A mental health expert has slammed ACT's call to put Corrections in charge of young offenders as a "horrible idea".
Youth mental health and addiction practitioner Romy Lee is also calling for a complete overhaul of Oranga Tamariki but she said giving control to Corrections is not the answer.
The ACT Party earlier this year announced its policy to reform the ministry which includes shifting the youth justice functions out of Oranga Tamariki and into Corrections.
The Party said Corrections personnel have more experience in ensuring facilities are secure, as well as in the need to rehabilitate offenders so that they do not go on to re-offend.
Appearing on AM on Wednesday, ACT's children spokesperson Karen Chhour reiterated her party's view to separate the two departments. She said those in youth justice facilities are violent and have committed serious crimes.
"What I would like to see, is actually to separate those two departments and bring Corrections in to run the youth justice facilities because they understand the needs of people who commit crime, they can help with rehabilitation, they can also help with making sure these young people are safe," Chhour said.
"It's about making sure that the people in those facilities actually understand trauma, understand these young people and understand how to rehabilitate them so they come out better then they went in."
But Lee, who appeared later in the programme, said that is a "horrible idea".
"We need to remember that these people are young people, they're not adults, they're young kids who have not ended up in these situations just because – there has been a myriad of factors," Lee said.
"They are not hardened criminals and they are not going to benefit from being managed by Corrections."
She said she wouldn't feel safe putting young people in that space during the formative years of their lives.
"There needs to be a complete overhaul of the system. Obviously, the system that is currently in place is not working. It’s not supporting staff and residents, so we need to fundamentally think differently about how we approach these situations," Lee said.
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