By the age of eight, most children in foster care will have been moved an average of seven times. Some have had up to 60 placements.

Around one in ten kids in care will suffer further harm, from emotional distress to physical and sexual abuse.

The majority will leave school at around age 15, without NCEA Level 2. A third will have their first conviction by this time.

Gabriel and Jesse were two of 1915 ‘entries’ into state care in the year to June 2018. In the last five years, there have been almost 10,000 ‘entries’ - an average of more than five per day.

The total number of kids in state care has increased for three years in a row.

Is this what’s best for Jesse, Gabriel and the thousands of other kids like them? Can New Zealand do better by its most vulnerable children?

Michelle Duff investigates in the four stories below.

Jesse and Gabriel’s story has been told with pseudonyms and without reference to any specific locations to protect their identities.