Family Integrity

Tag: CYFs

  • Ads taken out for ‘anti-smacking’ repeal

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/4841414a11.html

    Ads taken out for ‘anti-smacking’ repeal

    Sunday, 08 February 2009

    Lobby group Family First has placed advertisements in all three Sunday newspapers calling for the repeal of the “anti-smacking law”.

    The advertisement described four cases where parents were investigated by Child, Youth and Family following the repeal of Section 59 of the Crimes Act, which removed the defence of reasonable force for parents who physically punish their children.

    A late amendment to the law added the proviso that police had the discretion not to prosecute complaints against a parent where the offence was considered to be inconsequential.

    The cases referred to CYF included two where parents admitted smacking their children as a last resort and one where CYF investigated when her child told a friend’s mother he had been smacked.

    The fourth involved a child complainant who was found to have been angry with her mother for being grounded.

    “The tragedy is that families are seeking help in their role as parents but as soon as they acknowledge that they smack or have smacked, they are immediately being referred to CYF and their children are being removed,” Family First director Bob McCoskrie said.

    CYF eventually closed the investigation in all four cases, the advertisements say.

    A fifth example described a case where a woman was suspended by a community centre for what Family First says was a tap on the back of the hand.

    She was eventually reinstated after the employer dropped the case after her lawyer intervened.

    Mr McCoskrie called for the repeal of the law, saying it was penalising good parents while not tackling the real causes of child abuse.

    –NZPA

  • Cradle to early grave

    The amending of Section 59 has not stopped this child abuse or child deaths.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/4810044a11.html

    Cradle to early grave

    By LANE NICHOLS – The Dominion Post | Tuesday, 06 January 2009

    More than 350 children and young people whose safety or welfare had been brought to Child, Youth and Family’s attention have died since 2000.

    Children’s commissioner Cindy Kiro says many of the deaths were preventable.

    Some died from suicide, abuse, assaults by parents or caregivers, neglect and shootings. Most died from natural causes, medical complications or accidents, including vehicle crashes, fires, falls and drownings.

    Last year, Dr Kiro carried out a review of the deaths and she criticised CYF social workers for not focusing enough on at-risk children. The review found “gaps” in information provided to her office and triggered a new focus on neglect by parents and caregivers.

    Dr Kiro said she was frustrated by the significant number of preventable child deaths through violence, neglect, injury or suicide.

    Though CYF had dealt with some issues identified in her review, it needed to do more to protect high-risk children it was notified about. “I want to see more impetus and focus … because that’s where I think we can save the lives of a lot more children.

    “It’s immensely frustrating and it makes me feel sometimes angry that we can’t and don’t do more.”

    Figures in Dr Kiro’s 2008 annual report show her office was notified by CYF of 86 deaths last financial year alone a large increase on the previous year.

    A further 271 deaths were reported between 2000 and 2007.

    All the dead children were known to CYF through notifications of concern or suspected child abuse, though only a small number were in CYF custody.

    CYF is defending the figures, saying it investigated all child abuse notifications, but many warranted no further action.

    “We know about them, but it might just be a phone call that’s made about a kid who’s driving fast down the road,” a spokesman said.

    Numerous children referred to its care had pre-existing medical conditions.

    About 50 children have died since 2000 while in CYF care, four from violence or abuse.

    Social Development Minister Paula Bennett refused to comment on the numbers, saying only that any child’s death was tragic. She would work with Dr Kiro on child advocacy issues.

    Dr Kiro’s review last year criticised CYF social-worker practices, and found “significant issues around supervision and chronic neglect” by some parents and caregivers, especially in cot death cases.

    She said children notified to CYF were dying from the same causes as other children but were a higher-risk group. “So there’s going to be an increased proportion of them who will die from physical assault, injury or other violence categories.”

    Generally when children died through deliberate violence or neglect, most were aged under five, not known to CYF officials and from families with intergenerational abuse.

    The rate of child assault deaths had been falling since the mid-1990s.

    The number of reported cases of potential child abuse jumped from 40,939 notifications in 2004 to 89,461 last year.

    CYF said it was “symptomatic of an increase of public awareness and a growing intolerance of child abuse in society”.

  • Another Child Abuse Death – Same Factors

    TRAGIC TOT: 16-month-old Riley Justin Osborne.

    MEDIA RELEASE

    28 December 2008

    Another Child Abuse Death – Same Factors

    Family First NZ says that the tragic child abuse death of 16-month old Northland boy Riley Osborne is more evidence of the key causes of child abuse which we are failing to acknowledge and tackle.

    “Report after report from both CYF and UNICEF and international research all confirm that children are most at risk where there is the presence of drug and alcohol abuse, family breakdown, the presence of non-biological adults in the house, low maternal age, poverty and single parenthood,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First.

