A senior youth justice manager at Oranga Tamariki says the agency won't rest until the practice of detaining young people in cells is eliminated altogether.
In the year to June 2018 almost 200 young offenders were held in police cells for more than 24 hours and in some instances, up to seven days.
Phil Dinham from Oranga Tamariki says the agency is working hard to bring down the numbers of young people in the cells, and iwi partnerships play a big role in that.
He told RNZ youth affairs reporter Katie Doyle the overall justice system could be improved to more visibly adhere to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
