Oranga Tamariki has admitted it sometimes asks District Health Boards to keep children at hospitals longer than they need to while it hunts for a suitable placement.
It goes against the advice of the Children's Minister Kelvin Davis who has told the agency a child in care should only be in hospital for a medical reason.
It comes after RNZ revealed in July that a child spent more than nine weeks in a Waikato hospital because the agency failed to find them somewhere safe to go.
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui reports.
