Unfair and unbalanced treatment slammed by tabloid writer

From a Beating the Odds and general media perspective, everything UK Daily Mail writer Michael Thornton is saying in this article linked below, is right on the money regarding the treatment of veteran British singer, Sir Cliff Richard.
The 'outing' of a person for a situation there is no substantiation for, completely and unfairly destroys a person's reputation and puts all the world's media in a bad light. There are no winners in a situation like this.
I think it is time for some major, global mainstream media to revisit their media law books. Especially in the interests of fairness and balance, and in democratic situations.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2967728/I-ve-known-Cliff-40-years-sue-police-BBC-says-friend-Michael-Thornton.html

Families overcoming difficulties

Family support groups put families first

Having care given numerous ‘at risk’ youngsters for many years makes Angela Rogerson no shrinking violet when it comes to standing up and being counted for struggling kids and their parents.

Angie, a foster mother from Wanganui, got into supporting families by starting the organisation, Family Crisis Intervention Service (FCIS), after a dramatic fostering experience which she says cost her and her husband their jobs and almost their life savings after two children were put in the couple’s care by Child, Youth and Family Services (CYFS) section of the Ministry of Social Development (MSD).

(Details of the couple’s case cannot be reported for legal reasons).

“At one time, I believed that they (CYFS and the MSD) always got it right,” Angie says.

Although she believes these organisations do a great job and have a difficult one, there is a lot of room for more help with assisting ‘at risk’ children and their families, Angie says.

In a statement, a spokeswoman for CYFS says it is unable to comment on specific cases and circumstances but the impact of parents’ behaviour on the stability and safety of children and young people’s placements with caregivers can vary from supportive to disruptive and cases like the Rogerson’s are thankfully uncommon.

Factors such as mental health difficulties, drug and alcohol addictions, a lack of understanding and acceptance by the parent of their behaviour which led to the child’s removal from their care, contribute to attitudes towards the authorities and advocacy groups, CYFS says.

“Child, Youth and Family and Family Courts have to manage the sometimes, difficult balance between ensuring the safety and welfare of the child or young person which is of paramount consideration, while also ensuring parents’ are still involved in the child’s life and decision-making about them, as directed by the Children, Young Persons and their Families Act 1989,” the spokeswoman says.

She says CYFS always works with the best interests of the child or young person in mind. Any decision to remove children from family/whanau is not taken lightly.

If no family member is identified as being able to safely care for the child, a placement will be made with an approved CYFS caregiver. Wherever possible the relationship between the child or young person and their family is maintained and strengthened.

Angie believes in healthy advice and support to parents, caregivers and extended family, to ensure cases are looked at early, to highlight any communication break-downs and difficulties in family relationships.

She says it is important that children and families are given full information and disclosure about their circumstances.

“No matter what happens, they should not suffer further abuse by the system.”

She gave examples of children being placed in homes with people who have convictions for serious crimes such as sex offences.

“This is our biggest concern in relation to the care of children,” she says.

CYFS says it has ‘a robust vetting system’ for approving caregivers, including thorough Police vetting for all household members aged 17 years and over, which would identify any interactions a person may have had with the Police as a witness, victim or offender.

“This includes but is not limited to, the Family Violence database and any Department of Internal Affairs investigation into the possession of and trading in, child exploitation material,” the CYFS spokeswoman says.

Assessment of family/whanau caregivers is a phased process involving safety checks, an assessment hui, additional interviews and discussions and a self-assessment completed by the prospective caregiver/s, she says.

Non-family caregivers’ assessment is also a phased process where prospective caregivers complete an application pack that includes a police and medical check and a formal assessment including reference checks and personal interviews –– home and environment assessment.

CYFS says all caregiver approvals are reviewed annually with updated Police and medical checks every second year. Six-monthly face-to-face visits are carried out in addition to social worker visits, where any changes of circumstances are discussed that may affect the caregiver’s capacity for care –– including disclosure of any criminal investigations.

Angie says there is a misguided idea around, that her organisation is supporting abusive families but she says this is not the case.

She does not call herself a social worker but is experienced in fostering and caring for children.

“We have two Facebook pages, plus social workers and other professionals such as caregivers and people with experience dealing with the department ensuring the safety of children is paramount,” she says.

Angie says over the years she has been doing most of this work out of her own pocket or only with a small amount of local funding but she and other advocates continue to struggle with large case numbers and the demand on limited resources.

“There is a lot of need out there, with parents who are judged, criticised and some are even suicidal. It’s awful.”

She says the number of babies going straight into care from birth is climbing in New Zealand.