    “This latest case shows a number of factors including drug and alcohol abuse, family breakdown, welfare dependency and low maternal age.”

    “We are missing actual child abuse because politicians and the Children’s Commissioner have confused the issue by treating parents who smack as child abusers, and told us that we should spend all our time and resources targeting them.”

    “Despite a 30% increase in CYF notifications in the last twelve months (yet a corresponding decrease in the number of cases requiring further action), the ‘roll of horror’ of child abuse deaths continues with cases including 2 year old Jhia Te Tua, 16 month old Sachin Dhani, 22-month-old Tyla-Maree Flynn, 3 year old Nia Glassie, Ten-month-old Jyniah Te Awa, Two-month-old Tahani Mahomed, 3 year old Dylan Rimoni, 7-year-old Duwayne Pailegutu, and now little Riley.”

    “The rate of child abuse deaths has continued unabated despite the passing of the anti-smacking law.”

    “Until we acknowledge drug abuse, our culture of alcohol abuse and the resulting harm, the role that family structure has on the safety of children, and the desparate need for better support and resources for new and especially young parents, we will never see progress in our battle against child abuse,” says Mr McCoskrie.

    “It’s time for the country to administer a ‘truth serum’ to the debate on child abuse rather than our ideologically flawed approach which has failed.”

    ENDS

    For More Information and Media Interviews, contact Family First:

    Bob McCoskrie – National Director

    Mob. 027 55 555 42

  • Mum fearful of school fines

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/4803156a11.html

    By REBECCA TODD – The Press | Friday, 26 December 2008

    A Christchurch mother is angry at the prospect of having to pay heavy fines because she cannot get her son to go to school.

    Under new laws passed by the National-led Government, parents of truants can be fined $300 for the first offence and $3000 for subsequent offences.

    They can also be fined $3000 if they fail to enrol their child in school.

    In the past, parents could be fined $150 for the first offence and $400 for subsequent offences.

    Michelle Chalmers said her 14-year-old son had not been in school for much of this year, but she could not force him to attend.

    “We haven’t got any control, but we are being prosecuted,” she said.

    “How do you forcibly get them out of bed, into school and keep them there, and even if they are there, how do you make them learn? I just don’t understand what they want us to do.”

    Chalmers put much of her son’s problems down to lead poisoning from eating flakes of house paint as a baby. He was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) before starting school and has behavioural issues that have brought him close to expulsion.

    At 14, he was diagnosed as dyslexic, but Chalmers said it was too late by then to make him want to be in school and learn.

    “I was dropping him off, seeing him walk in and picking him up at the same place, only to find out later he had been bunking,” she said.

    The former Aranui High School student was no longer enrolled at any school, but Chalmers had not been threatened with prosecution despite her son’s prolonged absence.

    “There’s nothing I can do to stop it and it’s heartbreaking,” she said.

    “I know I’m not the only one out there.”

    Linwood College principal Rob Burrough said the move to heavier fines was positive, but cases needed to be looked at individually.

    “Part of it is parental issues and part is student problems, so I think a $3000 fine will have some impact, but there needs to be a multi-pronged approach,” he said.

    “Some parents have lost control of their children by their own admission, and so this is a burden for them.”

    Linwood has been trialling anti-truancy programme Rock On, in which the Ministry of Education, police, Child, Youth and Family and truancy services work with the school and parents to get students back in school.

    Canterbury police youth services co-ordinator Senior Sergeant John Robinson said police were working on their third prosecution this year for parents of truants.

    “We’ll never prosecute anyone if the child is the issue, only if the parent is the issue,” he said.

    Heavier fines sent a message to people that attending school was a priority.

    “No parent wants to be held out there having to front up before the court and told they are not a particularly good parent because they can’t get their kids to school,” Robinson said.

  • Police called to house before boy’s injuries

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/4800519a11.html

    Police called to house before boy’s injuries

    Monday, 22 December 2008

    Police have previously been called out to the Northland home of a 15-month-old boy who remains in a serious condition in hospital today with head injuries.

    Neighbours said police were often called after all-night parties at the Kerikeri house where the boy lived with his 21-year-old mother, her partner and at least one other person, The New Zealand Herald reported today.

    The boy’s birth father was “not in the picture”, police said.

    The house is on Cobham Rd, the same road where murdered teenager Liberty Templeman’s body was found last month.

    Kerikeri police began a criminal inquiry at the weekend into the boy’s injuries, which are expected to leave him blind and with permanent brain damage.

    The boy was taken to Bay of Islands Hospital in Kawakawa and then flown to Auckland’s Starship Hospital on Friday night, where he underwent urgent surgery.

    The child is now in the custody of Child, Youth and Family Services.

