Twelve-year-old homeless girl: official complaint about Child Safety sent to Public Guardian
UPDATE: A complaint has been lodged with the Office of the Public Guardian outlining concerns about Child Safety being able to protect a 12-year-old girl homeless on the streets of the Gold Coast.
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A COMPLAINT has been lodged with the Office of the Public Guardian outlining concerns about Child Safety being able to protect a 12-year-old girl homeless on the streets of the Gold Coast.
The Bulletin since July has been providing updated reports on the health of the youth, who had been a choir girl under the long term care of a loving foster family until she was placed in residential care.
An investigation which uncovered email trails and obtained photographs and texts revealed the girl had been using ice, joined a gang, sustained physical assaults and was allegedly prostituting herself with men and women.
The Bulletin and Mudgeeraba MP Ros Bates, the LNP’s health spokesperson, has contacted Child Safety Minister Di Farmer only to be told the matter cannot be publicly discussed due to privacy reasons.
Ms Bates sent the letter after being contacted by the Bulletin about the young girl being in a stolen car which crashed at Foxwell Road and Reserve Road, Coomera. She had later sent a text where she wrote: “I am going to put myself in another ....ing crash.”
“Several stories have been published in the Gold Coast Bulletin about a 12-year-old on the Gold Coast who is no longer living with her foster carer and is living on the street,” “ Ms Bates wrote.
“What we are now learning is that this child has developed a drug and alcohol addiction, is allegedly prostituting herself to pay for this addiction, and has been involved in a recent car theft and crash.
“Recently she was admitted to hospital with a serious infection, before walking out of the hospital under the apparent watch of the Department of Child Safety.”
Ms Bates said she understood from friends of the girl that none of this behaviour occurred when she was with her foster family.
She said the Department of Child Safety was aware of what had happened and was not doing anything about it.
“It is also my belief that the Government is aware of these issues and is choosing to ignore the problem,” she said.
“In many cases this child has been removed from a safer place and is back onto the street with the people who introduced her to a life of drugs and crime.
“I am concerned for this girl’s welfare and equally concerned about the ability of Child Safety to intervene and assist in this matter. To date we have had little response from the Department of Child Safety or the Minister, and I feel this needs to be escalated to make sure this girl can be kept safe in her current circumstances. For this reason, I ask that this matter be appropriately investigated.”
Child Safety Minister Di Farmer has admitted these tragic stories were “distressing and heartbreaking” but the department was working with all agencies and could not physically restrain a young person leaving care.
EARLIER:
A 12-YEAR-OLD girl under the watch of Child Safety is on the streets again after receiving hospital care on the Gold Coast following two attempts to take her life.
The Bulletin in its Trouble on the Streets investigation which has revealed the young girl’s plight from growing up with a caring foster home to member of a teenage gang, was contacted by concerned friends.
In her latest Facebook post, the young girl wrote a chilling message.
TROUBLE ON THE STREETS
PART ONE: HOMELESS CHILD FED KFC BY CHILD SAFETY
PART TWO: FURY OVER HEARTLESS RAIDS
PART THREE: SCARY DATA REVEALS TRUTH ABOUT SEARCH FOR HOUSING
“I stopped looking both ways before crossing the street and I stopped counting the pills before taking them and I didn’t do it BC (because) I wanted to kill myself I did BC I stopped careing (sic) wether (sic) I died or not,” she wrote.
Family friends say the youth wants to return home to her foster carers after being removed from their home.
The following heartfelt comment was added to her post:“Some say it’s painful to wait for someone. Some say it’s painful to forget someone. But the worst pain comes when you don’t know whether to wait or forget.”
An older woman who spent recent time with the young girl described her as “totally broken”.
A family friend said the young girl was admitted for two nights at the Gold Coast University Hospital after sustaining injuries from cutting and “attempting to overdose on Panadol”.
She had lost her placement in a resi-care home on the Coast after a violent incident involving one of her friends from the gang. Resi-care look after the most troubled youths.
The Bulletin understands she had been allowed by Child Safety to stay with the friend’s mother, and later staff organised for hotel accommodation.
She and her friend were enrolled in a Coast school but only attended classes for three days.
“She told me that going to school being dropped off and picked up by “carers” marked her out as a resi kid and as a result she was teased as she did not have a proper family,” the family friend said.
“Last week on Friday, they had no accommodation, they slept in a toilet on the Coast. She rang on Saturday morning quite distraught. “They (Child Safety) are burying their heads on the sand.”
Mudgeeraba MP Ros Bates believes it might be another 24 hours before the department could secure accommodation for the young girl. She has been given a mobile telephone.
“It’s been almost two months since Deb Frecklington and the LNP released our plan to overhaul the child safety system and introduced a Child Protection Force and yet nothing has changed,” Ms Bates said.
“Labor’s Child Safety Minister might like to claim there is bipartisan support for a child safety overhaul, but Labor are clearly all talk and no action.
“This poor 12-year-old girl is yet another tragic example of Labor’s broken system.”
The Bulletin is seeking a response from the Government.
Child Safety Minister Di Farmer told The Bulletin: “It is always distressing to hear stories of girls who — instead of residing with their parents in a loving home — find themselves in such terrible circumstances.
“The Department of Child Safety and myself can’t comment on specific cases, but what I can say is Child Safety works closely with police, non-government agencies and family to support and return missing children safety to their placements as quickly as possible.
