TOP STORY: $500,000 centre to prevent child abuse

By Elaine Fisher and Carly Udy
A $500,000 training centre to teach new parents how to bond with their babies is being proposed for Tauranga to help prevent child abuse.
It would be the first facility of its kind in New Zealand and is being driven by Whakamarama child psychotherapist Augustina Driessen.
"I believe it is vital for society's future. We must address urgently the huge issues of physical, sexual and emotional child abuse in this country. Sue Bradford's [anti-smacking] bill won't do that," Mrs Driessen said.
A Matua couple has already donated $10,000 to kick-start the programme and Mrs Driessen herself has spent more than $10,000 on it.
The Tauranga centre would be based on the teachings of the world's leading authority on attachment disorder, Dr Karl Brisch from Munich, who was in New Zealand last month at the invitation of Mrs Driessen.
During his visit Dr Brisch gave a series of lectures on the parenting programme he calls Safe Attachment (secure attachment family training education), aimed at couples expecting babies.
The centre would be staffed by professionals trained in Dr Brisch's methods to work with at-risk parents before and after babies were born, helping resolve personal issues and learning parenting and coping skills to bond with their babies and help them be the best parents they could.
"Most parents who abuse their children don't want to do that. However, if they have unresolved issues from their own childhood, it can be very difficult," Dr Brisch said during his visit to Tauranga. "Facilitators are trained to identify issues which may affect parenting abilities and help parents work through them before the baby is born. There is on-going support after the birth and mothers are also watched in case they develop post-natal depression."
Following Dr Brisch's visit Mrs Driessen said there was now a group of people with the skills to set up the training centre. Dr Brisch has returned to Germany to arrange for manuals for the programmes to be translated into English.
"What we need now is funding of around $500,000 to make this happen. It will not be easy but I believe it is vital for society's future."
Mrs Driessen said she aimed to secure government funding for the preventative programme and planned to form a charitable trust. She said the finer details of how the programme would run were yet to be decided, including whether there would be a cost involved to parents.
There was also the possibility that it could join up with other organisations and work in conjunction with them. Parents could be referred to the attachment centre through their GP, midwives or Work and Income.
"I really feel in my heart, this is what we need, not to patch people up. We need to prevent it happening, I know as a group we can do that, we can make a difference. New Zealand is in a crisis, a huge crisis. If no changes are made in 20 to 30 years time there will only be prisons and no residents.
Pam Wards, area manager for Plunket, said anything that helps parents to find strategies to parent their children was a good thing but wanted to know more about the programme.
However, the initiative has drawn a cautious response from the Western Bay co-ordinator for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, Colleen Ross. Ms Ross said there were already courses available to young people and if new ones were going to work, they would be better off implemented at high schools.
For more information contact Augustina Driessen, ph 552 5295.