News YMCA denies state care discrimination

YMCA has said sorry for ‘‘incorrectly’’ telling a 13-year-old girl she could not attend a camp because she was under the care of Oranga Tamariki, the Ministry for Children.

The girl’s grandmother, Wellingtonian Sally Kamak, said she had contacted the Human Rights Commission over the denial and was told it would be considered ‘family status discrimination’.

An email provided to Stuff, sent from a YMCA staff member to the ministry, says: ‘‘All children that come through any agencies such as OT [Oranga Tamariki] will be declined from our holiday residential camps.’’

When Kamak complained to the YMCA it apologised and allowed her granddaughter to attend the camp in Kaitoke, north of Upper Hutt.

‘‘I have won this battle. However, I firmly believe that other children who are under the auspices of Oranga Tamariki or any agencies are being stigmatised.’’

Her granddaughter was booked to attend the YMCA-run camp in May by Oranga Tamariki, which has additional guardianship of her. But on July 6 – 10 days out from the camp’s start date – the girl’s social worker was told she could not attend.

Emails say two other girls under the worker’s care were accepted, because of their ‘‘long history of attendance without issue’’ but Kamak’s granddaughter was turned down.

A further email shows two young boys were turned away and asked to attend a family camp instead.

YMCA chief executive Brendan Owens said that miscommunication was to blame for the denial email being sent.

‘‘Unfortunately, an incorrect message was given to a deserving child about attending camp this week,’’ he said.

‘‘We made a mistake with the communication and the child’s booking always remained in the system.’’

There was no rule that excluded all children coming from agency care, Owens said.

However, YMCA would turn down some children on an individual basis.

‘‘Camp is a high-risk environment. Many of the kids that come from Oranga Tamariki have significant behavioural issues.’’

It wanted to protect its staff, who had dealt with death threats and a suicide attempt at the camps.

‘‘Staff have left because they feel threatened,’’ he said.

An Oranga Tamariki spokeswoman said that the ministry was committed to providing ‘‘our tamariki and rangatahi with the same opportunities as other Kiwi kids . . . following the misunderstanding last week, we have followed the matter up’’.

‘‘We are confident no children will be excluded from YMCA camps based solely on the fact they are under our care.’’

‘‘Unfortunately, an incorrect message was given to a deserving child about attending camp this week.’’ YMCA chief executive Brendan Owens