MEDIA RELEASE FROM CCS DISABILTY ACTION

27 March 2009

Disability group says police cells, hospitals and residential homes not fit for teenager with autism

CCS Disability Action believes that police cells, hospitals and residential homes are not suitable places to keep teenagers.

The comment follows the treatment of an 18-year-old woman with an Autism Spectrum Disorder who was locked up in Nelson police cells and then sent to a specialist hospital for mental health patients after her mother reported that her daughter had attacked her.

Viv Maidaborn, CEO of CCS Disability Action, believes that things should not have had to reach crisis point before care and support was put in place.  Unfortunately, in New Zealand we are developing a practice of late crisis intervention when early support is a much more effective approach.

“Obviously this whole situation is distressing to the family and the authorities have not been able to quickly remedy the situation because the flexible resources and plans are not in place,” says Viv Maidaborn.

CCS Disability Action says that the Select Committee Inquiry Report on the Quality of Care and Services Provision for People with Disabilities had a number of valid recommendations based on the life experiences of disabled people.

“When the report came out disabled people and their families were celebrating.  We thought that we had turned a corner from industrial era institutionalisation to a set of smart 21st Century strategies. Unfortunately, all it took was this one incident and we’re back to locking up disabled people because we continue to fail to invest in early support, community and family based services, and fundamentally we fail to prioritise the very real needs of disabled people and their families,” says Viv Maidaborn.  

While the Government takes its time to sort out the best course of action for providing care and services for disabled people, Viv Maidaborn is urging disabled people and their families to make contact with support organisations that already have deep understanding of disability and communities in New Zealand.

“I would encourage disabled people and their families to get in touch with CCS Disability Action, or other support agencies in their area, so we can help prevent crises and make sure the right supports are in place,” says Viv Maidaborn.

~ENDS~

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