Oranga Tamariki published data not long ago detailing the number and nature of abuse/neglect cases happening to children in state care. I pointed out then that many children who are 'in state care' officially are nevertheless in the day-to-day of their parents or family members.
Today RNZ reports:
Oranga Tamariki released data showing its own staff have harmed children in care eight times in the space of six months: six cases of physical harm, and one each of sexual and emotional harm.My immediate response is surprise at how low the number is.
'Children' can include individuals up to 18 years of age. Some will be incredibly difficult to handle. Doubtless they will require firmness; may provoke and may attack. Some will be pre-prison characters.
I would dearly love to know more about these cases but privacy dictates details can never be released.
But I don't see 8 cases in 6 months as a rod to use on the back of people doing extremely difficult work.
3 comments:
So when it is state involvement in the life of the family you don’t like, the state is incompetent and shouldn’t be engaged in the enterprise in the first place
...but when it is state involvement in the life of the family you do like, they are doing their best in a very difficult situation?
Irrespective of the rightness or otherwise of your views on the welfare state, that is a case of having your cake and eating it, I’d suggest.
My "views on the welfare state" are that it is a massive redistribution scheme that only gets bigger hence it is unsustainable. Not to mention the many inherent disincentives and unintended consequences it has produced, none of which the original architects would have anticipated. Imagine Micky Savage's reaction on learning that eventually the taxpayer would have to pay for children fathered by men with no legal financial responsibility for them. Not just a few. Thousands of them.
When it comes to care and protection services I believe the state has a legitimate role. Or it could be outsourced to a private agency as in private prisons and private security. But that's a different argument.
I worked at Child youth and family in 2007 for three months. Quickly worked out that there are monsters out there.
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