Mokopuna Māori
State care has been used as a colonising tool to sever mokopuna Māori from their whakapapa and to undermine Māori culture and the sovereignty of tangata whenua in Aotearoa.
The culture and standard practice of these institutions, which is to steal our mokopuna, subject them to abuse and disregard their whakapapa.
Residential facilities were criminal training grounds, teens were recruited into gangs from care homes, and foster children forced to steal to survive.
Studies have shown that one in three children placed in residential care by the state ended up in prison later in life.
Under Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the Crown has no legal right to remove mokopuna from their whānau, hapū and iwi and put them in state care.
The right to care for, love, and grow mokopuna Māori must be reclaimed for whānau Māori to see significant change in the health and wellbeing of mokopuna Māori.
