Child abuse gap exposed

Rowena Orejana | 3rd September 2009

Horrific cases of child abuse continue to shock, sending shivers up our spines. But what is being done in the community to help break this disturbing cycle? Rowena Orejana finds a charitable trust that's desperately trying to make a difference with its grassroots approach.

He had been beaten and bruised. His feet had been burned with cigarettes. Being in a wheelchair meant this little boy could not run away from the abuses heaped on him.

His teacher and principal had been reporting his case to Child, Family and Youth Services for months, but nothing was done until a local councillor intervened to get the boy out of the clutches of his abusers.

People dealing with children simply do not have the tools they need to help them, says Janine Evans, marketing manager of  CPS, a national charitable trust, dedicated to preventing harm and violence to children.

"New Zealand is the third worst country for child abuse and yet is one of the few OECD countries that doesn't have mandatory child protection training,'' she says.

Families Commission data shows police record more than 32,000 family-violence-related offences each year and that number has kept rising steadily.

"It's all about recognising the signs,'' says Mrs Evans. "The earlier it can be detected, the better the results. People don't set out to hurt their children. If we can get help for that family, we can get results.''

But, as with any charitable trust, money is hard to come by. The $9 million spent on a referendum on smacking - which the Government has rubbished anyway - could have trained 9000 child advocates around the country, says Mark Gallagher, programme co-ordinator. CPS will hold training classes in South Auckland on September 14-18 and in North Auckland on November 9-13. The scheme is NZQA-accredited.

"This year, we have had no success at all in finding funding for our North Auckland programme. The current economic climate makes it very difficult for charitable organisations like ourselves to continue doing the work we do to the same level, as funds available have tightened considerably,'' says Mr Gallagher.

Despite this, the training will go ahead. Most attendees are from non-government agencies - charitable trusts with very limited funds.

"Accordingly, we offer this programme to the community at approximately a third of the actual cost to us,'' Mr Gallagher explains, "to ensure that those who need this training the most are able to attend and not be inhibited by cost.''

The cost of attending the five-day programme is $600 for each participant, although the actual cost is $1795. The five-day programme for each community costs CPS  about $24,000. "So we need to find approximately two-thirds of this [$16,000] in sponsorship and grants from each community.''

Mrs Evans says there are now about 30 non-governmental organisations in New Zealand that insist their members take CPS training.

"The strength of the training, as we take it in the communities, is that we build a resource that takes leadership in the community in protecting children,'' she adds.

Mr Gallagher says people too often let fear stop them from intervening.

"They think, 'What if I'm wrong?' when they should be thinking, 'What if I'm right?' There is no consequence in reporting something and later being wrong.

"But what would be the consequences if you were right?''