State Care Was A Lie - It Didn't Happen

Wednesday, 17 July 2024, 5:42 pm
Article: RNZ

By Neta Kerepeti (Gilbert)*

On 24 July, the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry's final report will be made public by the government. Ahead of the report's public release, survivors share their hopes for the healing process ahead.

First Person - For every five survivors sharing their stories about abuse in state care there are probably another 50 who aren't. This is for them.

The state cannot replace or replicate the home. I absolutely believe this; I believe it because I've lived in state care 'homes', and I've also heard the same lived-experience of state care echoed throughout my survivor network.

So when I'm asked about the state's role in care, that's the first point I would make.

A home should be a place where all of your needs are met, and not as some romantic notion. This is what reality is for some, should be for all, and certainly should be for all tamariki mokopuna who are made wards of the state, and subsequently placed in care.

I think of home as the place we go when we're tired and need rest… we go home; when we're sad and hurting… we go home; when we're stretched and relationships are fragile… we go home; when we need to feel safe… we go home. We all want to be able to go home.

Imagine if there was no such place.

Put yourself in the shoes of someone for whom home meant constant physical and emotional abuse, confinement in a cell, forced vaginal medical examinations and rape by those charged with caring for you.

Where would you seek comfort? How would you behave?

For me state care was a lie - it didn't happen.

Instead, being made a ward of the state contributed to a loss of identity, vital familial connection, my sense of self-worth, a loss of belief in my own potential. As a wahine Māori, as someone who belonged to a whānau Māori, I was someone, I came from somewhere, I came from a people and a place. None of this was of any concern or interest to the state, and I had to figure it out on my own and eventually find my own way home.

People in state care should have been afforded some fundamental rights; they should have been kept warm in winter, been fed healthy nutritious kai, treated with respect, and had ongoing access to their whānau, but none of this happened, certainly not for me or many others.

State starts from a punitive position

At the end of this month, New Zealanders will be able to hear first-hand what went on in this country.

What goes on in this country.

The report into abuse in care will knock the state off its high horse.

The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care: What you need to know

To this day, the state starts from a punitive position, a position that says whānau can't look after their own; that communities are incapable of caring for their members. To move forward there has to be a belief and trust that whānau and community want the best for their own.

Why would I choose to leave my whānau home, even when at times circumstances were quite dire, to go into state care, and be raped, become pregnant by the then principal of Bollard Girls' Home, and be treated with disdain and dismissal by the state home staff when I subsequently miscarried and no immediate medical attention was sought for me?

Why would I make that choice? Why would my whānau and community choose that for me? The fact is, they wouldn't, and frankly, they weren't consulted and neither was I.

For me, no amount of money or compensation will return my childhood innocence. But, there are critical things that can be done.

When the final report is released I want to see a minister, the person with responsibility for decision-making, and who will hold the power, authority, and resource, own the work resulting from the final report and its recommendations.

Most importantly, I want to see them make decisions as though they were making these over their own direct family members, decisions for their own whānau. [pull-quote]

I want to see an individual minister stand up, to listen intently, deeply, to what survivors are saying, and to ensure that Cabinet deeply listens too.

The government of the day will of course be happy to hear that money won't settle what has happened, but the government must listen to the multitude of survivor voices, and what they have to say about their own futures, and to honour what will be significant to survivors.

Over many years lots of money has been spent on the Department of Social Welfare, on CYFS, on Oranga Tamariki. None of these worked. You can give a state agency a new name, even give it a Māori name, but that doesn't change the abusive behaviour within an agency, it doesn't change the racist practice and policies within an agency. They are not exempt for human failings. And it is not okay to say these issues, that is, the abuse and racism, are system failures.

From the survivor perspective, all systems begin and end with people. So why not start there?

Need for genuine apology

I want to see a genuine and sincere apology to the people who suffered abuse in care. An apology that acknowledges the state's wrongdoing, for not honouring its statutory obligations and responsibilities. An apology that is first and foremost meaningful to survivors.

I then want to see the state devolve its power and authority to whānau Māori, to community, to those who are better placed to take care of their own.

I want to see the minister demonstrate they've listened by honouring the recommendations of the report. I believe every one of the recommendations will indeed be founded on the experiences and stories of survivors.

I believe the healing process that has to happen, must be grounded in He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and for this to demonstrate the practical role and place He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi play in Aotearoa today.

I want to see a change in behaviour, practice, and in policy.

You know, it's not some machine, some inanimate object authorising the uplift of a child, it's not a machine or inanimate object signing documents, making decisions, enforcing culturally devoid law, or writing policy. There are real people engaged across the state care gamut; real people behind the practice of uplifting children from their whānau, and real people signing off documents, to effectively enforce state authority over whānau, families, and community.

And it will be real people, perhaps reading this, who determine what redress needs to look like.

Instead of starting with lofty ideas of systems change, we need to start with people, with good old fashioned accountability. Start with the person reflected back when looking in the mirror… that's where change is needed.

*Neta Kerepeti was raised at Ngunguru, a small town near Whangārei. She was made a ward of the state at age 12. She was placed in a series of "family homes" where she was physically and sexually abused and discriminated against for being Māori.

Despite her traumatic early years, Kerepeti completed a Post-graduate Diploma in Social Work and a Bachelor of Management. She has worked for Child, Youth and Family Services and other public service agencies and government ministries. Her experience in care and her time working in the care system puts her in a unique position to make recommendations for change.

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