The paper over the cracks at CYF is peeling off

National Party Welfare spokeswoman Judith Collins says most New Zealanders will be shocked to learn that CYF sat on a report about a missing teenager for two days before going to the police.

“The family of this 13-year-old, who died while on a Child Youth and Family-approved camp, deserve answers,” says Ms Collins.

She is commenting on reports today that Otis Auelua’s disappearance went unreported for four days, and CYF knew about it for two of those days. The 13-year-old fell to his death at Northland’s Matauri Bay in December last year.

“CYF is dealing with some of the most vulnerable, and some of the most difficult children in New Zealand. We all expect the level of care to be much better than this,” says Ms Collins.

“Millions of taxpayer dollars has been poured into CYF, which is still lurching from one crisis to the next. Ruth Dyson must front-up on this issue.

“We need to know why CYF tried to hush up this boy’s disappearance for two days and what action, if any, she plans to take to make sure it never happens again.

“If you stack this case up against the slack response to complaints about a CYF caregiver who has recently admitted inappropriately photographing kids in his care, a worrying picture begins to emerge.

“Clearly, the paper hung by Ruth Dyson over the cracks at CYF is peeling off,” says Ms Collins.

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