“Decisions to remove a child from a foster carer are never made lightly and occur only after a thorough investigation of all circumstances.
“We’re seven years into a 10-year Child Safety reform process with the Palaszczuk Government investing $1.3 billion in the child protection system this year alone and employing an additional 500 frontline Child Safety staff.
“Child Safety is too important to play politics with. We welcome the opportunity to work with the LNP on ongoing reforms.”
EARLIER:
THE LNP is calling for an independent inquiry after a 12-year-old homeless girl under the care of Child Safety walked out of a hospital and returned to the streets of Surfers Paradise.
The Bulletin revealed shocking photographs of the girl’s staph wound on her back, which her friends believed she could not attend to while living rough with a teen gang.
Mudgeeraba MP and Opposition spokesperson for women Ros Bates told The Bulletin: “This is yet another disturbing example of Labor’s broken child safety system and why it needs to be overhauled from the top down and this case should be reviewed by the Public Guardian or Ombudsman.
“The Palaszczuk Labor Government’s broken Child Safety department must be left in the past to meet the safety needs of Queensland kids now and into the future.”Gold Coast Health has declined to comment “due to patient confidentiality”.
Child Safety spokesman in a response said: “While we can’t talk about individual cases, what we can say is that when children in out-of-home care receive in-patient medical services, authorities coordinate closely with the Department of Child Safety.”
Ms Bates said it was time for the government to “stop the cover-ups and end the bad habit of hiding behind privacy provisions”.
“The system should be designed to protect vulnerable kids, not senior bureaucrats,” she said.
“A key part of the LNP’s plan for a new Child Protection Force includes increased transparency and accountability.
“The LNP will introduce new performance reporting for all regional child safety service centres to increase transparency and accountability for senior executives to ensure vulnerable kids don’t fall through the cracks.
“Regional offices will be required to undertake two-year accreditation programs to improve standards and increase local accountability, similar to recent changes in New South Wales.
“Officers in the LNP’s Child Safety Force would undergo new training and development with a focus on identifying behaviours that put kids at risk, with increased early intervention to identify the support needed for kids in care.”
EARLIER:
A 12-YEAR-OLD homeless girl with a serious infection walked out of the Gold Coast University Hospital and back on to the streets, despite being under the watch of Child Safety.
The Bulletin has obtained shocking photographs of the girl’s staph wound on her back which her friends believe she could not attend to while living rough in a teen gang.
A friend said: “The infection was left untreated for a time because she was on the streets. She ended up with more lesions on her legs.
“A youth worker was assigned to her. She tried to abscond twice (with an older girl). She went back to have a cannula and drain removed then was released on the streets.”
SHOCKING STORY OF GOLD COAST CHOIR GIRL NOW CHROMING ON THE STREET
Friends believe the young girl was back with teenage gang members, could not look after her wounds and was in a dire emotional state.
In a text, the young girl told a friend: “I just want to say to everyone I love U (sic) and I am sorry for being alive BC (sic) I am not worth anything anymore I just want to end it.”
The Bulletin understands youth workers and Child Safety officers have attempted to help the girl with her daily medication.
A new mobile telephone was bought so she could remain in contact with her friends and family members.
TROUBLE ON THE STREETS
PART ONE: HOMELESS CHILD FED KFC BY CHILD SAFETY
PART TWO: FURY OVER HEARTLESS RAIDS
PART THREE: SCARY DATA REVEALS TRUTH ABOUT SEARCH FOR HOUSING
The hospital, Child Safety and police launched a search and investigation once she had left the hospital.
The Bulletin’s Trouble on the Streets investigation in the past month has revealed the young girl, once in a choir, had spent 10 loving years in a foster home west of the city before being taken from the family and put in residential care.
Mudgeeraba MP Ros Bates said the foster family was “willing and able” to take care of the child and she wanted to return to their home.
“Child Safety need to remember what their purpose is, which is to protect the child and act in the best interests of the child,” Ms Bates said.
A Gold Coast Health spokesman in a statement said Gold Coast Health has a number of services to care for young people.
“A dedicated Child Protection Unit focuses on the safety and wellbeing of young people being cared for in our hospitals and health services. This unit works in partnership with social workers, Child and Youth Mental Health specialists and other government agencies help navigate safe options for young people once they leave the hospital,” a spokesman.
A Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women spokesperson in a statement said:
“It is upsetting to hear of children in these circumstances. While we can’t talk about individual cases, what we can say is that when children in out-of-home care receive in-patient medical services, authorities coordinate closely with the Department of Child Safety.
“Child Safety’s priority is the safety and wellbeing of vulnerable children in the department’s care.
“Child Safety Officers work with police, medical staff, family and other agencies to look out for the wellbeing of children in out-of-home care including those in need of urgent medical attention.”
Child Safety Minister Di Farmer previously said the decision to remove a child from foster care was not taken lightly.
The young girl was only 11 when she began living on the streets in March this year.
She has lived in a tent at a southern beach until moved on by council workers, sheltered in Surfers Paradise, camped outside Southport shops and slept in toilets.
She wrote to her foster mother: “Love you mummy. I might come back to you may (sic). Love you. Mummy child safety don’t lisan (sic) to me and help me come home aswall (sic). Child Safety lied to me please help me I don’t want too (sic) go.”
The child has not returned to a rest-care home in the Coast’s northern suburbs. The Bulletin last year revealed the most challenging youths were costing taxpayers up to $1.4 million each as profit-hungry agencies rorted the system.
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