All talk, no action:  communication issues may be placing children at risk

They are the Illawarra’s most vulnerable and the most at the risk of harm - but those on the frontline of crisis care say not enough is being done to protect the children of local parents struggling with drug addiction and mental health issues.

In the wake of recent tragic child deaths across the state, Manager of Wollongong Crisis Centre Drug and Alcohol Services*, Will Temple, is one of a number of crisis workers who claim there is a dire lack of help for troubled parents, and he points to poor interaction between health and drug rehabilitation services as part of the problem.

“We have been trying to integrate and work with local health services for the past 12 months – but they will not work with us - we’ve talked and talked but nothing gets done,” Mr Temple said.

“But until they do work with us, a whole lot of people are going to slip through the cracks – and those people are the ones who end up doing these terrible things to kids.

“People are going to the mental health service and they wont deal with them and turn them away because they are on drugs – they say it is not a health issue.

“So then they come to us – but they also have a mental health issue and we don’t have the facilities or the expertise to deal with that – and the only reason many of these people may have a drug problem is as a result of their mental illness – so it just goes around in circles and they end up having nowhere to go.”

Even more frightening than the lack of support and confusion over where the responsibility should lie, is Mr Temple’s belief, supported by a spokesperson for the NSW Minister for Community Services, that mandatory reporting requirements relating to children may actually deter mothers with drug abuse or mental health problems from seeking help – for fear of losing custody.

Despite the impact this would have on reducing the number of reported cases, new DoCS statistics show that parental mental health issues and drug use are the fastest growing causes of child protection reports in NSW.

When contacted by the Wollongong and Northern Leader for comment on the prevalence of parents with drug abuse and mental health problems and a possible link between the two, a spokesperson for South East Sydney Illawarra Area Health said that noone was available for comment.

Wollongong Crisis Centre Drug and Alcohol Services is the only residential rehabilitation detox facility between Sutherland and the Victorian border and turns away about 300 desperate adults each year.

*Non-government organisation.