Spotlight on CYF as baby fights for life

By STEPHEN COOK

The actions of Child, Youth and Family are under review after a baby, whose two siblings had already been removed from their mother's home, was left fighting for his life in hospital.

The 6-week-old boy was in a critical condition in Auckland's Starship hospital last night and his mother is facing an assault charge relating to head injuries the child received a week ago.

Yesterday, Child, Youth and Family Minister Ruth Dyson confirmed she had asked her department for a report on the case, which again raises questions about CYF's performance and its handling of cases involving at-risk children.

A 26-year-old unemployed Tauranga woman will appear before the court again today so it can consider a variation in her bail conditions, as the charge is likely to be amended if the baby does not survive.

The woman has interim name suppression.

The Herald can reveal that a 2-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl were taken from the woman's care by CYF a year ago after allegations of neglect.

They are now in foster care in Tauranga.

CYF would not comment on the case yesterday as it was before the court, but it is understood the two children's foster family had wanted to take the new baby as well.

A source close to the family said the foster parents were devastated. They wanted to know why the woman had been allowed to keep her baby when CYF was familiar with her history.

"They are totally beside themselves. They had wanted to raise this third child as well," the source said.

"She [the accused] wasn't fit to have the other two, so why was she fit to have the third one?"

He said the mother had monthly supervised access to her two children, but she rarely turned up. That should have been a clear enough sign for CYF, the source said.

Gordon McFadyen, the investigations manager for the Office of the Commissioner for Children, said yesterday that CYF's chief social worker had alerted him to the case.

He had been told the child was "very seriously ill". He did not want to comment on specifics, but said if the baby died a report would be provided to his office for review.

The woman's lawyer, Rachel Adams, and Tauranga CIB head Greg Turner also declined to comment on the case.

But Act's social welfare spokeswoman, Muriel Newman, said given the woman's history she should have been under intense CYF scrutiny.

If the woman was not deemed to be a suitable mother then the child should have been taken from her at birth.

"I really worry about that department," Dr Newman said. "When they fail, children's lives are at risk. You cannot have a department failing when you're dealing with kids."

National's social services spokeswoman, Katherine Rich, said the case was heartbreaking and again highlighted fundamental flaws at CYF.

The alarm bells should have been ringing, given that two of the woman's children had already been removed from her care.

"When it comes to a child's life you would hope social workers would err on the side of caution."