CYF rates bad press above suicide bids

Child, Youth and Family's new operational rules for its youth justice facilities require head office to be notified immediately of "negative media exposure" while attempted suicides are reported monthly, an inquest was told yesterday.

Christchurch Coroner Richard McElrea has adjourned his inquest into the death of Dunedin teenager Carla Louise Frew at Kingslea residential centre in Christchurch early on January 3 last year.

One Child, Youth and Family (CYF) staff member lost his job and three others received open-ended final warnings after the 16-year-old was found dead in her bedroom.

A police investigation found there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding her death.

CYF staff gave evidence yesterday of tensions running high at the centre the night Miss Frew died.

A staff member assigned to keep an eye on Miss Frew was in another building watching a video movie and forms validating checks on young people every 90 minutes were falsified.

In evidence yesterday, CYF youth justice residences operations manager Chris Polaschek told of introducing a new standard operating procedure and making many improvements since Miss Frew's death.

He had admitted in evidence there were gaps and a "lack of clarity" in the agency's previous procedures.

Cross-examined by Andrew McKenzie for the National Union of Public Employees, Mr Polaschek said he saw no problem with CYF's priorities.

Those priorities rated a young person's suicide attempt that did not involve outside medical assistance below that of poor media publicity.

Included in standard operating procedures introduced by Mr Polaschek in February this year, the operations manager is to be notified immediately by telephone "any time, day or night" for "Category A" incidents, which include a death in custody, serious injury requiring offsite medical treatment, escape, other "significant events", and "negative media exposure".

A suicide attempt requiring onsite medical treatment falls into "Category B", which requires a telephone report to the operations manager by noon on the next business day.

- NZPA