Monday, 21 January 2008

Media- Anti-smacking worries push foster parents out

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10487849
Anti-smacking worries push foster parents out
By Simon Collins

A South Auckland foster care group says a quarter of its foster parents have quit because of the "anti-smacking" law passed last year.

South Auckland Caregivers Association chairwoman Allysa Carberry said the repeal of section 59 of the Crimes Act, which allowed caregivers to use reasonable force to "correct" children, had made a chronic shortage worse.

"A quarter of our members have left because of section 59. I could rattle off about 10 in South Auckland. I know of many, many caregivers who have been longstanding caregivers but won't do caregiving any more. It's too dangerous.

"These kids are really hard. They just don't care who they hurt, and you need really special people to take them on. If you have a kid that is yelling and screaming at you, what are you supposed to do?"

Child, Youth and Family Services has faced mounting problems finding foster parents in recent years, as the number of children in care has grown by 18 per cent in the past five years to 5049, while the number of single-income families with one parent available at home for caregiving has shrunk.

However, other foster care groups said the smacking law was not a factor for their members.

Both Carolyn Hill, who chairs the national Family and Foster Care Federation, and Foster Care Auckland chairman Byron Perkins said they had not heard of any caregiver leaving because of the law change.

"People are leaving because they are dissatisfied with CYFS," Mr Perkins said. "It comes down to the whole area of professionalism and payments because both couples have to go to work to earn the money to pay the mortgage."

A CYFS survey published in November found that 71 per cent of its mainly-female primary caregivers now work outside the home - 20 per cent fulltime and 51 per cent part-time. Although 80 per cent of its mainly-male secondary caregivers have paid work, most are low-paid. Only 46 per cent earn more than $35,000 a year.

Three-quarters said the foster care allowance of $124 to $174 a week per child depending on the child's age did not cover all their costs such as transporting the children to school and other activities.

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren convener Di Vivian said many grandparents were "frightened" by the new law, but she did not know of any who had given up caring for their grandchildren because of it.

A CYFS spokeswoman said the repeal of section 59 made no difference to the service's long-standing policy against any "physical discipline".

Also look at:
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2008/01/a_quarter_of_south_auckland_foster_parents_quit.html
and
http://newzeal.blogspot.com/2008/01/anti-smacking-law-damaging-foster-care.html

1 comment:

fostermum said...

As the person quoted in this article I would like to put some things
straight.

I was never interviewed about the repeal of s59 - I was phoned about a new
organisation that is due to be launched shortly. At no time
was I aware that I was being interviewed re the repeal of s59. This
interview should also have never mentioned the South Auckland Caregivers
Association.

As a caregiver for many years, I have always been aware that caregivers are
unable to harm foster children in any way. There has however been times when
caregivers have needed to restrain a child/young person in order to stop
that child/young person either harming themselves or others.

It is with this in mind that some caregivers have a very real fear with the
repeal of s59 of the possibility of being charged should they need to
restrain a child/young person or should the child/young person need to be
placed in time out.

This fear is quite real, and with the recent cases in the media regarding
parents and their own children, it is obvious why.

Caregivers often take in children from very sad and disturbed backgrounds.
These children/young people are very hard at times and it does take very
special people to take care of these children/young people.

I am also aware of caregivers that have left caregiving because of the fear
of being charged as well as because of the other reasons that were sited in
the article by Byron Perkins.

I am very sorry that this article came about