News release
Prime Minister’s child abuse comments welcomed

A charity that specialises in tackling child abuse has welcomed the Prime Minister’s commitment to do something about what has been widely described as ‘New Zealand’s greatest shame.’

Libby Robins, director of the Family Help Trust, which works with families of young children at the highest risk of child abuse, says she hopes the Prime Minister’s pledge will be backed up with action, and soon.

“After the election we were optimistic about the signals the government was giving on the issue of child abuse prevention. However, we have become increasingly concerned about the lack of detail that has emerged in the last six months.

“The Prime Minister’s comment in the house this week that his government is going to do something about child abuse is therefore encouraging, and we look forward to hearing exactly what he has in mind.

“It would be ideal if the Prime Minister can find a way to sustainably fund services such as ours to provide effective early intervention to prevent child abuse. In our case that would be a marked increase in what we currently receive from the government, but would enable us to face the future with some certainty and really focus on the children who most need our service.

“With the economy in recession, the Prime Minister is in no position to run a lolly scramble for social services providers, although there is a strong argument that tough economic times are even more reason for government to provide for those who face the greatest difficulty via the social agencies, such as ours, which work with them,” she said.

Libby Robins says it is hard to find anyone who does not feel passionate about the issue.

“Everyone feels strongly about what is happening to many of the youngest, most vulnerable and most socially deprived New Zealanders, who are born into families that suffer multiple problems, to parents who lack the skills to care for their infants and are prone to expressing themselves through violence.

“Many who examine the problem conclude that child abuse is intractable, therefore consigning the issue, its perpetrators and their victims to the ‘too hard basket.’

“That is not our approach. The Family Help Trust has demonstrated that a specialist service focussed on prevention and targeted at the highest risk group is able to take action to help these families to learn the parenting skills they lack, and therefore break the cycle of child maltreatment and abuse,” she said.

Ms Robins suggested that, as the Prime Minister works out how he will combat child abuse, he will be aware that some early intervention programmes, aimed at families of children in the first years of life, have proven effective.

“The government is facing problems with prison over-crowding and has indicated it will take a tough line on youth offenders by introducing boot camps. The budget also included provision for schools to deal with the most disruptive pupils by employing teacher aides.

“We know the sort of problems faced by families that produce the majority of prisoners, youth offenders and disruptive primary school pupils. Investing in early intervention programmes to address the causes of child abuse will help alleviate all of these problems, and many others, in the future.

“We know that carefully targeted investment to work with socially deprived families can generate a substantial payback.

“Within the first three years of life, children who live in homes where violence and maltreatment are commonplace are at particularly high risk of becoming traumatised to such an extent that their brain development is impaired. When this occurs, it creates life-long difficulties for the individual and profound impact on society. Estimates relating to New Zealand suggest that child abuse and neglect generates a long term cost that is equivalent to around $2 billion, or over one per cent of GDP, per annum.

“That is the cost of policing, imprisonment, mental health, healthcare, drug addiction and the other negative consequences and lost opportunities that eventuate from young people and adults who have spent the early years of their lives subject to violence, neglect, maltreatment and abuse, and lead blighted adult lives as a consequence.

“The Prime Minister’s resolve to do something about that is excellent news. We anticipate with keen interest just what that ‘something’ will be,” she said.

Over the past 18 years the Family Help Trust has worked with the families of over 1,000 children born in Christchurch at the highest risk of child abuse, successfully helping them to lead better lives than would have been the case without the charity’s assistance.

The Family Help Trust provides child abuse prevention services to the most vulnerable infants, from birth up to five years, working intensively with their families to provide support through basic health and education programmes. The Family Help Trust has resources to work with around 30 new referrals each year, financed by a mix of government funding and charitable donations. Approximately 100 children born in Christchurch each year are at the highest risk of child abuse, and approximately 1,200 fall into that category nationwide.

A two year outcome study published recently by the Trust linked effective early intervention to substantial decreases in factors associated with family violence such as helping mothers of vulnerable infants to end abusive relationships; come off drugs; stop hitting their children and begin to turn their own and their children’s lives around.

Note:
Tuesday 23 June, Hon JOHN KEY:
I go back to the point I just made: members on this side of the House care about abused kids. We look in the hospitals of New Zealand and see thousands of abused kids, and Christine Rankin has spoken out about the damage that is happening to those kids. We are going to do something about abused kids, because not enough happened under the previous Labour Government.

ENDS

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