Page 4501 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 18 October 2011
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From page 19:
… the property was found to be totally inappropriate, with stained mattresses, no beds or bedding, no reliable heating or hot water, and a broken window.
Let us remember what we are dealing with here. This is no technical breach of the law. Kids were in a property that was “totally inappropriate, with stained mattresses, no beds or bedding, no reliable heating or hot water, and a broken window”. That was where these kids were put. From page 20:
CPS files and electronic records show that no CPS staff visited these children whilst they were placed …
From pages 23 and 24:
These children are highly traumatised and suffering the effects of sometimes long term abuse and neglect. They often are expected to sit there for hours while staff rush around trying to find an Out Of Home Care agency that will take them. This is an appalling situation not only denying the Rights of these already abused children, but causing great distress to the CPS staff confronted with no other option as well as CPS staff being required to work longer hours whilst placements are found.
From page 24:
The Public Advocate has been unsuccessful, despite repeated requests, in obtaining a copy of the current policy and procedure manual since early 2008.
The Public Advocate has been denied this information, has been trying to get to the bottom of it, and this government have denied it. They have covered it up. From page 25:
The conditions the NBSS found in a Canberra winter were intolerable.
From page 25:
… CPS should have ensured it was habitable before handing over the keys … However, CPS appears to have learnt nothing from this, and no inspections were conducted … staff report a heater had fallen off the wall, tiling missing in the bathroom, being told to use a knife to turn on stove as the knobs had gone missing, amongst other complaints.
From page 27, the children in family A:
… experienced nineteen days of trauma, including having to sleep on the floor of a freezing house, for what it seems was no good reason.
Again, this is no technical breach of the law. This is a breach of the law that led to children experiencing 19 days of trauma, “having to sleep on the floor of a freezing house, for what it seems was no good reason”. From page 27:
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