Eight young people were on the roof of Korowai Manaaki centre at the weekend. Photo: RNZ / Philippa Tolley
There are growing calls for the government to overhaul the way young people are cared for in youth justice facilities.
A group of eight young people made their way onto the roof at Korowai Manaaki centre in south Auckland over the weekend.
The standoff was eventually resolved late on Sunday night and the group are in police custody.
It was the second incident in just over a week, after five young people went onto the roof of a Canterbury facility.
Rangitahi advocate and youth worker Aaron Hendry said it highlights major flaws in the system.
''It just speaks to me again of how unsuitable these services and these facilities are. When we see that sort of behaviour we often see that young people don't feel supported, safe or cared for.
"That's another example of us needing to look at how we can do youth justice a lot better."
Hendry said the majority of troubled youth have faced hardship and addressing their needs will help stop re-offending.
"We've seen a huge increase in inequality and poverty over the last few years. We've seen young people pushed to the margins of society through really tough times and we can respond to this, we can solve it, we just need to have the courage to change this conversation," he said.
The Independent Children's Monitor agreed.
It said it was waiting for the outcome of a report being done by former police commissioner Mike Bush which was prompted by allegations of "inappropriate sexual behaviour" towards children in Oranga Tamariki residences.
Independent Children's Monitor chief executive Arran Jones said it will keep a close eye on how things were going.
"This is evidence that things aren't working the way they should. We are certainly going to be interested in the recommendations that Mike Bush will make from his work.
"What we will be doing is monitoring to see whether those recommendations are being implemented."
Ensuring the youth get the right care and take responsibility for their actions was a balancing act, Jones said.
''There's probably going to always be a need for a secure facility for some young people. However, its about balancing the need to both hold these young people to account for their actions, but also taking every opportunity to provide a therapeutic environment," he said.
'Corrections should be in charge of youth justice facilities'
Meanwhile, ACT was calling for the youth justice facilities to be managed by Corrections.
Party leader David Seymour said he believes the move would ensure young people were held accountable.
"It's time to restore the values of right and wrong. Police should be out in the community preventing crime instead of dealing with the latest youth offender breakout, and Corrections should be in charge of youth justice facilities to ensure offenders aren't in a position where they can cause so much chaos in the first place.''
"A 'large contingent' of police were called out to the standoff over the weekend. Police don't even turn up to everyday crime anymore, last week a bunch of tradies caught a thief and were told to let him go because police couldn't make it....
"Instead, everyday people in New Zealand are terrorised by criminals in their workplaces, their cars are broken into on the streets, they feel unsafe out walking, they pay their taxes and follow the rules. But their money is used to reward people who don't follow the rules. At the heart of New Zealand's crime problem is that failure of values."
Clinical psychologist Dougal Sutherland did not agree.
''I think Corrections taking over puts that more into a, well its the individual's fault, rather than the community or the wider systems. I really think that would be a backwards step for Corrections to take over."
A different approach was needed, he said.
''Putting young people who behave in an anti-social manner, together, is the best way of getting more of that behaviour from those people."
There are five youth justice residences in New Zealand that can hold up to a total of 155 young people.
