Whanau placement
June 25th, 2012 at 1:00 pm by David FarrarStuff reports:
A Taranaki woman who was put in the care of a convicted rapist during her teens has had an apology from Child Youth and Family.
At 16, the woman whose real name has not been released, was taken from her family and placed with an uncle who had spent six years in prison for taking part in a gang rape and who subsequently sexually abused her.
The woman said a friend of her uncle’s who has since died from AIDS also abused her and she and her first born son are HIV positive.
In a statement reported by Marae Investigates, the Ministry of Social Development said it was a gap in CYF policy that had let the woman down.
“In 2001 it wasn’t mandatory for CYF staff to do criminal checks around family placement decisions made at youth justice Family Group Conferences.”
Ministry of Social Development deputy chief executive David Shanks said that staff at the time still had to check the suitability of caregivers and the Ministry does not condone the placement of any child or young person with a convicted sex offender.
How appalling. Part of the solution is better checks, but part of the solution is revisiting the policy that family members be the priority for placement of children needing care. Often if the parents are unsuitable to raise a child, so are the wider family. Abuse does not occur in a vacuum.
Criminal checks for CYF placements became compulsory early this year.
As I said, that is a good step, but not necessarily the only one to be taken.
June 25th, 2012 at 1:19 pm
I understand the concern, and CYF should absolutely do this (albeit the paperwork involved is probably horrendous).
But also, this was a family group conference. The family agreed that this guy was a good place for her to go. They have some culpability too.
Vote:June 25th, 2012 at 1:20 pm
The should be a substantial award for compensation as well. This has ruined her life especially contacting HIV
Vote:June 25th, 2012 at 1:24 pm
Part of teh solution is not to let your sex offender mates fuck you neice. People need to stop going around and blaming the government for the fuckup of your own whanau.
Vote:June 25th, 2012 at 1:26 pm
Fuck ups like this are what you should expect, when you give childless, clueless 21-year-old girls with social work degrees real power over people, to play at “fixing” damaged children.
Too many of them are just not competent enough for the responsibilities they have.
Vote:June 25th, 2012 at 1:45 pm
There has been evidence that the anti-smacking law is causing quite some damage to young children.
eg, take the grandparents last week who admitted smacking , and were banned from taking custody of a sibling of a kid they were already caring for.
John Key is a fraud in this respect, he said he’d revoke the anti-smacking law if it was shown to be punishing good people (or something to that effect).
Vote:June 25th, 2012 at 1:45 pm
The code of silence is powerful. And hides whakama, shame.
We never hear of the whanau castigating other members of their family, it’s a case of shut up and admit no wrong.
This woman’s whanau put hiding its shame before its obligation to care for the child. happens all the time.
Vote:June 25th, 2012 at 2:18 pm
So the family, who must have known about the uncle’s conviction and habits, all agreed it was the best place for the girl. And it’s CYFS fault? Imagine the media if CYFS had demanded police checks and then gone against the wishes of the family.
Vote:And it was 11 years ago. Who dredges all this stuff up?
Time for some compo perhaps? From the poor old long-suffering taxpayer yet again.
June 25th, 2012 at 2:26 pm
Just imagine if the family involved was pakeha, no apologists then!
Why do we continue with this whanau crap? More and more so called whanau are the villains ?
Vote:June 25th, 2012 at 3:10 pm
A lot of the problem has to sheeted back to the PC objection to proper adoption where loving adoptive parents take over full responsiblity for the development of a human being. The judge on Radio NZ this morning described how most foster children are destined for a life of crime. Some poor kids have 40 ‘placements’; why? because the PC brigade have decided the natural parent’s rights exceed the right of the child to have a decent life. Whanau placement is just a cop out.
Vote:June 25th, 2012 at 3:17 pm
I think placement has a lot to do with money as well. When someone adopts they don’t get paid a weekly stipend from the taxpayer.
Vote:June 25th, 2012 at 3:18 pm
“but part of the solution is revisiting the policy that family members be the priority for placement of children needing care”
Yea, there’s never a baby in the bathwater.
Vote:June 25th, 2012 at 3:57 pm
I notice that there is not a suggestion that family placements be reduced, just that we should re-evaluate the “Family at all costs” approach that currently exists.
Sometimes the family is NOT the right place, but that would require a significant rollback in the closures of family homes and the employment of professional caregivers to run them that BOTH national and labour have done to save money.
Having been intimately involved in that area for more than 20 years in New Zealand I can assure you that the politicians and the screwed up middle management at DSW/CY&F/CYPS/[next acronym] will always screw the kids and the non-family caregivers to save money.
Vote:June 25th, 2012 at 6:32 pm
How can you be part of a gang rape and only be put away for six years?!
What exactly did the sentencing judge think would happen when he got out, was released with family, and able to be surrounded by dozens of poorly supervised neglected children?
The family have complete culpability in this case if they suggested this “uncle” would be an appropriate carer. Haven’t they seen Once Were Warriors?
Vote:June 25th, 2012 at 6:36 pm
“How can you be part of a gang rape and only be put away for six years?!”
Surely you jest. Nil Ziland silly…ya lucky if you get 10 years for a murder .
Vote:June 26th, 2012 at 12:52 pm
When the media is allowed to spotlight CYFS and when the public is allowed to criticise CYFS the country will begin to be a better place. Not until then
Vote:July 7th, 2012 at 6:59 am
Paula Bennett is a liar, she said FGC now do Police check’s as of late last year. ( so late 2011 ).
I went to a FGC, ( October 2011 ) and I pointed out at the FGC that some people were convicted Rapist’s, others had hidden the Rape’s, but still CYF’s wanted to place the “Girl” in a dangerous situation with the bad side of the Whanau.
The only question I should have asked the Case Manager ( was she raped when she was child – as that would explain her actions ) for the girl, but I caught the CYF’s Case Manager out, as she had filed Fake Affidavits at the Family Court, and had also gotten a Fake Psychological Report saying that another Family were kiddy fiddlers.
The Case manager was too lazy to even look at the Rape File I prepared to give her – and the convictions on the Whanau side.
In this Case, The Maori Side of the Whanau, had 4 generations of Sex Abuse in it.
The Pakeha side of the Family were the ones who had the finger pointed at them for having Child Abusers in it, when they didn’t.
Importantly this case is not about whether your Maori or Pakeha, ( as both groups can have Feral people in such families ) the important aspect is that CYF’s made False claims about a Family, but with documented evidence the Whanau with the Convicted Rapists were offered the girl.
Incredibly the CYF’s Case Manager ( Case Manager is too nice a word for her – she was a “Piece of Shyte” ) was still fighting to place the “Girl” with the Rapist side of the Whanau.
Vote: