The Government has announced it will push through new laws to toughen rules in youth justice residences while also promising to build two new "high needs" units.
A string of security failings over the past year at the Oranga Tamariki-run residences has seen youths break out of facilities with demands tabled for their caregivers.
New rules would place youngsters in secure care when staff are worried about potential "mass disorder incidents" with greater powers for "non-invasive" searches.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the Government would "start work towards" building two new youth justice units to cater for up-to-30 higher-needs youth.
"These units will aim to provide more intensive support for the most serious offenders, and will predominantly cater for older teenagers. There is a big difference between a 14-year-old and a 17-year-old and the support and guidance that they need."
Today's new policy comes as Hipkins continues pushing a wave of anti-youth crime policies this week after announcing a "crackdown" yesterday.
Former police negotiator Lance Burdett explained to Breakfast what discussions might have been had between the youths and negotiators. (Source: Breakfast)
Children's Minister Kelvin Davis said new changes to legislation would be introduced to allow for people to be searched in a "non-invasive manner when entering" facilities.
Under the changes, staff would soon also be able to "place young people in secure care when it is believed a mass disorder event is imminent".
"Over the past six months, we have seen an increase in unacceptable behaviour in youth justice residences, such as damage to facilities and roof stand-offs," he said.
"That is simply not good enough and along with the immediate strengthening of these facilities staff need to be able to stop these types of events when they know something is brewing."
He told media: "At the moment, staff can only place a young person in secure care if they are going to escape or hurt somebody else.
"There will be very strict guidelines around this. And de-escalation is always the first approach, but it will allow staff to act when they know something is brewing."
Towards the end of June, separate incidents within two weeks of each other saw youth break onto the roofs of Oranga Tamariki-facilities in Auckland and Christchurch.
Davis continued: "It is equally unacceptable that there is little ability to search someone, whether they be staff, visitors, or the young people themselves when they enter a residence.
"This will be an important change to reduce any contraband and weapons entering, and I expect it to be done in the least-invasive way possible — more akin to passing through a metal detector at airport security."
Meanwhile, Oranga Tamariki Family Group Conferences (FGC) will also receive an additional $1 million going towards new family group coordinators "who, for the first time, will be specifically focused on youth crime issues", Davis said.
Family Group Conferences are formal meetings where the family comes together with professionals to talk about concerns Oranga Tamariki may hold for a child.
Additionally, Davis said Police and Oranga Tamariki have "agreed to develop" a protocol that will "streamline the process of referring a young person to a FGC when warranted and to respond quicker when a young person has breached a Family Court order".
"We know that these processes often reduce the chances of a young person reoffending and that’s what we know the general public want," the Children's Minister said.
"When the Family Court has granted custody and support orders for these young people that include conditions to manage the risk of re-offending, we need to respond quicker to any sign that is happening — these protocols will do that.
Oranga Tamariki’s chief executive says police and FENZ are helping resolve the incident. (Source: 1News)
"Making sure Police and Oranga Tamariki work together and have a clear process for when someone should or shouldn't be referred to a FGC will help speed up the system and lead to better results for everyone."
Opposition responds
National's justice spokesperson Paul Goldsmith said the flurry of new law and order announcements showed the Government was "scrambling" ahead of the election.
He pointed to an erroneous announcement by Hipkins yesterday, which saw the prime minister accidentally announce the wrong policy.
"Three months before an election, they're trying to be tough," he told media. "It looks a shambles. They're scrambling. They're pulling stuff together and making mistakes."
Goldsmith said in a statement: “Not only does the Government have no idea how these facilities would work, but they do not even know when they would begin to be built."
ACT leader David Seymour claimed the Government's new announcement was a "half-baked, uncosted, bargain-bin version" of his own party's policy.
It comes as the ACT Party say they want to see 17 year olds treated as adults in the justice system. (Source: Breakfast)
"Labour has scrambled this policy together on the fly," he said. "If Chris Hipkins wanted to steal ACT’s youth justice facilities policy, he should at least steal it properly.
John Campbell on OT youth justice: 'Most of us will never meet kids this broken'
Young people are placed in Oranga Tamariki youth justice facilities because of criminal behaviour, but also, to keep them safe from the harm that has made them broken and lost, writes TVNZ’s chief correspondent.
July 5, 2023
2:44
"Instead Hipkins has come out with a half-baked, uncosted, bargain-bin version of ACT’s policy to provide more youth justice beds, with no timeframe for implementation."
In his media conference, the prime minister denied the two additional units were a knockoff of ACT's policy — which he claimed was simply a "mega-prison for kids".
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