Teen proposes app for kids, caregivers to make complaints about Oranga Tamariki
Wednesday, 14 July 2021
A teen in Oranga Tamariki care whose complaint about abuse went unanswered for months met with the agency’s chief executive to propose a solution – an app available to all children and caregivers.
Ihorangi Reweti-Peters met with Sir Wira Gardiner in Christchurch on Tuesday after the 15-year-old approached Gardiner by email in May.
Ihorangi was in his seventh foster placement since being moved into State care when he was 10.
His current foster family were “amazing” but he wanted to advocate for changes to Oranga Tamariki to ensure other children in care were kept safe, listened to, and given an opportunity to heal.
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The meeting with Gardiner was the first face-to-face meeting for the pair, who had previously spoken by phone and zoom.
Ihorangi proposed an app that children and caregivers could use to send complaints and feedback to the agency and said Gardiner was very receptive to the idea.
He said the current system was not working. Complaints and feedback could be made through an 0800 number, but there was often a long wait to get through to a voice mail system. The caller then had to wait to hear back from a staff member.
Ihorangi lodged a complaint about his bad experiences with the agency more than three months ago, but only received a response early this month following media inquiries.
The agency apologised for the long delay and said it would complete a review after a police investigation was completed.
Ihorangi was removed from his drug and alcohol addicted parents as a 7-month-old. He was found to be malnourished and underweight, and had likely been exposed to drugs in-utero.
He went into his grandparents’ care, but had severe behavioural problems and was angry and volatile.
He was placed into Oranga Tamariki care in 2016 and had been moved between transitional and longer-term foster placements.
At one home, a foster carer pushed him to the ground and knelt on his back until he had “calmed down”.
He had also been placed with people who abused alcohol and used violence to manage his behaviour, he said.
Ihorangi told Gardiner he wanted an independent review of all reports of concern made last year.
A report of concern is when a member of the public or someone like a teacher or doctor notifies Oranga Tamariki that a child or young person may be at risk of harm.
In 2020, close to 81,000 reports of concern were made to Oranga Tamariki and about half were referred for further assessment or investigation.
Ihorangi also asked Gardiner to make mental health support available to all children in care as a statutory entitlement.
While he was in the care of his grandparents, it was very challenging for them to get him the mental health care he needed, he said.
Last year, while living at a foster home, Ihorangi said he became suicidal and ran away numerous times. He did not feel his mental health was taken seriously by Oranga Tamariki staff. He was eventually admitted to a mental health facility and received treatment.
He said social workers had to apply to get mental health care for young people, which could take months or even years.
“If we did it as an entitlement the young person would have that instantly when they came into care.”
With the mental health care he received last year and support from Voyce – Whakarongo Mai, an independent advocacy service for children in care, Ihorangi said he had learned how to deal with difficult emotions better.
Voyce had advocated for him to move schools, get a new social worker, and move to long-term foster care.
Oranga Tamariki declined Stuff’s request for comment from Gardiner.