Child Advocacy Group Renews Calls For Political Leaders To Honour 6 Promises

Tuesday, 1 August 2023, 6:32 am
Press Release: VOYCE Whakarongo Mai

VOYCE – Whakarongo Mai is the national advocacy agency for care-experienced children and young people. We dream of an Aotearoa where all tamariki and rangatahi live with love and mana. We’re all responsible to make this reality!

Today, VOYCE – Whakarongo Mai launch their campaign calling on every political leader to ensure that children and young people in care in Aotearoa are kept front of mind this election.

In 2020, care experienced young leaders from the National Youth Council of VOYCE – Whakarongo Mai established the 6 PROMISES FOR 6000 campaign. These Promises reflect the most basic asks for any child or young person – things like stability, good education and health care, a feeling of belonging and to have a say in decisions about them. They are promises New Zealand made when they signed up to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCROC) 30 years ago – and yet, rangatahi and tamariki within State Care in Aotearoa New Zealand are still waiting for these promises to be kept.

These promises are not new. They arise from our children’s basic human rights. Human rights that every tamariki and rangatahi in Aotearoa should be able to enjoy, and which the State as a parent has an obligation to uphold for children in their care. And yet, even recent monitoring of Oranga Tamariki’s National Care Standards has highlighted they are falling woefully short of their own basic standards and are failing to keep these promises which they have made to our tamariki.

Here in Aotearoa New Zealand, children and young people with experiences of state care are far more likely to experience homelessness, suffer from mental illness, struggle to access quality education, and lack stability, safety and support as they transition to adulthood.

And yet, with all the challenges and injustices that children and young people in state-care endure, the urgency and concern for their wellbeing is yet to reach crisis point. Instead, headlines are dominated by “tough on crime” debates that minimize the suffering of our children, trivializing their experiences for the sake of winning political points.

Children and advocates across this nation have called on the Government to be accountable for these promises, now and for future generations.

Successive Governments have won elections outlining their commitment to ensuring these promises are fulfilled for our kids, only to let them down time and again.

And so, VOYCE – Whakarongo Mai are amplifying the voices of care experienced rangatahi and tamariki across the nation who are saying clearly, boldy, and unapologetically, “You Promised… Now Deliver!”

• We are experiencing housing insecurity and homelessness far too often
• We are leaving care not set up to survive, never mind thrive
• We’re calling on our elected leaders to work together to deliver
  • An Aotearoa New Zealand where the Government takes seriously it’s parental responsibility for tamariki in care and ensures that every tamaiti and rangatahi has the resources they need to live with love and mana.

• We are not being provided with stability when we enter care
• Caregivers aren’t consistently assessed before we’re placed with them
• We are not being kept safe when we’re in care, particularly in residences
• We’re calling on our elected leaders to work together to deliver:
  • A care system that provides stability for us both while we are in care, and through our transition into adulthood.

• We experience barriers and disruption to education due to being in care
• Alternative education and education in Oranga Tamariki residences are failing us
• We don’t have equal access to tertiary education
• We’re calling on our elected leaders to work together to deliver:
  • The support and means we need to participate and pursue our education goals and aspirations.

• Our health needs are not consistently being met while in care
• Our mental health needs are significantly higher than other young people
• We’re calling on our elected leaders to work together to deliver:
  • Access to the health services we need to live thriving and healthy lives.

• We can’t participate in decisions about our care when we don’t know our rights
• As a country we’re performing poorly in upholding children’s rights
• We’re calling on our elected leaders to work together to deliver:
  • By ensuring we are able to have a say in all the decisions made about us while we are in care.

• Tamariki Māori are too often disconnected from our marae, hapū and iwi
• Takatāpui and rainbow rangatahi are not safe and supported in our identity while in care
• We’re calling on our elected leaders to work together to deliver:
  • A system that supports us to develop our identity, know our whakapapa and grow our sense of self.

The responsibility to uphold these promises are held by every one of us in Aotearoa. Every individual, community, politician and Government Minister, has a role to play in ensuring that our tamariki, our most precious taonga, are able to live with Love and Mana.

These are our kids and we’re letting too many of them down.

To join our call and amplify the voices of Care experienced young people across the nation, sign and share our petition: 6 PROMISES (FOR CHILDREN IN THE STATE CARE SYSTEM) | OurActionStation

Also, follow our campaign on socials, and join us, on the 30th of August, as we deliver this powerful message to Parliament (details to come).