Open Letter to CYFS: How you let our whanau down a million times over

Dear CYFS,

A letter on how you have let my whanau down, a million times over. Names have been changed to protect the children's identity.

For me, it all started in 2003. But really, if you think about it, it started before that. When the mum, who was 18 had a baby and never stopped taking drugs. Not for the pregnancy and not after he was born. Let’s call him Leonard. Leonard was a lovely boy, such a cute kid with big brown eyes and curly hair. Like any normal boy he loved zooming his cars around the room and riding his “big boy” bike.

Lindsay Mitchell: CYF overhaul - crux of the matter overlooked again

Another voluminous  report into CYF; a long-winded ministerial response; multiple cabinet papers and a proposed radical overhaul promised

But when will the system that turns children into careless accidents or meal tickets be radically overhauled?

Because until then, none of these other investigations and re-inventions will matter a damn.

Lindsay Mitchell: How much CYF resource is wasted?

New data shows a significant drop in substantiated findings of child abuse: