OT not involved with family at time of alleged murder

By Lauren Crimp of RNZ

Warning: This story discusses family violence.

Oranga Tamariki says it was not involved with the whānau of a baby who died this week at the time of the violent killing.

But it has not said whether it had been in the past.

The baby was killed and another child and a woman were seriously injured in an attack in the Hamilton suburb of Fairfield early on Wednesday morning.

A 34-year-old man has been charged with murder and attempted murder.

Oranga Tamariki was limited in what it could say while the police investigation was continuing, tamariki and whānau services national commissioner Alison Cronin said.

“We can confirm that while we are working closely with police to ensure the ongoing safety and wellbeing of the whānau, Oranga Tamariki was not involved with this whānau when the incident occurred.”

RNZ has asked Oranga Tamariki to clarify whether it had been involved in the past.

Meanwhile, the chief executive of child abuse prevention organisation Child Matters, Jane Searle, said the government and community must get better at identifying children at risk of harm.

“We know that every time a child is harmed at the hands of another person, it is preventable … that’s probably what makes it the most tragic,” she said.

“Even if a child hasn’t been known to Oranga Tamariki, we should always be looking to see what opportunities we missed to be able to intervene early.”

Once the harm had happened, or agencies such as Oranga Tamariki or the police were involved, the damage had already been done, Searle said.

Oranga Tamariki’s struggle to keep children safe from harm had been documented in multiple reports over many years, she said.

“We need to get back to the basics. It’s about ensuring that social workers who are working front-line have the resources and the training to do their job, and that the systems they work within work.

“If you cannot do that, we will continue to see children harmed.”

Community organisations also needed to be better equipped to identify risks and offer support, she said.

“Prevention should always be the goal, but it takes resourcing and a robust structure of information-sharing.”