For parents and whānau of tamariki with severe and complex behavioural needs, it can be like living in a warzone. Often these children can present a danger to themselves, as well as others.
One south Waikato mother describes it like this: “I feel like I’m in a domestic, violent relationship with a son I can’t escape. My great fear at the moment is that someone’s going to die. That’s how serious our situation here at home is.”
She is speaking out to The Hui, frustrated with how hard it is to access the help she desperately needs for her 11-year-old boy.
“He’s our little superhero. He just deserves a good chance at life. That’s what I’m fighting for,” she said tearfully.
The Hui has agreed not to name the mother or the family members.
This dreadful, dreadful story by The Hui is courageous journalism that brings light to a terrible situation that is bewildering.
That the Whānau had to go to 20 different agencies to get help for their child who is showing dangerously violent tendencies shows how damaged the entire sector is! Surely a Whanau Ora approach that provides wrap around services directly to the Whānau rather than having that whanua do all the chasing around is what is required here.
The entire point of Oranga Tamariki is to intervene early to save the state money downstream, a child who is taking up knives and randomly slashing siblings strikes me as a threshold for intervention!
Thankfully the Hui is drawing attention to this and hopefully that attention gets the family the services they need.
Why does it take a current affairs programme publicly shaming the State before they intervene?
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America has given Ukraine 8 surface to surface long range rocket launchers (HIMARS and MLRS) with more on the way.
The west are ready and willing to sacrifice many Ukrainians for the win much to the despair of Europe.
We’ve made a tactical mistake by expanding the war in Ukraine by giving Ukraine heavy ground weapons and that mistake was doing it while Putin is in Charge sementing him as The Iron Man. You don’t do that to the Iron Man.
There’s Russian infantry and artillery on one side and Chinese Type 003 Aircraftcarriers on the otherside and it’s impenetrable.
The amount of finesse that needs to be available right now is insufficient. Deplomacy has failed. WW3 is here.
That moment when you realise you are on the wrong bus . .
Sam, looks like you’ve posted on the wrong thread.
Usually would of passed this post up on my TDB but opened it accidentally.
My heart goes out to this family having had similar experience with our son who at this age showed similar anti social tendencies. We did get help for him through various people/agencies and also we were in the position to send him to a school where pastoral care was seen just as important as academic achievement. Long story short thanks mainly to my sons unrelenting mother’s perseverance he has turned out to be a fine young man with a trade and living a positive life, although at times he’s still a little shit.
Thanks to the TDB and the program it screened on for bringing these and similar stories to the front and centre stage.
Just hope this Whanau hangs on in there for there boy