Autistic teen spends night in a cell

The mother of a 14-year-old autistic boy says her son has been passed around like unwanted baggage between different agencies since being arrested on Wednesday.

Nobody in the public health care or criminal justice agency seemed to know what to do with the Palmerston North boy since an alleged assault on his mum.

He then spent the night in a cell, with police saying ‘‘appropriate’’ accommodation options weren’t available that night.

On Friday, his mother said her boy’s conditions meant he presented risks to younger siblings. Family did not have the training, skills or facilities to manage these risks, she said.

She called police on Wednesday over her son’s unruly behaviour. She said she had called police before, but this was the first time he was arrested. ‘‘He spent the night in the cell.’’ The two days since had been a nightmare for the teen and his family, as no adequately trained people seemed willing or able to house him.

She believed other families were in a similar position ‘‘but there’s just nothing out there for these kids’’.

He had been rejected from different facilities, would likely spend the weekend in hastily arranged residential accommodation, then face court again on Monday.

‘‘In this country, there is just no knowledge, no support,’’ his mum

"I got a call to say mum had been assaulted and the police had taken him away in handcuffs.’’ Autism New Zealand board member Wendy Duff

said on Friday. ‘‘We’re struggling to get people. We’re not qualified either.’’

Autism New Zealand board member Wendy Duff said the boy’s situation was alarming.

‘‘I got a call to say mum had been assaulted and the police had taken him away in handcuffs.’’

Duff said some regions were short of psychiatrists, psychologists, and especially caregivers trained to cope with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Poor wages for caregivers amplified problems, she said.

Duff understood the boy was with Child, Youth and Family (CYF) on Thursday night with two ‘‘security guards’’ minding him.

She said last September the family approached Rangatahi Adolescent Inpatient Service in Porirua, which would not have him.

Capital & Coast DHB could not immediately find any record of the boy but ‘‘Rangatahi would be an inappropriate facility for the person you have described’’, a spokesman said.

Police confirmed a 14-year-old boy was held in custody overnight on Wednesday ‘‘due to other appropriate accommodation being unavailable that night.’’

CYF central regional director Karen Hocking said her office was working with the court and other agencies to provide support.

‘‘We’re very mindful of his vulnerability as we continue to work closely with him and his family.

‘‘His current circumstances mean that he is now in front of the Youth Court. We don’t believe it is in his best interests to comment further while that process is underway.’’

A MidCentral DHB spokesman said they were working with the family ‘‘to provide support and make arrangements for the person concerned’’.

‘‘Temporary accommodation has been arranged, and the NASC (Needs Assessment and Service Co-ordination) staff will continue working with the family next week to put in place more permanent arrangements.’’

The boy’s plight emerged a day after the High Court in Wellington heard an autistic, intellectually disabled man was being detained more than a decade after his arrest for smashing windows.

An urgent judicial review on his detention was expected later this month.

On Friday, his lawyer Dr Tony Ellis said the plight of some intellectually disabled and autistic New Zealanders was akin to that of ‘‘forgotten people’’.

His client’s detention was repeatedly extended in what Ellis called secretive courts, sometimes with no lawyer present.

What the courts did with the man happened ‘‘as a matter of routine’’ so there were likely other Kiwis in the same position, Ellis said.