Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
A report by the Independent Children's Monitor has found 40 percent of children in Oranga Tamariki's care are not seeing a social worker as often as they should.
Aroturuki Tamariki said it had expected to see more improvement by the third year of its Experiences in Care annual reports.
"Not all tamariki and rangatahi are having their basic needs met, including fundamental requirements such as being seen by their social worker, proper support for their caregivers, and access to health, education and other services," the report said.
Oranga Tamariki did not know whether those in its care were receiving annual health and dental check ups, it said, reiterating the findings from an in-depth review Aroturuki Tamariki released last week.
The agency was unable to say how many children had mental health screenings or attended school in the past year.
"The frequency of social worker visits was a key finding in our previous reports, and there has been no improvement in this area. Forty percent of tamariki and rangatahi are not being seen by social workers to the frequency set out in plans, or at least once every eight weeks," the report said.
The social worker turnover rates also went up, with a child having, on average, 10 different social workers assigned to them during their time in care.
While there was a "marked improvement" in recorded visits and support plans for caregivers, fewer than half of caregivers were being visited to the frequency in their plans, and caregivers told Aroturuki Tamariki they needed greater support.
"After our first two reports, Oranga Tamariki committed to improving the frequency of social worker visits with tamariki and rangatahi. However, we are yet to hear about an improvement from tamariki and rangatahi or see improvement in the data. The Oranga Tamariki response to our latest report is silent on what it is going to do to improve its performance in this area," Aroturuki Tamariki chief executive Arran Jones said.
Just 38 percent of rangatahi had an assessment of their life skills completed before they left care, a requirement under the National Care Standards Regulations 2019.
More young people were being referred for an assessment, but it was happening too late for many of those transitioning to independence.
And despite a decrease in the number of children in Oranga Tamariki's care, an increased number were being abused or neglected - 895 in 2022/2023 compared to 711 in 2021/2022.
Oranga Tamariki's own Safety in Care report released earlier this year confirmed that more children than ever were being harmed in its care.
"We keep hearing that Oranga Tamariki is committed to improving its compliance with the National Care Standards Regulations, but what we're seeing is a gap between the experience of those on the frontline and those in national office. Policies and practices may be set out, but it is not necessarily what is done or understood at the frontline. The best interests of the child should be at the centre," Jones said.
However, this year the Independent Children's Monitor did acknowledge it had started to hear positive examples of inter-agency collaboration, including that dedicated liaison roles have made a real difference.
"Where we hear about good practice, it is often because of the strength of a trusted relationship or because caregivers or kaimahi do what is best for tamariki and rangatahi despite, not because of, the system," the report said.
The report also gave Open Home Foundation, a Christian care organisation that had 75 children in its care, a more positive review.
The foundation's caregiver survey showed foster parents had high levels of satisfaction with the support they received, the report said.
The report's data encompassed the 6054 tamariki and rangatahi that spent time in care from June 2022 to June 2023, the vast majority of which were in the custody of Oranga Tamariki (5977).