The Chief Social Worker has taken the unusual step of releasing a practice review of CYF's involvement with the minors who killed Arun Kumar in Henderson, Auckland.
First I need to acknowledge the grief of the family of Arun Kumar.More
Child, Youth and Family (CYF) had open interventions with both boys accused of his manslaughter.
We accept we could have done more to support these boys.
CYF’s involvement in their lives began before they were even born.
They each grew up in environments where drug and alcohol use, criminal activity, family violence and anti-social behaviour impacted on their lives.
Our staff put a lot of time into trying to help these boys on a positive path.
But none of this excuses us from admitting that CYF could have done a better job.
My overwhelming reaction is a vision of the thousands more NZ children growing up in similar circumstances. Our prisons are bursting at the seams with young men who have grown up in these environments and, statistics tell us, most have already fathered two, three or more children who will follow suit. It seems to me that even though the official line maintains, "crime is reducing", the incidence of violence spilling over into innocent communities is increasing. Even the bright spot that is reducing teenage births, where many of these tragic families hail from, is probably self-selecting for the worst cases to continue. That is, those females with the most capabilities are also those who will successfully avoid a pregnancy. It's a gloomy day and a gloomy thought.
1 comment:
Lindsay
I find myself commenting on a few of your posts recently, largely because you are touching on issues that go to the very core of our culture, how we treat our children, and how the dead hand of the State is complicit in this dysfunction.
Of course CYF’s could have done more, but everyone knows they can never do enough. It is impossible for the State to remediate by way of process, what children lack by way of parenting.
The blindingly obvious solution is for the State to stop funding fatherless children into a life of brokenness and dysfunction. Every New Zealander should know this, but sadly not enough appear to… yet.
While CYF’s and their political masters are driven by a failed ideology based upon a distorted understanding of compassion, then the obvious step will never be taken.
You are right. It’s depressing.
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