Tragedy-hit region gains abuse team

Specialist child safety unit already cutting response times, say police

An extra team of social workers to solely focus on child protection has been established to work alongside police in a region with a dreadful child abuse record.

While staff from the Ministry for Children and detectives have worked together in the same building in Whakatane for several years, the new eastern Bay of Plenty team is the first to be ring-fenced and specialise in child abuse.

This means police in the child protection team now work with the same social workers on a daily basis.

Allegations of child abuse or neglect are now being investigated more quickly, say police, often with experienced detectives and social workers speaking with the children and families together.

If proven successful, the specialist teams could also be established in Tauranga, Rotorua and Taupo by the Ministry for Children, Oranga Tamariki.

The new team in Whakatane comes after a Weekend Herald investigation last year which revealed shortcomings by Child Youth and Family — the predecessor to Oranga Tamariki — after repeated red flags about the dysfunctional family of Isaiah Neil.

The 8-month-old boy died in November 2015 after being left in a car while his mother and grandmother smoked synthetic cannabis inside their house.

His father failed to ring 111 when he discovered Isaiah limp and lifeless, instead putting him in a cot.

A review by CYF found a number of shortcomings including how staff in Whakatane were routinely opening “assessment” records when safety concerns were raised about children, even if the assessment was not completed.

This was to meet internal performance timeframes, but often meant there was no urgency for social workers to finish the safety assessment.

Staff at the Whakatane site were told in September 2015 to stop opening assessment records early and clear the backlog of cases, according to a practice note obtained under the Official Information Act.

A number of changes had taken place at the Whakatane office since Isaiah’s death, said Tayelva Petley, the regional manager for Oranga Tamariki in the Bay of Plenty.

Among other improvements to monitoring and assessment of cases in Whakatane, the review of CYF under the previous National Government identified the need for more staff across the country in the new Oranga Tamariki.

So Petley made a successful application for more staff in Whakatane to create the specialist team.

“Now we are Oranga Tamariki, we can be more creative with how we put staff in the right places, to get the best results.

“The police have wanted [a dedicated team of social workers] to happen for quite some time, to give them credit they suggested it, they are absolutely over the moon.”

Having staff dedicated to child protection also built expertise and skills, said Petley, particularly in interviewing children who might have been traumatised.

Specialist child abuse teams in Rotorua, Tauranga and Taupo were now “on the table” after hearing positive feedback from Whakatane.

Detective Sergeant Ant Hay, in charge of the six-strong police child protection team for the eastern Bay of Plenty, was also enthusiastic about the joint approach.

“It’s already made a big difference. Working together allows us to make quicker decisions about families and children who come to our attention.”