Lessons from child welfare : why accountability to ministers cannot meet the needs of public legitimacy.
Cook, Len
Lessons from child welfare : why accountability to ministers cannot meet the needs of public legitimacy. Len Cook - Victoria University of Wellington, 2020 - Policy Quarterly .
Policy Quarterly, 2020, 16(1): 26-33
It is an historical fact that tamariki Mäori are over-represented in Aotearoa New Zealand’s child welfare system, with a recent disproportionate increase in that over-representation. The recent spotlight on the removal of babies and, in particular, several highly visible examples in the media of attempted removals of babies, however, has once again raised the issue of the legitimacy of state involvement in ensuring the care and protection of children among Mäori. Increased accountability and transparency is one vital step towards restoring the public legitimacy of the child welfare system. This article examines the factors that led to and exacerbated the most recent crisis in Mäori views of the legitimacy of the child welfare system, and details contextual factors both common among state actors and unique to New Zealand’s child welfare system that influence systems of accountability. I conclude by providing a set of key factors that are imperative when moving towards increased systemic accountability of the child welfare system – factors that acknowledge and incorporate the historical legacy, current socio-economic position, and the significance of whänau and family. (Authors' abstract). Record #6982
Office of the Children's Commissioner | Manaakitia o tātou tamariki
Oranga Tamariki, Ministry for Children
CHILD PROTECTION
CHILD WELFARE
CHILDREN
FAMILIES
GOVERNMENT POLICY
HISTORY
INTERGENERATIONAL TRAUMA
MĀORI
RACISM
YOUNG PEOPLE
PĀMAMAE HEKE IHO
TAMARIKI
TOKO I TE ORA
TURE WHĀNAU
WHAKAHĀWEA IWI
WHANAU
NEW ZEALAND
Lessons from child welfare : why accountability to ministers cannot meet the needs of public legitimacy. Len Cook - Victoria University of Wellington, 2020 - Policy Quarterly .
Policy Quarterly, 2020, 16(1): 26-33
It is an historical fact that tamariki Mäori are over-represented in Aotearoa New Zealand’s child welfare system, with a recent disproportionate increase in that over-representation. The recent spotlight on the removal of babies and, in particular, several highly visible examples in the media of attempted removals of babies, however, has once again raised the issue of the legitimacy of state involvement in ensuring the care and protection of children among Mäori. Increased accountability and transparency is one vital step towards restoring the public legitimacy of the child welfare system. This article examines the factors that led to and exacerbated the most recent crisis in Mäori views of the legitimacy of the child welfare system, and details contextual factors both common among state actors and unique to New Zealand’s child welfare system that influence systems of accountability. I conclude by providing a set of key factors that are imperative when moving towards increased systemic accountability of the child welfare system – factors that acknowledge and incorporate the historical legacy, current socio-economic position, and the significance of whänau and family. (Authors' abstract). Record #6982
Office of the Children's Commissioner | Manaakitia o tātou tamariki
Oranga Tamariki, Ministry for Children
CHILD PROTECTION
CHILD WELFARE
CHILDREN
FAMILIES
GOVERNMENT POLICY
HISTORY
INTERGENERATIONAL TRAUMA
MĀORI
RACISM
YOUNG PEOPLE
PĀMAMAE HEKE IHO
TAMARIKI
TOKO I TE ORA
TURE WHĀNAU
WHAKAHĀWEA IWI
WHANAU
NEW ZEALAND