NT Families ignored trauma red flags of girl who took life

The family of nine-year-old Darwin girl who took her own life made repeated requests for her return.

THE Department of Children and Families ignored repeated warnings from case workers and pleas from the family of a nine-year-old girl who took her own life in March 2020.

Coroner Elisabeth Armitage said the suicide of the nine-year-old girl in foster care represented the systemic failures responsible for Aboriginal children being ten times more likely to be in out-of-home care.

The child, who cannot be named and was given the pseudonym “Sammy”, was removed by the Department when she was just 10-months old, in February 2011.

Sammy and her brother were put into provisional protection just two days after being admitted to hospital for scabies with their mother.

Sammy’s mother, paternal grandmother, and aunts all made appeals to return the children to kinship placement arrangements.

Her mother also asked for her children to be transferred from Darwin to Katherine, to avoid the 900km trip dividing the children from their community.

Sammy’s case worker raised concerns about their placement with non-Indigenous carers, but was told it was not an emergency.

Ms Armitage condemned the lengthy delays in assessing the family’s requests, with Department employees admitting to concerned case workers that “things are … at a bit of a standstill”.

“A good part of the reasons for delay seems to have been the time taken to deal with the various hurdles that family were required to overcome: criminal history checks, Ochre cards, housing and referees,” Ms Armitage said.

“Other family members were not considered even though they requested that they have the children.

“It is understood that Aboriginal children are over-represented in the child protection system … This case provides an example of just how that happens.”

When Sammy was five her case workers raised concerns about her mental health, communication and personal skills and she was prescribed the ADHD medication Ritalin.

Independent expert paediatrician, Dr Rick Jarman said the 30 milligrams dose for the 25kg child meant she was likely over medicated.

“Although the medication assisted her concentration it also appeared to quieten her exuberant and smiling personality, at least while at school,” Ms Armitage said.

Teachers noted the once enthusiastic, sociable and eager student started to fade away.

Her case manager recognised the signs of trauma following her brother leaving, attending an uncle’s funeral and her father’s declining health.

They recommended a play therapy program, but Ms Armitage said “that never happened for reasons that were never able to be explained by the Department."

Two years after the trauma red flags were raised, nine-year-old Sammy took her own life on Saturday March 14, 2020.

Chilling CCTV footage showed the young Darwin girl clutching her hands together as if in silent prayer in front of a hallway mirror before walking away, miming the actions she would use to end her own life.

Fifty-six minutes later Sammy was found unresponsive, a crumpled apologetic note to her mum and dad was found in her room and a second message was left on a receipt in the playroom.

“That a child of nine years of age had the knowledge and aptitude to understand death and the wherewithal to kill herself is confronting,” Ms Armitage said.

She said despite Sammy being at a high-risk of suicide, as a child in Out of Home Care with ADHD, she was not sufficiently supported.

Ms Armitage recommended all children in out of home care be provided with assessment for trauma and where indicated therapy.

She also called on the Territory Families Chief Executive to ensure that the placement of Aboriginal children is in conformity with the Act.

Territory Families has previously committed to phasing out the controversial Purchased Home Based Care placement program by 2021.