Post by Kiwi Frontline on Aug 11, 2019 16:32:21 GMT 12
LET'S DIRECT OUR ANGER TO THE REAL CAUSE OF CHILD ABUSE, NOT THE SOCIAL WORKERS
Now, social workers are being slammed for doing exactly what they were told to do.
They have been accused of racism, because Māori children are over represented in the state care system.
But we also know that Māori kids are more at risk of harm. Between 2009 and 2015, Māori children were three times more likely than non-Māori to be killed by abuse or neglect.
Oranga Tamariki has been accused of severing the link between Māori children and their whakapapa. But the truth is, 79 per cent of Māori children in state care have been placed within their own whānau or iwi, or with Māori caregivers.
The state care system is still failing Māori. Institutional racism, and the dark legacy of colonisation, are woven through it.
But it's incredibly pessimistic to suggest that the state will never be able to do right by tangata whenua.
Last week, I interviewed Māori social workers who are proud to work for Oranga Tamariki.
They are developing new models of care, built on tikanga Māori , to support vulnerable children and reunite them – safely – with their whanau.
The ministry has partnered with iwi, including Ngāi Tahu and Waikato-Tainui, to allow children from those iwi to be diverted away from the state-run system.
Tūhoe will sign a landmark agreement with Oranga Tamariki next week – a strong sign that some iwi leaders believe there is a way forward.....
www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/114895626/lets-direct-our-anger-to-the-real-cause-of-child-abuse-not-the-social-workers
Now, social workers are being slammed for doing exactly what they were told to do.
They have been accused of racism, because Māori children are over represented in the state care system.
But we also know that Māori kids are more at risk of harm. Between 2009 and 2015, Māori children were three times more likely than non-Māori to be killed by abuse or neglect.
Oranga Tamariki has been accused of severing the link between Māori children and their whakapapa. But the truth is, 79 per cent of Māori children in state care have been placed within their own whānau or iwi, or with Māori caregivers.
The state care system is still failing Māori. Institutional racism, and the dark legacy of colonisation, are woven through it.
But it's incredibly pessimistic to suggest that the state will never be able to do right by tangata whenua.
Last week, I interviewed Māori social workers who are proud to work for Oranga Tamariki.
They are developing new models of care, built on tikanga Māori , to support vulnerable children and reunite them – safely – with their whanau.
The ministry has partnered with iwi, including Ngāi Tahu and Waikato-Tainui, to allow children from those iwi to be diverted away from the state-run system.
Tūhoe will sign a landmark agreement with Oranga Tamariki next week – a strong sign that some iwi leaders believe there is a way forward.....
www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/114895626/lets-direct-our-anger-to-the-real-cause-of-child-abuse-not-the-social-workers