after he retracted abuse allegation - review
The Child Protection Protocol is meant to ensure effective joint action by Oranga Tamariki (OT) and police to investigate and safeguard a child where there is a risk of immediate serious harm, or serious abuse is identified or suspected.
But in the case of a Northland boy who accused his mother's partner of abusing him, before retracting the allegation soon after, social workers failed to follow protocol in more than a dozen different ways - including not following up on the boy's "ongoing safety" and not looking into his retraction.
"Many aspects of it were not completed to a high standard," OT said in a summary of a review into the case, released to RNZ after a two-month wait.
The man accused says because the investigation was mishandled, it was inconclusive, and so was unsafe for the boy as well as for the blended whānau.
Link to article: Oranga Tamariki social workers failed to assess boy's ongoing safety after he retracted abuse allegation - review | RNZ News
