'We can utterly refute this allegation'
In response to our last issue's story about a four-month-old girl being removed by Child, Youth and Family from the custody of her Indian parents, where they had alleged that their daughter is not receiving proper care; The Migrant Times has received the following reply from the mother of the foster parents who took the child under their care. Meanwhile, the child was returned to her Indian parents by Child, Youth and Family on March 9.
Click here to read the earlier story.
I was disappointed to read a very inaccurate report in the Migrant Times issue of March 8, 2017. It reported on an Indian couple who recently lost an appeal seeking refugee status in New Zealand. The couple alleged their daughter was continuously sick while in the care of Child Youth and Family with no proper medication given.
We can utterly refute this allegation.
The child was delivered to our daughter and her husband as foster parents by a social worker.
She was delivered with only the immediate clothing she wore. Our daughter had to purchase a milk supplement recommended by the Plunket Society to feed her. This was apparently different to what the baby was accustomed, creating a mild dysentery effect and a temperature rise. This righted itself within a day. The baby was checked by a medical doctor as a precaution. Otherwise she was a healthy and an unusually happy child.
Our daughter and her husband have cared for 40-50 social welfare placements over the years, have a large family themselves, and are exceptionally caring people.
In the case of this child, the writers personally saw and enjoyed her happy, bubbly personality on a number of occasions. We can be adamant that she was not continuously sick as alleged by the parents.
Our daughter’s home is some 40 km from Christchurch. We understand that either a social worker collected the child, or my daughter brought her into Christchurch to deliver to a social worker and on to the parents on most week days during the foster period. Commitments to her family’s other activities at weekends made it impracticable for my daughter to drive a nearly 100 km round trip to deliver the child in question to Christchurch.
I hope that you can publish this statement to correct false impressions given about this particular instance of Child Youth and Family foster care.
- This newspaper has decided not to name the writer, or her daughter and son-in-law for privacy reasons.