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Motels Are Not Care – Frontline Workers and Young People Deserve Better
- 3 minutes ago
- 3 min read
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.
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