Child, Youth and Family (CYF) is so short of foster parents that children are being placed with caregivers before the new parents are properly trained. A national recruitment campaign to find 300 caregivers has fallen short, with 120 signed up and a further 60 to be assessed. … Christchurch Family and Foster Care Association chairwoman […]

A new wave of JUSTICE. After 2.5 yrs of litigation concerning a prenup contract and 3 court hearings with my ex wife, I won my case and was left with a bill of $160K. To my dismay my child’s mother then sold her home and moved to another town against my wishes and without court […]

By Simon Collins NZ Herald Some social service agencies say they will refuse to “prostitute” themselves by taking part in a plan to farm out possibly around half the children notified to Child, Youth and Family Services (CYFS). The controversial plan, due to go before the new Parliament, is designed to help CYFS cope with […]

NZ Herald Radio New Zealand has lost an appeal against a Broadcasting Standards Authority ruling that it apologise to convicted child molester Peter Ellis. Radio NZ had argued that an apology was a voluntary expression of contrition and to be ordered to say sorry, when it was not, amounted to dishonesty. The order for an […]

The boys may now need more than a condom and a pre-nuptial in their tool kit, for protection!

On Close-Up (TV ONE) last night Susan Wood introduced a story “that would scare any parent”, about a North Shore father accused of sexually abusing his daughter. An anonymous caller to the CYFS 0800 number claimed that he had been seen bouncing his three-year-old daughter up and down on his knee while reading her a […]

Controversial government agency Child Youth and Family Service is to begin farming out much of its work to charities like Barnardos and Plunket. … Shannon Pakura, CYFS general manager service development, said the new model was the most significant change for the service in a decade. … The department had been struggling to deal with […]

A Waikato woman has been jailed for making false complaints that she was raped by a policeman and sexually assaulted by his colleague. Sally Marie Inglis, 44, was sentenced to five months jail at the Tauranga District Court yesterday after being found guilty of two charges of making a false complaint to police. Judge Robert […]

by Chris Trotter. Otago Daily Times, August 12th 2005 I was one of those who signed the petition organised by Don Brash and Lynley Hood calling for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the arrest, trial and conviction of Peter Ellis in the Christchurch civic creche case. … While recommending a number of worthwhile changes […]

More cases involving children should be dealt with outside court or by someone other than a judge, the principal Family Court judge says. … In a speech tonight to the Auckland Family Courts Association, Judge Boshier said the changes were needed to maintain confidence and reduce delays as requested by Parliament. He said: “Better processes […]

Hamilton police will decide this week whether to charge two women who made separate false rape complaints at the weekend. Detective Sergeant Nigel Keall said police spent time and resources investigating the women’s complaints. “It’s just a waste of resources that could have been used elsewhere.” … Senior investigators estimate that between 60 and 80 […]

A parliamentary committee has rejected a call for a royal commission of inquiry into the case of convicted childcare worker Peter Ellis. … A petition calling for a top-level look at the creche case has been with Parliament’s justice and electoral select committee for two years. Committee chairman Tim Barnett said today a royal commission […]

The father of a girl videoed being sexually abused by her CYF-appointed caregiver says he pleaded with social workers not to place his daughters and son with the man because they would be in danger. Police are investigating the man after they discovered thousands of child pornography images on his computer and videos in which […]

Martin Van Beynan Christchurch Press You would have been shocked, as I was, by a story from Britain last week about the latest terrible turn in child abuse. The story, which would have found its way into most major world newspapers, was about a study done for the London police by a social worker and […]

An ACC sponsored conference dealing with sexual and physical abuse is creating a stir over comments made by some of its speakers. Streaming Video of TV One News item The National Party’s Katherine Rich says: ACC must clarify role in abuse conference. “This fringe conference has a wacky, and what appears to be in some […]

Press Release: Dr Muriel Newman, ACT New Zealand New information on the Department of Child Youth and Family shows the organisation is being staffed with inexperienced social workers, the majority of whom have had less than five years experience, ACT Deputy Leader and Social Welfare spokesman Dr Muriel Newman said today. Answers to Dr Newman’s […]

Media Release: Green Party How many more children need to be bruised, beaten and suffer broken bones before the Government realises it is time to repeal the archaic section in the Crimes Act that allows it to happen, asks Green Party Children’s Issues Spokesperson, Sue Bradford. Last week in Timaru yet another parent escaped prosecution […]

Child, Youth and Family has housed six children a month on average in motels and backpacker hostels because of a shortage of caregivers. Figures obtained by The Dominion Post under the Official Information Act show that 54 children in CYF care were placed in motels, backpackers and guest houses from January to September last year. […]

Early last month, convicted child molester Peter Ellis suffered a heart attack. Ellis may be a chain smoker who is partial to red meat and the odd tipple, but the most probable cause of his condition appears to be stress. Ellis has waited nearly two years for a select committee to decide whether to recommend […]

A current affairs programme is doing a story which uses as its hook the New Plymouth case where a father was found guilty of assaulting his son, after he allegedly smacked him twice on the bottom. This opens up the wider debate as to whether smacking is the appropriate way to discipline children, and whether […]

The rather startling news that 60% of reported cases of child abuse now turn out to be completely unsubsantiated (or “incorrect” according to current jargon) gets a completely different spin in the Dominion Post story below. Presumably Stuart Birks said something meaningful to the reporter about the subject of false allegations, but it didn’t survive […]

A High Court judgment has exposed a bitter custody battle in which a woman’s false allegations of sex abuse took two years to disprove because of incompetence on the part of social services. The injustice suffered by the father was compounded when a costs award in his favour was reduced by the High Court following […]

British teachers accused of abusing pupils should be given anonymity while claims are investigated, the Tories say. One former Lancashire headmaster, who now works for the campaign group Falsely Accused Carers and Teachers, explains how such protection would have helped him when he was arrested in 1998. I was interviewing some parents when my secretary […]

Children involved with Child, Youth and Family (CYF) are 15 times more likely to commit suicide than other New Zealand children, according to studies. Between 1994 and 1999 almost half of the 129 children under the age of 17 who killed themselves were in contact with CYF. But the new programme changed all that. Towards […]

A packed public gallery erupted in cheers, tears and high-fives as a schoolteacher cleared of sex charges walked from Palmerston North District Court a free man today. It took the jury – comprising 10 women and two men – 12 hours to reach its verdicts over the charges against Michael Warren Neville, after being sent […]