Oranga Tamariki urged to help families before taking children

A caregiver in Porirua is urging Oranga Tamariki to give more support to local families before taking their children. Figures obtained by RNZ show 68 children were removed from their parents in Porirua in the year to June 2018, up 70 percent on the year before. Porirua now ranks behind only Hastings and Napier for the number of children taken into care by Oranga Tamariki. Caregiver Hinemoa Metekingi runs a home in Porirua and told RNZ Maori news correspondent Leigh-Marama McLachlan that the system is flawed.