Are we failing disabled tamariki?
Phoebe Eden-Mann, National Policy Analyst, for Child Safeguarding Week
Child Safeguarding Week runs from 2-8 September 2024 and, with it, comes an opportunity to consider how well our society is protecting our disabled children and young people.
Disabled children are more vulnerable to abuse
In a nutshell ‘safeguarding’ is making sure that children and young people are safe and protected from harm and neglect. Safeguarding is important for all children but especially so for disabled children and young people.
Disabled children are made more vulnerable by the barriers around them. There are many factors that make a disabled child vulnerable, ranging from communication barriers, learning disabilities, physical support needs and social isolation.
This means they are at a higher risk of experiencing abuse and neglect than non-disabled children.
Abuse and neglect can have devasting implications for life, with studies showing that childhood abuse is linked to mental health issues, substance abuse, relationship and attachment issues, poor educational achievement, poor health and wellbeing, and poverty.
Children (disabled or otherwise) often don’t have the tools they need to speak up when a relationship is abusive or neglectful. This is why it is so important that we, as adults, understand what safeguarding is to ensure that our children can thrive.
The commitments we have made as a country
New Zealand has signed two United Nations (UN) conventions that are key to understand when thinking about child safeguarding. First, under Article 7 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), “disabled children are guaranteed the same human rights and freedoms on an equal basis with other children.” Article 16 promises “to protect persons with disabilities, both within and outside the home, from all forms of exploitation, violence and abuse”.
Second, Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, “to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child” and that “protective measures should, as appropriate, include effective procedures for the establishment of social programmes to provide necessary support for the child and for those who have the care of the child, as well as for other forms of prevention and for identification, reporting, referral, investigation, treatment and follow-up of instances of child maltreatment described heretofore, and, as appropriate, for judicial involvement.”
Now I know that most people don’t read UN Conventions for fun in their spare time, so here’s the gist of it. New Zealand has guaranteed the rights of all children to be protected from abuse and neglect, as well as guaranteeing that disabled children have the same human rights as other children. We are also committed to having protective measures in place to ensure that disabled children are safe and supported.
How do we measure up?
So, now you’ve had the UN Convention crash course, let’s talk about the state of child wellbeing in New Zealand. In short, it’s abysmal. We have some of the worst child poverty and abuse rates in the OECD, ranking 35th out of 41 developed countries for child wellbeing outcomes in 2021, and one child dying due to abuse or neglect every five weeks in our country.
It gets worse for disabled children, with children with learning disabilities being three to four times more likely to be abused and neglected than neurotypical children. Disabled children are also more likely to experience family violence than non-disabled children, as well as sexual violence and neglect.
We know that we’re dropping the ball as a society, and that was made extremely clear with the release of the Abuse in Care Royal Commission Inquiry report released in July 2024.
For those of you who haven’t read it, I warn you that the report is grim reading, filled with heartbreaking stories of disabled people who experienced horrific levels of abuse and neglect as children and young people in care. You hear disabled people being called ‘brave’ for doing all manner of everyday things, but I am in awe of the bravery and resilience of those who shared their experiences.
These were children who should’ve been protected and were failed at every turn.
What was made abundantly clear in the Abuse in Care report was that these vulnerable disabled children were isolated, institutionalised, experienced physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, and nearly all of them experienced “extreme neglect” that “stripped them of their personhood, identity, dignity and autonomy”. Whilst the period of the report was from 1950-1999, it’s well within living memory and there’s so many lessons we need to learn to make sure history never repeats itself.
High level decisions reduce front line support
Which leads us to today. The Government has been making some big moves in the disability and social sector, many of which have been met with criticism and alarm from disabled people. Particularly the Whaikaha - Ministry of Disabled People restructure where the Ministry of Social Development will be taking responsibility for disability supports, and the rollout of Enabling Good Lives has been put on hold. This is concerning considering that Recommendation 15 of the Abuse in Care report specifically mentions the need to “uphold the rights of Deaf and disabled people… in accordance with the UNCRPD and the Enabling Good Lives principles.”
I question how effectively gutting Whaikaha - Ministry of Disabled People is meant to support disabled people and uphold our rights and Enabling Good Lives principles, especially those of our disabled children, but I digress.
Oranga Tamariki is also up on the chopping block with staffing and funding cuts, and although Oranga Tamariki is defending the cuts and saying it won’t affect frontline services, many providers are sceptical. Services like Family Start which provides support for vulnerable children from ages 0-3, including many disabled children or children who live with disabled family members, is facing significant funding cuts.
As it stands, many of these services are at maximum capacity and are barely scraping by with the little resourcing they have. For example, Family Start in Nelson are losing 40% of their frontline staff due to funding cuts, drastically reducing their resources to support our most vulnerable children and their families.
In 2021, a report by Oranga Tamariki found that participation in the Family Start programme reduces post-neonatal mortality in the first year of life by 42%. So, what does this mean for child safeguarding? Nothing good. By cutting staff and funding to these services that provide intensive wraparound supports we are running the very real risk that vulnerable children are falling through some already significant cracks in the system.
We desperately need the Government to recognise that the way forward is not funding cuts and reshuffles, but increasing funding and commitment to future proofing the system.
What can individuals do?
In the meantime, there are some things that you can do on an individual level when working with disabled children and young people:
Read CCS Disability Action’s shared decision-making resource for disabled children and young people.
Look at our Keeping Children Safe poster and remain vigilant for the signs of abuse.
If you work with, support or are in a disabled child’s life, become someone they can trust to treat them with agency, respect and dignity.
If you are concerned about them and their wellbeing, don’t just ignore it, report it. If you suspect that a child is being abused or neglected, it’s your responsibility as an adult to protect them.
We owe it to disabled children and young people to do better than previous generations when it comes to child safeguarding.
Every child has the right to a happy, safe and full life, and it’s our collective responsibility to make sure that happens.