FCIS has recently been working on a pilot programme in support of teens who are facing pregnancy.

·         The programme is focused on the need for better support for pregnant youth placed into the foster-care system.
·         It utilises experienced caregivers who may no longer foster but who wish to continue to be involved in assisting the foster-care system.
·         It is also building on the care-family strengths to fill gaps for youth in this situation, who may have poor levels of support around them that may impact negatively on safe future parenting.

In its programme description, FCIS says that for the unsupported young parent the battle is a maze without end.

It says the project insures the basics in human rights are protected first; that of the parent, family but most importantly the child.

FCIS says protection of the right to grow up with family should be supported as first option.

MSD figures show the number of babies placed into care over the last five years has slightly decreased.

However, between 149 and 177 babies, annually, were placed into care within one month of being born, over the past five years. With 177 placed in 2009/10, 149 in 2010/11, 162 – 2011/12, 157 – 2012/13 and 166 – 2013/14.

The MSD says newborns may be placed into care only if there are serious concerns for the child’s safety.

A care plan is provided to caregivers of newborns, including; safe sleeping, caring for a child in distress and what to do if there are any problems.

New feeding arrangements for breast-fed infants may also be put in place while in CYF care, to include perhaps being fed expressed milk from a bottle, or the mother may breast-feed the infant under supervision.

SIDE BAR:
Here are some websites that have additional information on subjects referred to in our story.

For more information on caregiver approvals: www.practicecentre.cyf.govt.nz/policy/caregiver-assessment-and-approval/

‘At risk’ children being placed in the care of close family members: Children, Young Persons and their Families Act 1989:

www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1989/0024/latest/DLM147088.html

Information regarding assessment processes on family/whanau caregivers: www.practicecentre.cyf.govt.nz/policy/caregiver-assessment-and-approval/whanau-caregivers/index.html

 In its statement, CYFS says FCIS is a group of volunteer advocates who work on behalf of people seeking assistance when dealing with CYFS.

CYFS says FCIS activities are not funded by CYFS parent body, the MSD.

“However, the Ministry stands by the policy that all people have the right to seek support and advice from wherever they choose,” the organisation says.

Editorial

Great advocate: Celia Lashlie was a great New Zealander who pushed for social change. Photo abc.net.au

A great New Zealander leaves moral legacy of hope

The passing of community researcher and author Celia Lashlie has left a hole in New Zealand’s line-up of essential people.

Celia was a great advocate for social change having worked in both women’s and men’s prisons through a long-standing career in the corrections system.

I had the pleasure of interviewing her when she came to a town where I worked in media and she spoke about many social issues in the New Zealand community.

One conversation I clearly remember her having with me, was about the importance of parents showing love for their children.

Celia said that in her experience of often having some of the hardest criminals in her office, who had done some of the worst crimes, and how they became like crying babies when they talked with her about the relationships they had with their parents – particularly the mother/child relationship.

She said it was an eye opener as to how important that relationship is to the positive progress children make in life.

I thought at the time, ‘this is a woman who rolls her sleeves up and gets involved with the issues’, and obviously didn’t see her roles in the prisons as ‘just a job’.

Many people have told about their great experiences at meeting and knowing Celia Lashlie.

I only spoke to her for a few minutes, but those few minutes had a great impact on my life.

Books Celia Lashlie has written encompass her passion about social issues and communities dealing with these issues they face.

Such titles as:

The Power of Mothers

He’ll Be Ok: Growing Gorgeous Boys Into Good Men.

http://www.angusrobertson.com.au/search/?text=celia+lashlie&gclid=CjwKEAiA05unBRCymrGilanF9SwSJACqDFRmw5IPS3vMypBvPoxiFRDtKOFcg5zHvtTO7UsUlNtpKxoCQKLw_wcB

 

Breast cancer sufferers generally have poor knowledge of their condition

There are always people who swim against the tide of expected behaviour or move outside the square.

A few years ago, a friend who fought breast cancer hard for four years before sadly losing her battle with it, made it her business to find out all she could about her disease and what it could do.

Information she gathered included the grade she had, what survival percentage she was in, trends in sufferers, why some people with similar disease types, treatments, expected time-frames and outcomes lived and others died and various other information.

She was also interested in the treatment process. The types of chemotherapy used, how they worked on the cancer and right down to the machines that calibrated the exact position of where the tumours were situated in the body, in preparation for the radio therapy process.

What was even more amazing, was that she wasn’t particularly fazed by what she found out. One revelation she made was the grade she had – which was apparently the worst you could get in New Zealand, and one that didn’t have a particularly successful outcome!

