If CYF policy had been followed, Moko would probaby have lived
Stuff co.nz 31 August 2017
Baby Moko could still be alive if Child, Youth and Family social workers had followed their own policies, the coroner’s court has heard.
A witness who worked at Child, Youth and Family (CYF), now the Ministry for Vulnerable Children, Oranga Tamariki, said he had gone against ministry policy to have the children sighted in the home after a red flag was raised by Tania Shailer.
Shailer, along with her partner David Haerewa, systematically beat Moko Rangitoheriri to death in a manner described as more brutal than even the Nia Glassie case.
On July 30, 2015, Shailer went to the CYF office in Taupo with Trina Marama, a social worker for the Maori Women’s Refuge, to talk about concerns over returning Moko and his sister to the care of their mother, Nicola Dally-Paki.
While the complaint was not against Shailer, the information was enough to raise a red flag and the file was given a seven-day notification period – a matter of urgency that required specific actions by CYF.
Having this label meant the children must be sighted by CYF workers within seven days. Allowing for weekends, that would have meant the last day that check should have been made was August 9 – one day before three-year-old Moko died, after being taken to Taupo Hospital in a critical condition.
READ MORE: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/96356600/moko-rangitoheriris-social-worker-testifies-before-coroner