    Far North area commander Inspector Chris Scahill said police had not been called out in relation to the boy in the past.

    He did not know at this stage if the boy’s parents were known to police and establishing that would be part of the inquiry.

    Police yesterday conducted a detailed scene examination at the house to try to establish if that was where the boy sustained his injuries.

    They also spoke to the mother and other relatives at the boy’s bedside at Starship.

    Mr Scahill said police were continuing their inquiries with the boy’s family and other people relevant to the investigation.

    They appealed for anybody with knowledge of the circumstances surrounding the boy’s injuries to contact Kerikeri police.

  • Police Confirm Prosecutions For Smacking

    MEDIA RELEASE
    19 December 2008

    Police Confirm Prosecutions For Smacking

    LAW CONFIRMED AS SPECTACULAR FAILURE
    Latest figures on police activity following the anti-smacking law confirm that police are wasting valuable police time and resources investigating unwarranted complaints against parents, but they also confirm that they are prosecuting parents for smacking.

    “There has been a 30% blow-out in total CYF notifications in the last 12 months to just under 100,000, a 27% increase in referrals by police to CYF, and an increase in police investigations for smacking since the amendment. Yet the number of cases warranting further investigation by CYF has declined!” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.

    “Most concerning is that parents have been prosecuted or referred to CYF for minor smacking. Our fears of prosecutions have been confirmed.”

    “Sadly, the rate of ‘child assault’ prosecutions is decreasing and actual child abusers are not being caught and the ‘roll of horror’ of child abuse deaths continues with cases including 16 month old Sachin Dhani, 22-month-old Tyla-Maree Darryl Flynn, 3 year old Nia Glassie, Ten-month-old Jyniah Mary Te Awa, Two-month-old Tahani Mahomed, 3 year old Dylan Hohepa Tonga Rimoni, and 7-year-old Duwayne Toetu Taote Pailegutu.”

    “Green MP Sue Bradford is quite correct. She said ‘The epidemic of child abuse and child violence in this country continues – sadly. My bill was never intended to solve that problem.’ We agree.”

    “You know a law is completely ineffectual when the proponents applaud it because of its lack of impact and the problem and rate of child abuse remains,” says Mr McCoskrie.

    Family First is calling on the National government to amend the law so that non-abusive smacking is not a crime, and good parents are not victims of a law which should be targeted more effectively at child abusers.

    ENDS
    For More Information and Media Interviews, contact Family First:
    Bob McCoskrie – National Director
    Mob. 027 55 555 42

  • Welfare schemes ‘struggling’

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/4795187a11.html

    Welfare schemes ‘struggling’

    By BEN FAWKES – The Dominion Post | Wednesday, 17 December 2008

    Obesity, poverty and drug abuse are gobbling up billions of dollars in state funding as “short-sighted” welfare programmes struggle to deal with society’s most deprived people, the new Government has been told.

    Briefing papers prepared by a panel of state agency chief executives for Social Development Minister Paula Bennett say inter-agency co-operation is disjointed because of an absence of leadership and direction.

    “The combined effect of this has been a long-term under-investment in resilience building, prevention and early intervention initiatives.

    “This means we are spending more on remedial interventions than is ultimately necessary.”

    Of the $43 billion spent each year on state social services, more than $30 billion was spent on “social protection” – looking after people during times of hardship or crisis.

    “Some of this spending could have been avoided if more had been invested in high-quality, future-focused forms of spending to build resilience and prevent problems escalating and becoming entrenched,” the papers said.

    Included in the amount was about half a billion dollars spent annually on obesity-related healthcare costs, the $894 million spent this year on the rising prison population and $380 million spent on child and youth care and protection.

    The briefing also predicted that demand for social services would increase, as an aging population and low standards of living in Maori and Pacific Island communities placed greater demand on state resources. This could be exacerbated by tax cuts planned by the Government.

    Ms Bennett said the Government was committed to pulling the most deprived people out of poverty and would adopt a long-term approach to the problem.

    “I want to make sure the Social Development Ministry is focused on its core responsibilities in the years ahead, in particular those families stuck in long-term poverty. I don’t underestimate the challenges associated with this, but I intend to make it a priority.”

    She was also concerned that no single government agency had clear accountability for good parenting.

  • Mum stole paper round money, punched girl

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/4794853a12855.html

    Mum stole paper round money, punched girl

    By MICHELLE DUFF – Manawatu Standard | Tuesday, 16 December 2008

    A woman who demanded her 9-year-old daughter’s paper round money before punching her in the back of the head did it because she was “stressed”, a court has heard.

    The 34-year-old solo mother pleaded guilty to a charge of assault on a child in Dannevirke District court yesterday, for the incident on December 1.

    The court heard how at 9am, the Dannevirke beneficiary stormed into her daughter’s room and demanded the cash the girl had made from her paper run.

