A nightmare for disadvantaged children in New Zealand - Paula Bennet's guide to poverty, perhaps...

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 Paula Bennett  Minister of Social Development...


 Paula Bennett's telling sole parents "the dream is over" will be a nightmare for thousands of children, says Child Poverty Action Group.



The Minister has signalled that 43,000 sole parents of school age children will be work tested and expected to take up part-time work.



CPAG has asked the Minister to outline what arrangements will be in place for parents with chronically sick or disabled children.



The group has also asked for clarity on how sanctions will be applied so they do not affect the material wellbeing of already disadvantaged children.



Spokesperson Donna Wynd has welcomed the raising of earnings thresholds, but says this on its own will not reduce the hardship of many sole parents households.



"Being able to earn an extra $20 per week before tax will not alleviate child poverty, and it probably won't give anyone an incentive to work who isn't already," said Ms Wynd.



"We also have some real concerns about what happens if there are not 43,000 suitable part-time jobs conveniently located where parents live.



Do parents have to take jobs that mean their children are unattended after school? And what if there simply are no jobs? What measures will be in place to ensure that parents are not unnecessarily sanctioned?"



The group is also worried about tightening up on invalids benefits. "The biggest barrier to the employment of the disabled is employer discrimination. If getting a benefit becomes harder, where do people go?



This package looks like a repeat of the failed policies of the 1990s. They were bad for children then, and they will be worse for children now." Why do we as a society continually fight among ourselves, decade after decade? Cry for the little children.

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New Zealand baby owes its life to its grandmother's intervention...

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A Southland, New Zealand, baby owes its life to its grandmother who intervened during her own daughter's attempt at infanticide.

The teenage mother, who last month admitted a charge of attempted infanticide, was today sentenced to two years' intense supervision when she appeared at the High Court at Invercargill.

Justice John Fogarty said infanticide, by its very nature, enabled the court to take into account the 19-year-old's mental state at the time of her offending.

"The offence recognises young mothers do get into a disturbed state of mind."

He declined to go into details of what had happened but did say the woman's mother had intervened to save the life of the child.

The court heard the woman had experienced a troubled upbringing, having attended up to 30 different schools, been exposed to violence, different religious influences and was the victim of rape.

Justice Fogarty said he accepted she had a mental health problem which most likely had been exacerbated by the birth of the baby.

The woman had already received quality assistance from clinical psychiatrists since the offence.

He said his greatest concern was for the ongoing welfare of her two babies.

"You are in need of as much assistance as can be given."

He said he was satisfied Child, Youth and Family had a plan in place that would allow the young mother to, over time, develop and maintain relationships with her children.

As part of her sentence, the judge also ordered the woman undertake psychiatric treatment and counselling as directed by the probation service.

However, Justice Fogarty turned down a Crown application she complete community work, saying he wanted stresses in the woman's life kept to a minimum.

He also ordered her name be suppressed so that she could be rehabilitated and her two children live their lives without everyone knowing what their mother had done. He said it would be a family decision whether the victim of the attempted infanticide would ever be told what happened.

Acknowledgements: NZPA

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To Mexico with love - a date with a miracle cure...

To Mexico with love - a date with a miracle cure…


This story emanating from the Wellington daily, Dominion Post yesterday, tugged at my heartstrings; I’m really an old softie, but this was different.

The Mexican Swine flu outbreak has reportedly delayed a Levin ( near Wellington) family’s hunt for a miracle cure for their young daughter.

Young Jaide Pearson is just eight years old, the age of one of my own granddaughters. She is a blind quadriplegic who also suffers from cerebal palsy. What on earth did she do to someone in a previous life? Her mother, Jayne, and granddad Norm, had planned to take her to a pioneering clinic in Tijuana, Mexico, next month after she was accepted for experimental stem cell therapy.

Then along came the Swine flu outbreak in Mexico, with its much debated figures concerning infected people and those who have died - and in the process forced this family to delay the trip until September of this year, 2009.

Jaide had apparently suffered a haemorrhage in the womb, and was subsequently born with severe brain damage. The Fernando Ramirez clinic in Tijuana can hopefully provide a miracle cure for little Jaide, who is also mute!

Her mother, Jayne, wants her to have a better quality of life, but they couldn’t risk taking her to Mexico during the flu epidemic and had to wait until the risk had been contained.

Granddad Norm said the therapy which involves inserting stem cells into Jaide’s brain from the umbilical cords of healthy full-term babies, had the potential to cure her. “We would be delighted if she could see, it would be wonderful if she could walk. I would love her to be able to put her arms around me to give me a cuddle.” he said.

I have a granddaughter of the same age and fully understand just how Norm feels, but through the grace of god our family has never had to deal with such health problems that he and his family has had to endure.

The family has been told to expect improvements within the 180 days after the procedure - which is not medically approved in many countries, including New Zealand.

These hopes were sparked by a TV documentary last February, reportedly showing a 2 year old Dunedin, NZ, cerebral palsy sufferer, Caleb Turner’s, remarkable improvement after undergoing treatment in Mexico. An 8 year old legally blind boy who also featured in the documentary was reported to have recovered almost perfect vision as a result of the therapy as well. While she is severely handicapped, there have been some reportedly good results from stem cell therapy.

Who wouldn’t try the therapy just on the off-chance it will work, even if it has been disclaimed by mainstream medical authorities and experts? If I was in the same situation as Jaide’s family, I’m sure I would be pushing to try this treatment and becoming involved in various fundraising schemes to get my granddaughter to Mexico as well. Kiaora.

Acknowledgements: Kay Blundell, Dompost, Wellington, NZ.

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