Almost all the children involved in ram raids in recent weeks are not in school, Oranga Tamariki says.
Smash and grabs using a car have appeared to be on the rise, with police saying they are often carried out by young people looking for thrills or content for TikTok.
On Thursday police revealed four children - including a seven-year-old - had been caught after breaking into a mall in Hamilton at 1am.
They did not use a car to get in - and were found with toys and other items.
Inspector Andrea McBeth told Checkpoint it was shocking to find kids so young out shoplifting in the dead of night.
She said in some cases, their parents were not in a suitable state to look after their children.
Oranga Tamariki youth justice director Ben Hannifin told Checkpoint it is important to point out that youth crime has been declining rapidly over the past 10 years.
"Particularly over the last five years. So we're down about 60 percent at the moment.
"But that doesn't take away from … that spike over the last couple of months.
"The kids we deal with have a lot of complexities. A lot of complexities that most teenagers don't have to work their way through."
Hannifin said 80 percent of them are coming from families where there is violence.
"Over 90 percent of them have learning difficulties. Almost all of them - this population from the ram raids - are not in school. So they're suffering a whole lot of challenges and making some bad decisions."
Hannifin has a seven-year-old child, and cannot fathom one so young taking part in a robbery at 1am.
"Desperately sad, but we've got to take this opportunity to wrap around that seven-year-old and their families to help them, so the kind of decisions they're making doesn't continue. The trajectory is never good if that's what they continue to want to do."
The youth involved in such crimes are referred to Oranga Tamariki. Hannifin said its teams are meeting with families and the young people to try understand what is driving their behaviour.
"If there's a prevalence of violence in the home or if there's alcohol and drugs, or if it's financial stress, or whatever the drivers seem to have allowed this behaviour to transpire, we'll be trying to get some support and some skills to help enable that family to be more functioning."
Hannifin said the teens or younger children are often coming from families with parents who may have experienced the criminal justice system themselves, or where there's a high prevalence of alcohol and drugs.
"The idea of study, employment - they haven't been able to realise those same opportunities."
He said it is never too late to change their direction.
"Every time a young person comes our way it's an opportunity to help them grow and lead a life that's enabling them to make better choices.
"We're seeing a lot of young people not returning to school post these lockdowns, but we're also seeing a number of these young people that have been excluded before lockdown.
"There's lots of really great community-led initiatives to reconnect them into school. School is not just about the routine, it's about the positive experiences. The teachers, the other peer groups, that kind of routine of a discipline. If they're not in school they're missing all those wonderful opportunities."
Hannifin said some of the experiences he hears from young people who are referred to Oranga Tamariki can be tragic.
"They talk a lot about feeling unsafe, not feeling loved. They feel disconnection to things like school. What we try to do is expose them to the opportunities that most teenagers work their way through as they grow up and realising that actually a lot of it is attainable.
"Getting a job, having a relationship, having good friends, playing sport, all of these things we take for granted in New Zealand is available to everybody.
"All the young people come with very different kind of experiences and backgrounds and we don't want this kind of cookie cutter, they all go into the same type of programme. We want to make sure that it's specific to their needs, and to whatever the family aspire to as well.
"They're not beyond redemption. Today is another day to try and help them make some better decisions. They're still young, minds are still very much malleable. They're just teenagers. So there's all this opportunity still, to help them make some better decisions as they grow up."
