State of Care: Children with Offending Behaviour

This report considers the statutory response to children aged 10 to 13 years whose offending causes serious concern for their wellbeing. This has led Police to refer them to an Oranga Tamariki Youth Justice Coordinator for a Family Group Conference (FGC) in accordance with section 14 (1) (e) of the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 (the Act).

To gather the evidence to inform this thematic review, the Office of the Children’s Commissioner (OCC) undertook 93 interviews with individuals or groups – in eight locations across Aotearoa/ New Zealand. The purpose of our interviews was to assess what was working well to support positive changes; and to understand what gets in the way.

We spoke to children and their families and whānau. We also spoke to staff from Oranga Tamariki, Police, Health, Education, community organisations, Māori organisations and iwi social services.

It is part of the State of Care Series.