Trivia question for the day - What country?
Man loses child for drunk driving conviction
A father of 2 had his newborn baby 'confiscated' following a conviction for driving at .05 above the limit. He was also fined $50. The social worker assigned to the family indicated that this was just one of several indicators in her risk profile, which she could not release details of, due to privacy laws. The mother was later admitted to hospital suffering a nervous breakdown. [Dec 31]
1800 new orphans - a 300% increase from last year
The Dept of Children today confirmed skyrocketing numbers of children placed into orphanages. "This was to be expected now that we have substantially increased the resources available to our monitoring program. This is a good outcome. It means our policy is working." [Dec 29]
Case worker caught in blackmail scam
A case worker was sentenced to 6 months community service today after found to have been blackmailing parents of new born babies. Mindy Jiro had been charging up to $700 to parents for them to avoid a bad report on the 'home assessment' which automatically results in instant removal of a newborn child whilst the family is investigated. It was found many parents did not complain for fear they would lose visiting rights, or permanent custody. There have been renewed calls for an independent inquiry as this is the 5th case in three months. This was dismissed by the Children's Commissioner who described the incidents as 'isolated' and 'the good outweighed the bad'. [Dec 6]
Pedophile sentenced to 12 months home detention
A man found to be abusing his adopted child had the child permanently removed. He was sentenced to 12 months home detention and instructed to complete a sexual ethics course. A spokesperson for the Orphanage Commission said that the policy of adopting children out to single male parents was a good policy and to not do so was discriminatory. They hastened to point out that abuse cases in adoptions had also increased against single parent females as well. [Nov 21]
Creation of the Dept of Children a huge success
The newly formed Dept of Children opened today with an announcement of $300 million dollars in funding. The 800 staff will manage and control the nations 13 Orphanages and have plans to launch a new marketing campaign to increase adoption rates. [Nov 11]
Case Worker murdered
Police are investigating the murder of a Social Worker, following the breaking of a news story by Government Watch Magazine where she was identified as having removed over 160 children from their parents under the 'unfit parents' law. This is 70% higher than any other worker. Police are also considering prosecuting the Magazine, which has made headlines from previous articles which the Government have described as 'unhelpful'. There are no plans to revisit her cases as many of the children have already been adopted out. [Oct 29]
Every Home Assessed
Mandatory screening of every baby's home life is being proposed by the children's commissioner in a bold bid to halve New Zealand's shocking child murder rate.
Cindy Kiro's scheme would make it compulsory for every newborn's caregiver to nominate an authorised provider to assess their family's progress through home visits. Those who refused to take part would be referred to welfare authorities.
The homes of newborns will be assessed by a case worker who will decide if the parents and environment is 'risk free'. Targeted with saving 5 lives [a year] in [the first] 5 years, estimates are that only 500 babies or so will be removed from parents who meet the risk profile. [Sep 8 - Dr Kiro can save 5 children with $5 million]
[updated 3:53pm to correct numbers 'saved' to 5 children per year]
Background Reading:
Leave No Commissioner Behind
Dr Kiro's Master Plan
Man loses child for drunk driving conviction
A father of 2 had his newborn baby 'confiscated' following a conviction for driving at .05 above the limit. He was also fined $50. The social worker assigned to the family indicated that this was just one of several indicators in her risk profile, which she could not release details of, due to privacy laws. The mother was later admitted to hospital suffering a nervous breakdown. [Dec 31]
1800 new orphans - a 300% increase from last year
The Dept of Children today confirmed skyrocketing numbers of children placed into orphanages. "This was to be expected now that we have substantially increased the resources available to our monitoring program. This is a good outcome. It means our policy is working." [Dec 29]
Case worker caught in blackmail scam
A case worker was sentenced to 6 months community service today after found to have been blackmailing parents of new born babies. Mindy Jiro had been charging up to $700 to parents for them to avoid a bad report on the 'home assessment' which automatically results in instant removal of a newborn child whilst the family is investigated. It was found many parents did not complain for fear they would lose visiting rights, or permanent custody. There have been renewed calls for an independent inquiry as this is the 5th case in three months. This was dismissed by the Children's Commissioner who described the incidents as 'isolated' and 'the good outweighed the bad'. [Dec 6]
Pedophile sentenced to 12 months home detention
A man found to be abusing his adopted child had the child permanently removed. He was sentenced to 12 months home detention and instructed to complete a sexual ethics course. A spokesperson for the Orphanage Commission said that the policy of adopting children out to single male parents was a good policy and to not do so was discriminatory. They hastened to point out that abuse cases in adoptions had also increased against single parent females as well. [Nov 21]
Creation of the Dept of Children a huge success
The newly formed Dept of Children opened today with an announcement of $300 million dollars in funding. The 800 staff will manage and control the nations 13 Orphanages and have plans to launch a new marketing campaign to increase adoption rates. [Nov 11]
Case Worker murdered
Police are investigating the murder of a Social Worker, following the breaking of a news story by Government Watch Magazine where she was identified as having removed over 160 children from their parents under the 'unfit parents' law. This is 70% higher than any other worker. Police are also considering prosecuting the Magazine, which has made headlines from previous articles which the Government have described as 'unhelpful'. There are no plans to revisit her cases as many of the children have already been adopted out. [Oct 29]
Every Home Assessed
Mandatory screening of every baby's home life is being proposed by the children's commissioner in a bold bid to halve New Zealand's shocking child murder rate.
Cindy Kiro's scheme would make it compulsory for every newborn's caregiver to nominate an authorised provider to assess their family's progress through home visits. Those who refused to take part would be referred to welfare authorities.
The homes of newborns will be assessed by a case worker who will decide if the parents and environment is 'risk free'. Targeted with saving 5 lives [a year] in [the first] 5 years, estimates are that only 500 babies or so will be removed from parents who meet the risk profile. [Sep 8 - Dr Kiro can save 5 children with $5 million]
[updated 3:53pm to correct numbers 'saved' to 5 children per year]
Background Reading:
Leave No Commissioner Behind
Dr Kiro's Master Plan