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CYF staff in hospitals as part of child abuse prevention plan

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CYF staff in hospitals as part of child abuse prevention plan

3News NZ

Child, Youth and Family (CYF) staff are to be based at five key hospitals around the country as part of a new campaign against child abuse.

The Never Shake A Baby campaign will be launched today by Social Development Minister Paula Bennett.

It will include national advertising, new-parent education, community-worker support for abused children and for families, and protection of abuse victims.

It will involve police, CYF, district health boards, health workers, non-government social workers and the Children's Commission.

Under the plan, CYF workers will be based in five hospitals to provide a link between the families of abused children and healthworkers.

Paediatrician Dr Patrick Kelly, of Auckland's Starship Hospital, said the campaign was a good first step, but he doubted it would change abuse figures in the short term.

"In a sense, this is only nibbling around the edges, because there is no simple solution," he told The Press.

Mr Kelly said New Zealand had failed to take collective responsibility for child abuse, leaving the problem to CYF and police.

Ms Bennett said funding for the campaign, which will focus on those under two, would come from existing budgets.

NZPA

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Comments

3/09/2009 8:04:18 p.m.

Jan wrote:

Qualified Doctors and Qualified nurses or nurse are quilified teams for our propblem children's..
Many parents and children complained about CYF'S..
What is Mr Key is going to do about it..
We are looking at the safey and health of our future children here..

3/09/2009 7:48:03 p.m.

Jan wrote:

Problem children should be based with the health department Psyhiatric Health department can give this problem children the help they need.. I do recomment the above for our proplem children..CFY'S is bad news, No idea where they pop up from? Lot of children complained about CFY'S" You are not alone little one..
Extend the new mother's to 1 week in hosipital care unless it's critical..
Mr Key should look at the above and build more home for our problem children..

3/09/2009 5:14:08 p.m.

Lesley wrote:

How stupid.I agree with the others let mums and partners stay in longer so they can both get used to their new baby.Have Karitane nurses available to guide and give confidence to parents.Let them rest after labour,learn with support and understanding and rest(Labour is actually what the word means)

3/09/2009 2:48:12 p.m.

Ryan wrote:

I do not agree on this. I am a young boy under CYFS care and from personal experience CYFS try and when they fail they give up. They were meant to find care for me in March right, it's now September and they told me to find my own place. Plus think back to all the child abuses that occurred to children in CYFS care. Yes CYFS mind are in the right place but i agree with Ricki 100% in his first paragraph. Especially when he sees disaster occurring. I honestly don't think this is a good idea at all.

3/09/2009 2:43:54 p.m.

peter jamieson wrote:

Note out of the existing budget. All this is done with no resources and guess what, still happens. Targeted resources like training when in the maternity hospital, now that is an origanal idea, the old concept of Plunket modernised and funded properly.

3/09/2009 1:24:09 p.m.

Chargone wrote:

sounds like one of a very large number of things that we had right and threw out in the interest of some mix of saving money and making 'progress', if the comments are to be believed. rather depressing, really.

3/09/2009 12:53:36 p.m.

cherie wrote:

If they didn't throw the new mums out after a couple of hours and did it like the old days where the new mum and baby stayed for at least a week and was shown how to look after baby and went home rested then they wouldn't end up with new stressed mums and dads who have just produced this little bundle that does not come with a volume control or a manual.

In Christchurch the NEW womens hospital was opened and guess what on day one it was to small, so now they throw the women out the door as soon as they have had baby which is fine for second or third timers but not for new mums.

Back in the day Mums got heaps of time in the homes with help from Karatane Nurses. You were shown all sorts of tricks and ways of dealing with being a new Mum.

3/09/2009 12:47:35 p.m.

Elizabeth wrote:

I reiterate, keep the mothers in longer with their babies. Everything is a learning curve, even/especially for women having their second or third babies. It gives the staff an opportunity to observe and if necessary tutor the mothers on various aspects of motherhood. Instead of CYF's staff, how about Plunket Nurses, attached to the hospitals. Now there is a radical idea!

3/09/2009 12:27:21 p.m.

Carolyn wrote:

I have to agree with Ricki, to a certain degree. There certainly are people out there who should not be parents. If they had been properly educated about parenthood MAYBE, just maybe they wouldn't abuse their kids, or grandkids. If you don't have the emotional OR financial resources to have kids, simple answer is DON'T HAVE THEM.

3/09/2009 12:12:53 p.m.

Janne wrote:

>>train the parents in what is coming, a lot of late, sleepless nights, and they need to be taught how to deal with that, instead of dealing with it when its too late!<<

Well said! Where we need to start is antenatal education and then postnatal support. We need to teach our young parents how to be parents.

After years of dissatisfaction with maternity services, and postnatal support, families took to Queen Street in November 1997. Did anyone listen to our predictions (which have now become every day occurrences)?

No. To our countries shame those who knew what they were talking about were ignored.

Young parents need much more support than they have been getting for at least the last 20y. Our mothers, aunties, cousins, even grandmothers, were forced back into the workforce and young mothers and their children paid the initial price.

Now society is also paying the price.