March 23, 2017
23,000 children with parent in prison
Maori justice advocates are looking for a new approach for dealing with the 23,000 New Zealand children with a parent in prison.
Julia Whaipooti from Just Speak says the inaugural conference in Rotorua this week of the International Coalition for Children of Incarcerated Parents made Maori attendees conscious of the need for a Maori approach to the problem.
The reality is it is indigenous children who are most affected.
"We look at our criminal justice system and we know over half of the people walking through the system are Maori. Bringing it back to the children of prisoners, what it does, it is not about the individual prisoner, it has an impact on the whanau and our children inter-generationally. The take and issues are much bigger that we need to be working with," Ms Whaipooti says.
Just Speak and Mahi Tahi are holding a Maori justice hui in July where they will try to develop a Maori framework for helping tamariki Maori whose parents are in jail.
FULL INTERVIEW WITH JULIA WHAIPOOTI
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