“You can see it coming” – Opportunities to improve child welfare and Family Court proceedings to reduce the risk of children offending in childhood and beyond

Abstract

Relative to older youth, children who have offended under the age of 13 are at increased risk of persistent offending in adolescence and adulthood as well as a range of other adverse psychosocial consequences. Previous research indicates that virtually all these children have past and current child welfare concerns (e.g., maltreatment, early behavioural problems, low educational attainment), which were likely to underlie or at least contributed to their offending. In other words, the welfare concerns of some children escalate to offending behaviour, suggesting opportunities for improvements within the child welfare system and the Family Court to prevent this trajectory. Considering Māori are vastly overrepresented among child welfare, child offending, youth justice, and adult criminal justice statistics, addressing the factors that underlie the child welfare to offending trajectory also promises to reduce social injustices. However, relatively little is understood regarding how children “fall through the cracks;” no prior scientific study has investigated child welfare and Family Court proceedings in relation to children at risk of (re)offending. This qualitative thesis explored opportunities for improvement in child welfare and Family Court proceedings to ensure children’s wellbeing and reduce the risk of children offending in childhood and beyond. Interviews with child welfare and Family Court professionals (n = 28) as well as whānau members (n = 5) with lived experience of child welfare and Family Court proceedings reaffirmed that children who offend have clear histories of child welfare concerns and highlighted a range of problems within these proceedings that impede more positive outcomes for children, families, and communities. These included shortages in resources, high thresholds for support, poor collaboration and coordination between services, chronic delays, and poor oversight over child welfare and child offending cases. Further concerns specifically related to child offending proceedings, such as ambiguous referral processes, were also identified. The need for addressing the sociostructural conditions underlying child welfare concerns and providing earlier and more effective intervention was also highlighted. Urgent addressing of this “breakdown across the whole system” is critical to ensure more positive outcomes for Aotearoa’s most vulnerable children and families and reducing extensive social and economic harm.