Guest editorial:Integrated plan vital to save kids

Once again the "system" has failed a child and its abusive parents.

Twenty-four years ago, the then Labour Government moved to close Social Welfare residential care facilities for children. Their rationale was that, with support, those children should be looked after in the community. Effective community support was not in place when those residential facilities were closed, and I do not believe that they have ever caught up to the demand.

Effective as they were, those institutions were still ambulances at the bottom of the cliff. The damage to the children had already been done.

Before the closings, I contacted a number of agencies around Whanganui which were involved with children and their families and discussed how best the community could be served, given this new concept. Those contacted were from Plunket, kindergarten, district nurses, primary teachers, Principals' Association and Police Youth Aid. They all had had long experience and hands-on contact with a wide range of children. All of these people stated those children who would later be a "problem" were easily identified early in their lives. The warning flags were out almost from almost birth, sometimes before.

From this consultation, a plan was drawn up that would attack the problems at their source. A multi-talented team would be formed that could go into the homes of families that had been identified, assess the problems and teach the parents how to rectify their behaviours so that the child and subsequent children were not adversely affected. This could be through budgeting, nutrition nurturing, anger management, drug programmes, you name it. It focused on teaching the parents the ability to give their families what was needed to succeed.

Coupled with this would be voluntary mentors. They would act as surrogate family members and support them in following their prescribed programmes.

A hundred years ago it took a village to raise a child. Fifty years ago a family raised their child.

Now families leave it up to the child care/kindies/schools to raise their child.

Some parents are now lacking the skills and knowledge of nurturing to pass on to their children.

This last case of abuse, misuse and torture shows the inadequacy of the numerous agencies involved. All referrals should go through a single robust desk, be assessed and then allocated to appropriate agencies.

Footnote: My plan was fully endorsed by those I had consulted but was rejected by DSW, as the whole exercise in closing down the institutions was for cost-cutting. They were not looking at alternatives.

Ray Walton was a residential social worker at Holdsworth School then Otamatea Children's Centre 1976-87.