This report explores the themes of the Youth19 open-text survey responses for young people who have ever been involved with Oranga Tamariki or Child Youth and Family Services. 

Key findings:

Although there were differences in young people’s responses to the various question areas, we identified overarching themes across all areas, as shown in the table overleaf. In brief, these were:

• A powerful call for connection, togetherness and love, especially with family
• Safety at home and school
• The need to have a say and be treated fairly in living arrangements and at school
• Needs for basic material resources: warmth and housing
• Wanting to help others and to have help when things go wrong.