Oranga Tamariki says most of those involved in the recent spike in youth crime are kids it is already working with.
There's been a spate of ram-raids and break-ins over the last couple of weeks, with further offending in the last 24 hours.
One incident unfolded in daylight Friday afternoon, with four teens, believed to be aged 14-15 arrested after attempting to shoplift in Manurewa.
READ MORE: Police raise alarm over youth crime wave around NZ
The Ministry's Director of Youth Justice Ben Hannifin told 1News he's particularly concerned with the fact preteens, some as young as seven years old, are getting caught up.
"What we're finding is a lot of those young kids are a peer group of the older boys particularly, or siblings, so it's concerning that they're getting pulled into this type of behaviour and making it even more important for us to wrap around those families to stop that escalating," Hannifin said.
"It's heartbreaking."
Hannifin doesn't believe the fact it's school holidays is playing a part, saying these kids are generally not in the classroom anyway.
"So one of the big priorities for us is, what we can do to wrap around those whānau and young people to get them back at school, and then what supports we can offer the schools to keep them there."
Oranga Tamariki meet with police daily.
READ MORE: Police investigating more ram-raid incidents in Auckland
"We are connecting in with the police about what's happened the night before and whether there are any young people in custody and then we we sort of do our response depending on what we're working with.
"Our staff will do, you know, really comprehensive assessment of them and their family to understand what's driven the behaviour and what that is, can look really different depending on the young person or their family."
He says the "bespoke" response can include mental health support, support around alcohol and drugs, or can be focused on school.
"Or it might be about making sure that their home life is safe and warm and stable", he said.
READ MORE: Teens arrested after trying to rob Auckland dairy, 'hitting' owner
About 90% of the young people Oranga Tamariki work with have a diagnosed learning disability, so Hannifin doesn't believe those committing crimes are thinking far enough ahead to consider consequences.
He said, "Youth offending has declined 60% in the last 10 years, so we are talking about quite a small population who are causing quite a lot of harm at the moment.
"But we should have every confidence that what we've been doing over the last 10 years is working and to just to keep that as a priority."
He believes there's definitely an element of teens seeking notoriety on social media, with young people "one upping" others.
"You know, 'we've done this, let's see you do better'.
"And of course, now it's in the media, that notoriety is only escalated, so I think as long as it's in the public we will see that behaviour being sought after, especially as we're trying to tackle it at the moment."
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