Motels Are Not Care – Frontline Workers and Young People Deserve Better

Recent reporting has revealed that Oranga Tamariki has booked around 1,000 additional motel nights for children in care, prompting serious concern from the Independent Children’s Monitor. The Monitor has raised alarms that the ongoing use of motels highlights deeper systemic problems within the care system, particularly the shortage of appropriate placements for young people with complex needs.

Motels were never intended to be places of care. They are emergency stop-gaps used when the system cannot find anywhere else for a young person to go. Oversight bodies have repeatedly warned that motels are not suitable environments for vulnerable young people, particularly those who are distressed, traumatised, or presenting with high needs.

For many frontline workers, this situation is not just a policy issue — it is a daily reality.

NUPE has heard directly from members who have been impacted by these practices. Staff report that the increasing reliance on motel placements is creating serious operational and safety concerns for workers and failing the young people placed there.

One of the most significant concerns raised by members is that staff are sometimes required to work excessive hours in order to supervise emergency or temporary placements in motels. In some cases, staff who have completed a full shift are required to remain to supervise a placement because there is no alternative staffing arrangement. There are also situations where young people have been supervised in site offices or other unsuitable locations when no placement is available.

This is unacceptable.

Frontline staff should not be placed in situations where they must work beyond safe limits simply to hold together a system that is under strain. Excessive hours create fatigue and increase risk to both staff and young people.

Members also report that many of the young people placed in motels are heightened, distressed, or presenting with complex behavioural needs. Motel environments are not designed to support these needs. They lack the therapeutic supports, staffing structures, and safety infrastructure required to provide appropriate care.

As a result, both young people and staff can be placed in unsafe and highly stressful environments.

NUPE has raised these concerns directly with the employer and continues to advocate for solutions that address the root causes of this situation. What is needed are appropriate, purpose-built care options that ensure young people receive the support they need while protecting the health and safety of staff.

Importantly, NUPE is aware that Oranga Tamariki is currently piloting new home-based models in two regions aimed at providing more appropriate emergency placement options for young people. These initiatives may represent a step toward addressing the current gap in care provision.

We wait with eager anticipation to see whether these pilots will meaningfully alleviate the unfair risks currently being carried by frontline workers.

At present, however, frontline staff are often left plugging the gaps in a system that is not meeting demand. Workers who entered this field to support vulnerable young people should not be expected to shoulder systemic failures alone.

Young people deserve environments that are safe, stable, and supportive.Workers deserve safe staffing levels, proper resources, and working conditions that allow them to do their jobs without risking their own wellbeing.

Motels are not care.

Real solutions require investment, planning, and the creation of appropriate services that meet the needs of young people while ensuring frontline staff can go home safely at the end of their shift.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360946426/oranga-tamariki-books-extra-1000-motel-nights-kids-care-childrens-monitor-raises-alarm

A System Under Pressure – What the Latest State Care Report Means for Workers and Young People

The recently released report Experiences of Care in Aotearoa 2024–2025 from the Independent Children’s Monitor provides a sobering assessment of how the state care system is performing. Once again, the report finds that the minimum care standards required under law are not being consistently met for tamariki and rangatahi in care.

From a union perspective, these findings are deeply concerning—but they are not surprising.

The report reflects what frontline workers have been saying for years: the system is under extreme pressure, and the people expected to deliver care are being asked to do so without the staffing levels, resources, and support they need.

A System Struggling to Meet Minimum Standards

The National Care Standards were introduced to ensure that children and young people in state care receive safe, stable and supportive care. Yet the latest monitoring report shows that only around a third of children in care have all key care indicators being met.

This includes basic requirements such as regular visits from social workers, up-to-date care plans, and ensuring that children have access to education and health services.

When these standards are not met, the consequences are not abstract. They are experienced directly by vulnerable young people who rely on the system for protection, stability, and support.

The Workforce Is Under Unsustainable Pressure

One of the clearest messages in the report is that social workers and care staff are struggling to do their jobs effectively.

Frontline workers describe being fatigued by constant change, heavy caseloads, and a lack of resources. The shortage of placements and support services makes their work even harder. Workers are often forced to spend valuable time negotiating access to services such as education support or mental health care rather than focusing on the needs of the child.

From a union perspective, this reflects a system that is severely understaffed and under-resourced.

Workers across residential services, community homes, and social work teams consistently report:

• High workloads and staffing shortages

• Difficulty accessing specialist support services for young people

• Increasing complexity in the needs of children and families

• Limited time to build meaningful relationships with young people

When the workforce is stretched beyond capacity, the ability to deliver safe, consistent, and therapeutic care is compromised.

Under-Resourcing Impacts Safety

The report also highlights troubling trends around harm occurring in care. Around ten percent of children in care were found to have been abused or neglected while in care during the reporting period.

Insufficient staffing levels can make it harder to safely manage challenging behaviour, support young people experiencing trauma, and maintain stable placements. Workers are expected to manage increasingly complex situations without the staffing ratios, training, and system support required to do so safely.

From the union’s perspective, safe staffing levels are fundamental to protecting both workers and the young people they care for.

A Fragmented System

Another major issue identified in the report is the lack of coordination between agencies. While the care standards apply to Oranga Tamariki and care providers, many of the services children rely on—such as health and education—sit with other government agencies.

Too often, frontline staff find themselves caught in disputes between agencies about funding responsibilities. Meanwhile, young people wait months or even years for the services they need.

This places additional pressure on already stretched workers who are left trying to fill gaps in the system.

Workers Want to Do the Job Properly

The workforce in this sector is deeply committed. These are professionals who have chosen careers supporting some of the most vulnerable children and young people in Aotearoa.

But commitment alone cannot compensate for systemic underinvestment.

Workers need:

• Safe staffing levels

• Access to specialist services for young people

• Adequate training and professional support

• Time to build relationships with the children in their care

• A system that supports them rather than working against them

  
  

Without these foundations, even the most dedicated workforce cannot consistently deliver the standard of care young people deserve.

The Way Forward

The findings of this report should serve as a wake-up call.

Improving outcomes for tamariki and rangatahi in care requires more than policy changes or new action plans. It requires sustained investment in the workforce and the services that support them.

If we are serious about protecting vulnerable children, we must ensure that the people responsible for their care are properly supported to do their jobs.

From a union perspective, the message is clear: safe staffing levels, adequate resourcing, and strong system support are essential—not optional.

Without these changes, the pressures identified in this report will continue to place both workers and young people at risk.

A system that asks workers to do more with less cannot deliver the care that tamariki and rangatahi deserve.

You can read the lastest reports here : https://aroturuki.govt.nz/reports/eoc-24-25

Pay Equity in Crisis: What the People’s Select Committee Revealed About the 2025 Law Change

In early 2025, something extraordinary—and deeply troubling—happened inside New Zealand’s Parliament. Without warning, debate, or public consultation, the Government rushed the Equal Pay Amendment Act 2025 through every stage of law-making in a single afternoon.

Overnight, 33 active pay-equity claims were cancelled.Review clauses that protected previously settled claims were stripped out. For the next 10 years, women in female-dominated workforces would be effectively blocked from challenging unfair pay.

In response, a group of former MPs convened the first-ever People’s Select Committee on Pay Equity—a democratic backstop when Parliament refused to act. Their 177-page report is one of the most damning assessments of a Government action in modern New Zealand history.

Read More Here :