I guessed at the time, that all this research perhaps took the fear out of it all for her. The more she knew about it, the less frightening it became perhaps? I never knew.

However it would seem many women globally, faced with this awful dilemma, may not want to know about it, which may impede their ability to perhaps have a fighting chance against the disease, even though the outcome may not be a good one.

A new international study has found that many women with breast cancer lack knowledge about their illness.

Some being less likely to know and report accurate information about their tumours’ characteristics.

Published early online, the findings highlight the need to educate patients about their health conditions, which could lead to more informed treatment decisions, according to CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

Having knowledge about your own health conditions or your risk of developing different conditions can help you take steps to maintain or improve your health, the publication reports.

Although previous studies have examined general cancer knowledge, no prior study has examined whether women actually know and understand the details about their own cancers.

Rachel Freedman, MD, MPH, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, and her colleagues surveyed 500 women with breast cancer to see how knowledgeable they were about their own cancers; including the tumor stage, grade, and receptor status (also known as breast cancer subtype). Overall, 32 to 82 percent reported that they knew each of the tumour characteristics that they were asked about, while only 20 to 58 percent actually reported these characteristics correctly.

“Our results illustrate the lack of understanding many patients have about their cancers and have identified a critical need for improved patient education and provider awareness of this issue,” says Dr Freedman.

Improving patients’ understanding about why a particular treatment is important for the individual situation may lead to more informed decisions and better adherence to treatment, she says.

Dr Freedman noted that improved understanding of tumour characteristics and the reasons for personalised treatment recommendations could also improve a woman’s trust, confidence, and satisfaction with her cancer treatment providers.

Link for the publication CANCER:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1097-0142

 

Resolving conflict taught at University level

Dangerous issue: Professor Clements with Grant Gillett (at right), of the University of Otago Bioethics Centre, who criticises some attitudes underlying the use of nuclear weapons.

The National centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at Otago University teaches students how to resolve conflict and work towards peace domestically and globally.

The National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (NCPACS), was started in 2009 by Professor Kevin Clements, (pictured) on his return from holding leading positions working for peace and conflict resolution in Australia, the United States and England.

Professor Clements says the programme focuses on the sources of conflict on local, domestic and international levels. It is aimed at generating strong diagnoses of conflict and then working with parties to those conflicts on suitable solutions.

“From the neighbours barking dog, to global conflicts in such countries as Timor, Solomon Islands, Cambodia, Thailand, Nepal and the Philippines.”

The PhD programme has 32 students from 19 different countries. The Masters of Peace and Conflict Studies programme has 21 students from five different countries. 

“So we have a little United Nations here in our student body,” Professor Clements says.

The NCPACS is New Zealand’s first centre to combine global cross-disciplinary expertise on the issues of development, peace-building and conflict transformation.  

Teaching began in 2010 and offers the following:

• postgraduate programmes at Masters and PhD level
• conducts high-level research on the causes of violent conflict and conditions for sustainable peace
• provides training, evaluation expertise, and expert advice to government and non-governmental organisations engaged in peace-building and humanitarian intervention.

The NCPACS is a theory, research and practice centre located within the Division of Humanities, at the University of Otago.

Professor Clements says students who have graduated from the school have undertaken work in a wide variety of different places and organisations.  

Examples include researching water-based conflicts in Central Asia, helping post-conflict truth and reconciliation processes in Timor and the Solomons and focused on peace negotiations in diverse parts of the world. 

The Centre has also been involved in the locally-based programme Stopping Violence Dunedin, which is dedicated to looking at solving domestic violence issues.

“We set up a Dunedin based community mediation programme and work closely with Auckland University senior lecturer and preventive health associate Janet Fanslow on the sources of intimate partner violence,” Professor Clements says.

“Research shows that violence causes long-term developmental problems in people. It’s important, therefore, to understand its causes and consequences, and how to expand the repertoire of non-violent remedies for violent behaviour,” he says.

The Centre focuses on restorative justice as opposed to punitive justice. 

“We are interested in how to restore broken relationships.”

Professor Clements says the New Zealand government has taken on board the idea of restorative justice and looking at other options to prison for one-off mistakes or unintended offences.

Teaching peace: 
Professor Kevin Clements who founded the National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies.

Hiroshima Day is Tuesday, August 6 to commemorate the anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A peace vigil is planned to be held at the Peace Pole.

NCPACS has a series of student organised events, beginning with the launch of an exhibition in the Link on Monday, August 5, at 4pm.