Published July 2021

This report responds to recommendations by the Chief Ombudsman relating to the auditing and public reporting of information regarding Section 78 custody orders for
unborn and new-born pēpi.

He Take Kōhukihuki, A Matter of Urgency [1] was released by the Chief Ombudsman in August 2020. It set out the findings and recommendations from his review of Oranga Tamariki policies and procedures relating to the placement of unborn and new-born pēpi into Oranga Tamariki custody (between 1 July 2017 and 30 June 2019).

The report had a number of recommendations, including that Oranga Tamariki:
• establish timeframes and reporting frameworks, quality assurance and monitoring to demonstrate ongoing compliance with all statutory requirements related to without notice removals of new-born pēpi (recommendation 1.e);
• report publicly against the monitoring framework (outlined above) every six months (recommendation 1.f);
• regularly audit case files to ensure compliance with policy and practice guidance (recommendation 2.o.) (“case file analysis”).

Using the recommendations of He Take Kōhukihuki and the Hawke’s Bay Practice Review 2, Oranga Tamariki developed a structured set of questions to investigate:
• compliance with policy and guidance;
• the broader practice around s78 applications to provide a more comprehensive understanding of our practice and early intervention with pēpi, and support identification of strengths and improvements needed.

This report provides details on the results of this case-file analysis. (Fromthe report). Record #7597