Action demanded after deaths of three Bay of Plenty children this year

Thursday, 11 April 2019

An 'unapologetic attitude' to reporting violence against children is needed if New Zealand is ever to curb the high rate of child deaths,  the Childrens' Commissioner says. 

His message comes after yet another Bay of Plenty child was admitted to hospital with serious injures.

Of the six children killed already this year, three of them are from Bay of Plenty towns.

They include Bay of Plenty toddlers Sadie-Leigh Gardner who was 17-months-old when she died on March 29 from injuries which occurred at a Maungatapu address and Nevaeh Jahkaya Watkura Ager, 2, who was found dead on March 21 at the tidal flats near Little Waihi. 

Rotorua police are also investigating the death of a two-year-old boy in Ōwhata in February.

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There have also been several other children seriously injured in the region since the beginning of the year.

In response, Childrens' Commissioner Andrew Becroft said 'we need to be unapologetic about notifying Oranga Tamariki'.

'We need to put the needs of children first,' he said.

Becroft said there was some debate as to whether mandatory reporting laws could be put in place making it an offence to not report child abuse.

But he said the issue was complex and argued that making laws in that way could dissuade people from disclosing violence to friends and family, cutting them off from social services. 

So he wasn't totally convinced by that argument as yet.

However, he was certain the perceived stigma of reporting child abuse needed to stop.  

'There is no shame in contacting Oranga Tamariki,' he said.

'There are often friends, families and neighbours who know abuse is going on but feel embarrassed to or uncertain about reporting.'

Each year more than 90,000 reports of concern are logged with the Ministry of Vulnerable Children Oranga Tamariki but many more children suffer in silence unreported.

Meanwhile, improvements have been made to Oranga Tamariki which Becroft describes as being a 'sea change' to curbing violence towards children. 

One change, which takes effect on July 1, will allow greater sharing of information between social agencies.

This was identified as a key factor in the horrific death of three-year-old  Moko Rangitoheriri case who was viciously killed by his carers in 2015 while multiple agencies provided support but were not communicating. 

Moko died in one of the worst years ever for child killings, with 16 children killed in 2015. 

Oranga Tamariki will be able to hold 'intensive interventions' to steer families away from violence earlier on.  

Bay of Plenty regional manager Tayelva Petley said intervening with families could help curb violence.

The Intensive Intervention programme will be piloted from July across the country with Tokoroa one location to host the programme.

'We will work with vulnerable families and try to turn them around,' she said. 

'This will mean the only children that are coming into care are there because of serious concerns.'

Intervening earlier is hoped to reduce the number of children uplifted from care as Oranga Tamariki will become involved with families before uplifting is the only remaining option.

Police confirmed investigations into the two infant deaths in the Bay of Plenty are continuing.

Two other active investigations are open for two other children seriously injured since Christmas 2018. 

On April 3, a child was presented to Tauranga Hospital with serious injuries requiring evacuation to Starship children's hospital. 

On December 30, 2018, a three-week-old child was injured non-accidentally at a Welcome Bay address. 

Detective Inspector Lewis Warner said the public needs to report any concerns for children's safety. 

'Many people have well-founded suspicions and fail to act due to concerns that their suspicions may be wrong,' he said. 

'It's better to let us know so our specialist Child Protection teams can investigate.'