    When she refused the woman began to shout, and an argument ensued.

    As the girl left the bedroom the woman followed her down the hallway and punched her in the back of the head with a closed fist, the court was told.

    The girl fell to the ground where the woman began kicking her “numerous times” in the back, before she managed to scramble up and out of the house.

    She ran to an address down the road, where police were called.

    When spoken to by police the woman admitted all the evidence given by her daughter was true, and said in her defence: “I have been really stressed about a lot of things, and I just lost it.”

    The girl was removed from the home by Child, Youth and Family, and is staying with an aunt. It was a condition of the woman’s bail she have no contact with her daughter and refrain from consuming alcohol, the court heard.

    Judge Jennifer Binns convicted the woman of assault, remanding her for sentencing until February 26 so a victim impact statement could be prepared.

    She amended the bail conditions so the woman could see her daughter in supervised visits. “I’ve seen these cases before, and sometimes it’s detrimental if there is no contact at all.”

    The maximum sentence is two years’ imprisonment.

  • Child force-fed wasabi and mustard, court hears

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/4786639a11.html

    Child force-fed wasabi and mustard, court hears

    By GLENN McLEAN – Taranaki Daily News | Tuesday, 09 December 2008

    A Taranaki real estate agent charged with serious child abuse has been accused of force feeding a child spoonfuls of wasabi and mustard.

    The agent, who has interim name suppression, denied five charges of assaulting a child, as well as charges of ill treating a child and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

    The agent appeared in the New Plymouth District Court yesterday for a depositions hearing that is expected to finish today.

    Crown prosecutor Cherie Clarke said the agent is accused of deliberately slamming a door on a child’s hand, punching a child in the head and stomach, bending her fingers back, force feeding the child mustard, the hot Japanese condiment wasabi and hand soap, as well as making the child drink perfume.

    Ms Clarke said the offending was punishment for the girl after she forgot to do things like get the washing in or wipe down a bench.

    After the police got involved the child was taken out of the defendant’s home.

    It was after that happened the Crown says the accused put a block on the child’s cellphone and told her that it would only be unblocked if she told police or the defendant’s lawyer that she was making the accusations up.

    Two child witnesses were called to give evidence yesterday.

    The first, a friend of the alleged victim, told the court she had seen the accused force a teaspoon of wasabi into the mouth of the girl.

    “She was trying to spit it out because it was so hot,” the witness said.

    The young witness, who was giving evidence from behind a screen, also saw the accused punch her friend, slam the door on her hand, as well as forcing her to “basically do all the jobs you have to do in the house”.

    The second witness, the complainant in the case, said she never told anyone about the abuse because she thought she would get teased.

    She denied making the accusations up when cross-examined by defence counsel Kylie Pascoe, although she admitted running away from home and stealing money from people at school.

  • Explosion in CYF Notifications But Missing Abuse

    MEDIA RELEASE

    December 2008

    Explosion in CYF Notifications But Missing Abuse

    Latest figures show we’re narking on the wrong people.

    Family First NZ says that CYF’s limited resources are being wasted and non-abusive parents are being targeted, with a ‘blow-out’ in CYF notifications but the levels of actual abuse not increasing.

    CYF has received more than 93,200 notifications this year – up from 32,000 in the 2002–2003 period – and a 30% increase on the 2007 year. Yet actual child abuse being uncovered has shown no corresponding increase.

    In Palmerston North, notifications went up from 2341 to 2691, but identified cases actually dropped from 879 to 826. Waikato figures reported in the Waikato Times in August showed an increase of notifications from 5,973 to 8,629 but those requiring further action have fallen from 3729 to 3308 that same year.

    “If the increase in notifications was leading to the identification of actual child abuse which was previously being missed, this would be entirely appropriate and warranted – but it’s not. CYF is chasing its tail trying to deal with the huge explosion in notifications over the past five years but children are no safer from adults who actually are abusing them,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.

    “We all want the public to feel compelled to report child abuse when they see it, but the ideologically flawed anti-smacking law has resulted in unwarranted reports of good parents which is a waste of the limited resources of CYF and the Police. Good families are being narked on because we have confused appropriate and reasonable parental discipline and correction with violence and assault,” says Mr McCoskrie.

    “CYF and Police resources should be focusing their energies and resources on the real causes of child abuse – including drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, and family breakdown and dysfunction.”

    Family First NZ continues to call on the politicians to change the law so that non-abusive smacking is not a crime (as wanted by more than 80% of NZ’ers according to recent research), and a non-political Commission of Enquiry that identifies and treats the real causes of child abuse.

    ENDS

    For More Information and Media Interviews, contact Family First:

    Bob McCoskrie – National Director

    Mob. 027 55 555 42