Putting kids in state care appears to be, in many cases, setting them on a pathway to crime.
A Royal Commission of Inquiry report has found a third of children in institutions between 1950 and 1999 served a prison sentence later on in life.
Māori children and young people were even more likely to end up in prison, at 42 percent.
Criminal justice advocate Sir Kim Workman told Mike Hosking if the State wants to change things, it has to start a lot earlier.
He says they need to identify families and bring in support for them, to ensure their kids don't end up in the system.
LISTEN ABOVE

Mike's Minute: The Govt's housing vision – a school project gone wrong
02:01

Pollies: National's Mark Mitchell and Labour's Ginny Andersen on the Auckland housing intensification plan, India Free Trade Agreement, alcohol trading laws
10:17

Todd McClay: Trade Minister on the India Free Trade Agreement and Labour's concerns
07:59