Family for Every Child’s Virtual Gallery is dedicated to the voices of children and young people from around the world, exploring the issues that affect them and their care. They collaborated with VOYCE – Whakarongo Mai to support the “You Promised… Now Deliver!” campaign, and developed a gallery that highlights children and young people’s perspectives on care in Aotearoa via a virtual hikoi to parliament.
Below are the 6 promises that form the base of the gallery, and VOYCE Whakarongo-Mai’s petition and campaign. Some quotes from youth and care-experienced voices included in the gallery are also shared below.
- You promised to take care of me and make sure I have the things I need, and yet…
● We are experiencing housing insecurity and homelessness far too often
● We are leaving care not set up to survive, never mind thrive “I often chose to forget the trauma I carry from my time in care, but after attending Summit and being confronted by shared experiences from other foster kids, I choose to remember the hurt and isolation. I choose to think of the children still in the system and I choose to stand with them always.”
- You promised to make sure I have safety and stability in my life, and yet…
● We are not being provided with stability when we enter care
● Caregivers aren’t consistently assessed before we’re placed with them
● We are not being kept safe when we’re in care, particularly in residences “what else do I have to show for my time in care? I don’t have foster parents, I didn’t get the proper healthcare, I didn't get stability, I didn't feel confident in who I am…no one listened to me. All I have is the PTSD of the 6 Promises not being met.”
- You promised to help me with my education goals and dreams, and yet…
● We experience barriers and disruption to education due to being in care
● Alternative education and education in Oranga Tamariki residences are failing us
● We don’t have equal access to tertiary education “You destabilised my childhood education, because of your unstable system…stabilise my adulthood”
- You promised to support me with healthcare when I need it, and yet…
● Our health needs are not consistently being met while in care
● Our mental health needs are significantly higher than other young people “The promise that is most important to me, is the promise to provide me with healthcare when I need it. This promise was stripped away from me when I was in the care of the state, Oranga Tamariki. I asked for mental health support and I was denied it”
- You promised to listen and include me when decisions are made about me, and yet…
● We can’t participate in decisions about our care when we don’t know our rights
● As a country we’re performing poorly in upholding children’s rights “I felt very invisible and unheard for a lot of my life, if this promise was upheld when I was in care I would have felt acknowledged and more seen by those who made decisions on my behalf.”
- You promised to help me feel confident in who I am, and learn about my whakapapa, culture and language, and yet…
● Tamariki Māori are too often disconnected from our marae, hapū and iwi
● Takatāpui and rainbow rangatahi are not safe and supported in our identity while in care “The sixth promise is the most important to me. My cultural needs were a tick box in my care report. Now I’m left lost, confused and disconnected from who I am.”
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