the period 2020/2021. Over the past three years we have visited tamariki and rangatahi, and those who support them, right across the motu (country).
This is our third report on experiences of care, agency compliance with the National Care Standards and Related Matters Regulations (NCS Regulations). We have now visited every region in Aotearoa New Zealand, and have a comprehensive view of how tamariki (children) and rangatahi (young people) experience care. ...
Agencies with custody of tamariki and rangatahi, Oranga Tamariki, Open Home Foundation and Barnardos, have responded to our previous reports, and will respond to this one, stating what they will do to better meet the needs of those in care. For tamariki and rangatahi in the custody of Oranga Tamariki, progress has not been fast enough.
Several commitments have been made, but we are yet to see positive impact. ...
Tamariki and rangatahi mostly come in to care because they are unsafe and/or are not having their needs met by those who are supposed to care for them. Once tamariki and rangatahi are in care, agencies need to do more. The NCS Regulations were put in place to ensure agencies meet their needs and give them the same opportunities as every other child. They deserve nothing less.
We will continue to look at whether things are improving. We are now returning to communities we visited previously, and looking to see what has changed.
Methodology
Effective and meaningful monitoring requires a mix of approaches and the use of quantitative (numbers) data and qualitative (experiences) information.
At the centre of our monitoring approach are the stories and lived experiences of tamariki and rangatahi, their whānau, caregivers and community. We also gather information from frontline kaimahi at Oranga Tamariki, Open Home Foundation and Barnardos (the three agencies with custody of tamariki), iwi and Māori partners, care partners, and other government agencies, such as the New Zealand Police, as well as frontline health and education providers. This helps us develop a holistic picture of the experiences of tamariki and rangatahi in care.
Our monitoring teams cover the motu. Our people come from a range of backgrounds and areas of expertise including social work, psychology, education and law. They are trained in listening and speaking with tamariki and rangatahi and have experience in working with different communities, including Māori communities.
We have an assessment framework that includes a set of pātai pākiki (questions) that our monitors use when engaging with people in a community. This framework supports a consistent approach to the kōrero (discussions).
The framework incorporates factors that support professionals working with tamariki, rangatahi and whānau; for example, are polices clear, do they have supervision, and do they have the resources they need to do their job. The framework looks for the root cause as to why something is or isn’t happening.
Analysis
Analysing information
At the end of a monitoring visit, we wānanga (meet and discuss) to understand what we heard from tamariki and rangatahi, their whānau, and caregivers. Quotes are anonymised to protect the identity of the people we spoke with.
We use qualitative analysis methodology and software to capture this collective understanding and develop the findings in this report. For more information on how we wānanga and our qualitative research methodology, see our website.
Analysing data
When we analyse the data from agencies with custodial responsibilities, areas of change are examined to understand how any new initiatives or changes in practice have affected the quality of services the agencies provide to tamariki and rangatahi in their care.
We also look at whether measures are different for tamariki and rangatahi Māori compared to non-Māori, and disabled tamariki and rangatahi compared to those with no identified disabilities. You can find data tables for Oranga Tamariki and Open Home Foundation showing their performance against the NCS Regulations in [Appendix reference].
Equity analysis
We analysed data from Oranga Tamariki to identify whether compliance with the NCS Regulations is equitable across the population of tamariki and rangatahi in care. We did not find any statistically significant differences in compliance measures between tamariki and rangatahi who are disabled and those who are not.
In most cases, there were no statistically significant differences between measures for Māori and non-Māori either. There was one exception in the measure on opportunities for play and experiences, with tamariki Māori receiving fewer opportunities than non-Māori.
We also analysed the information gathered through our monitoring visits to see if there were any differences among Māori and non-Māori tamariki, rangatahi, whānau and caregivers. Aside from areas relating specifically to te ao Māori (Māori world view), we found that tamariki, rangatahi, whānau and caregivers talked about similar things regardless of ethnicity.
Key Results
Three years of reporting has shown that the minimum standards set out in the NCS Regulations are not consistently being met. There has been some improvement in compliance, and we heard about pockets of good practice where agencies worked together to support tamariki and rangatahi. However, we are still hearing from tamariki, rangatahi, whānau and professionals that there is more to be done and crucially, findings of abuse and neglect have increased.
The key findings in this report are similar to those of previous years.
Social workers are not able to see tamariki and rangatahi as often as they need
- The frequency of social worker visits was a key finding in our previous reports, and there has been no improvement in this area. Only 61 percent of tamariki and rangatahi are being seen by social workers to the frequency set out in plans, or at least once every eight weeks. ...
Tamariki and rangatahi are more involved in decisions about them
- Oranga Tamariki data shows an improvement in tamariki and rangatahi involvement in plans and decisions, but we’ve also heard from tamariki, rangatahi and whānau that they don’t feel listened to. It is one thing to ask tamariki and rangatahi what they would like to happen, it is another to listen and act upon it. ...
Tamariki and rangatahi are less likely to move between homes.