132. Young people who went to Whakapakari were also abused in other social welfare residences, foster homes and youth justice institutions. Many described it as the worst care setting they experienced.[229] Māori survivor Mr RA (Ngāti Rongomaiwahine) described the impact:

“Being in care has fucked up my whole life … for a long time I allowed evil to make an animal out of me but I don’t want it to ruin me. I feel as though the men responsible owe more than an apology, but what can they provide me? Justice is an understatement. Will they compensate me? What is the price of childhood? What is a life worth?”[230]

133. Some studies show an 11-fold increase in the likelihood of being arrested for a violent offence for children traumatised in early life. Early childhood trauma is also associated with an increased rate of mental health difficulties and physical health problems later in life.[231]

134. Oranga Tamariki recognised that abuse and harm experienced by tamariki and rangatahi Māori in social welfare settings can have immediate, long-term and intergenerational impacts on victims and survivors, their families, whānau, hapū, iwi and communities. They also acknowledged that complex trauma often results from physical, emotional and sexual abuse, neglect, conscious/unconscious bias and discrimination, conflict, oppression, and the ongoing effects of colonisation.[232]

135. The trajectory for most survivors who spoke to the Inquiry is sadly similar; many went on to serve prison sentences after committing serious crimes, had issues with drug and alcohol use, or had gang involvement.

Impacts on mental health and emotional wellbeing

136. Survivors spoke of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from their experiences at Whakapakari, and how this has caused them ongoing mental and physical health issues.[233] Some expressed terror that they will be located by the staff who abused and threatened them. As this was a more recent care setting, survivors perceive the risk of seeing their abusers is high.

137. Samoan survivor Mr GU still suffers from nightmares due to the abuse he suffered. He has anxiety, low trust in authority, and uses drugs. He also has been in and out of prison ever since he left social welfare care settings.[234]

138. Survivor Scott Carr was seriously assaulted at Whakapakari close to his birthday, which has affected him:

“I can barely acknowledge, let alone celebrate, my birthday. Instead, my birthday is depressing and anxiety-inducing. I have intense flashbacks of this violence … this often keeps me awake at night.”[235]

139. David Bagley, who was subjected to a mock execution by a gang member, said for many years he would hide behind power poles if he saw someone on the street who looked like the man who shot at him. He, too, ended up in and out of prison as an adult.[236]

Impacts on relationships and communities

140. Once survivors left, they often found it difficult to connect with their own families. Pākehā survivor Mr PM felt embarrassed and ashamed about what had happened to him and could not tell anyone what had happened. His relationship with his parents was impacted.[237] The Inquiry heard survivors had difficulties with sexuality and with intimate relationships following the sexual abuse they suffered.[238]

141. Many survivors became disconnected from their whānau and culture.[239] This represents a broader impact on whānau, hāpu and iwi.

142. Almost all Te Whakapakari Youth Programme survivors experienced drug and alcohol addiction in their adult life, including addiction to methamphetamine,[240] and many committed offences in relation to their drug addiction. These impacts represent a broader societal impact on communities within New Zealand.

From care to being incarcerated

143. The Inquiry commissioned the ‘Care to Custody: Incarceration Rates’ report to analyse the interagency records of more than 30,000 children and young people placed in State residential care, including those at Te Whakapakari Youth Programme, between 1950 and 1999. It showed that “one in five and sometimes, as many as one in three” children and young people placed in residential care by the State went on to serve a prison sentence later in life.[241] For tamariki and rangatahi Māori who had been in State residential care, up to 42 percent went on to receive a prison sentence later in life.[242] In comparison, for the same time period, no more than 8 percent of the general population of similar demographics went to prison.[243]

144. The numbers for Whakapakari are more damning. Every survivor of Whakapakari who spoke to the Inquiry[244] had been in prison at some point in their lives, and many were still incarcerated. Survivors had convictions for the full range of crimes, including very serious violent offending, murder and manslaughter, sexual offending, firearms and drug offending.

145. Oranga Tamariki accepted the findings of the Care to Custody report reflected a trajectory from social welfare settings into custody.[245]

146. Survivor Cody Togo told the Inquiry:

“I have wasted so much of my time in prison and dealing with the courts, probation and the justice system. While I take responsibility for things I have done, the State needs to take some responsibility for how it got to this for me and so many other men in here.”[246]

147. Not only have survivors been imprisoned as adults, many have spent little time out of prison due to repeated or very serious offending.[247] Māori survivor Mr NQ (Ngāti Maniapoto) told the Inquiry the longest time he has been outside prison in his adult life is 12 months.[248] NZ European, Māori and Cook Islands survivor Mr LG (Ngāti Whātua, Ngāti Porou, Ngāpuhi) has spent most of his children’s lives in prison.[249]

Children and young people were robbed of an education and a career

148. Nearly all survivors considered they were robbed of an education in Social welfare care settings and spoke of the lack of employment opportunities they had as adults as a result.[250] None of the Whakapakari survivors who engaged with the Inquiry have had a career or promising job prospects. One survivor told us that as he started to confront the abuse he suffered, he felt that he had ‘opened a can of worms’, suffered a nervous breakdown and was unable to concentrate in his job as a truck driver. The situation became dangerous to the point that he had to discontinue working.[251]

Conclusion on the impacts of abuse and neglect at Whakapakari

149. Survivors continue to experience lifelong impacts of the abuse and neglect they suffered at Whakapakari. They lived in terror and this persisted when they left from fear that they would encounter their abusers who had threatened them.

150. Those who were unfortunate enough to be sent to Whakapakari did not go on to experience successful lives. Survivors experienced trauma from the abuse they suffered. This in turn led to issues with intimacy, disconnection from whānau and problems forming lasting secure relationships. Many turned to alcohol and drugs to cope with what had happened to them. All Whakapakari survivors who engaged with the Inquiry spent time in prison as adults. The lack of an education at Te Whakapakari Youth Programme contributed to limited tertiary education and work options were limited.

151. The impacts of the abuse are not confined to the survivors. Young people became disconnected from their whānau, families, hapū, iwi and communities. Those in relationships with the survivors of abuse, including their children, suffered as survivors struggled to form close emotional bonds with them.

152. Young people were sent to Whakapakari to be ‘straightened out’. Instead, their lives were ruined from the abuse they suffered there.

Footnotes