Harmful behaviour

Updates made to this page

Changes have been made to a number of pages on the Practice Centre to align with the practice approach. Specific changes include:

• Tiaki Oranga replaces the safety and risk screen, and is now being used throughout the life of a case, across service lines whenever we need to understand current safety.
• All references to the Tuituia domains and subdomains have been removed and we now promote the use of Te Puna Oranga and our models, tools and resources to build and deepen our understanding.
• The Tuituia report has been replaced with the assessment report. 

What is harmful behaviour

Harmful behaviour is defined as when te tamaiti or rangatahi has behaved or is behaving in a manner that:

• is, or is likely to be, harmful to the physical, mental or emotional wellbeing of te tamaiti or rangatahi or to others, and
• the parents or people having the care of te tamaiti or rangatahi are unable or unwilling to control them.

This may include 1 or more of the following:

• drug taking behaviour
• harmful or concerning sexual behaviour
• deliberate action by te tamaiti or rangatahi to harm themselves (suicide risk or self-harm, sexual activity that places te tamaiti at risk)
• internet or social media activity that is harmful
• alleged offending that poses a serious risk to others.

Many tamariki and rangatahi engage in these types of behaviours during their lives. What distinguishes age-appropriate exploration from 'harmful behaviour' is the extent of the behaviour and the impact on te tamaiti or rangatahi. It is therefore important to be clear regarding the actual or potential impact on the safety or wellbeing of te tamaiti or rangatahi, or others, from the behaviours that te tamaiti or rangatahi is engaging in.

Te Puna Oranga and the oranga-framed practice prompts will help us build an understanding of harmful behaviour and its impact on the oranga of te tamaiti or rangatahi and their whānau or family. We ensure that we apply the appropriate practice tools to inform any risk of self-harm, alcohol or other drug misuse or suicide risk.

Te Puna Oranga

Oranga-framed practice prompts

SACS, Kessler and Suicide screens (SKS)

It is important that we also build an understanding of whether the parents or person having the care of te tamaiti or rangatahi are willing and able to continue to care for them and manage the harmful behaviour. It may be that the parents have worked hard to bring about change and manage the behaviour of te tamaiti or rangatahi, but have been unsuccessful and have exhausted all avenues. Alternatively, the parents or person caring for te tamaiti or rangatahi may not have concerns regarding the behaviour and its impact on te tamaiti or rangatahi, have not sought to address it, or have abdicated any responsibility for managing behaviour.

We bring together the whānau or family and others who may be working with them to understand what support and safety looks like.

Hui ā-whānau