Personal information and a welfare focus in Aotearoa New Zealand

Presentation argument Aotearoa New Zealand’s youth justice system has a welfare focus that is more important than previously thought.

Presentation Outline  Key Maori concepts embedded in legislation  Statutory scaffolding of welfare  Research results

Whakapapa = genealogy: member of whanau, hapu, iwi

Tikanga Maori “ Your whakapapa gives you everything. It places you in the context of the world and your own culture. You know way way back, not only the immediate relatives and the grandparents who may have died, but right back through the tribes. So you are very firmly centred.”

“Children belong not only to their parents but also to the whanau and beyond that to the hapu and iwi. They are a ‘tatou tamariki’ (the children of us many).” Tikanga Maori

Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act a cloak woven from many strands

“to strengthen the family, whanau, hapu, iwi, and family group of the child or young person concerned and to foster the ability of families, whanau, hapu, iwi, and family groups to develop their own means of dealing with offending by their children and young persons” – s208

Welfare in statute:  Deal with young offenders by acknowledging needs  Divert from court  Family group conference (FGC) decision making  Section 282 discharge  FGC coordinator to ensure all relevant information available

Research method  51 semi-structured interviews in 4 sites  youth advocates (lawyers), youth court judges, youth aid officers (police)  questions about young people’s personal information

Research results: relevance of personal information “the charge was established but at least we knew why he was behaving the way he was and could get him some really good help”

Research results: relevance of personal information “It’s the involvement of the widest possible group around the young person with hopefully the best knowledge of the young person and it’s a collaborative sort of approach to help young people come right.”

Research results: sources of personal information  youth advocates – home visits  educational and psychological assessments  care and protection information

Research results: sources of personal information “I always tell the court from first appearance if there is anything about this young person that they should know, for example a boy’s mother at home terminally ill and he’s out committing burglaries.”

Research results: quality of personal information “you know inherently that there’s something going on and somehow or other all our screening tools don’t isolate the problem.”

Research results: impact of personal information “I’ve said to young people ‘Have you got a particular talent?’ And a couple of young people have been good at carving so they’ve carved a gift for the victim.”

Research results: impact of personal information  gaps in availability of resources and supports  young people with intellectual disabilities

Conclusion  Welfare focus allows the system to see the whole child and her needs  But sometimes – seen but not helped?