A Westport child whose foster mother claims has been let down by the Government has been admitted into a facility for the mentally disabled after 15 weeks of trying.
The Westport News cannot identify the woman or the child for legal reasons.
The woman has been trying to organise appropriate care since the child, diagnosed with a myriad of disorders including foetal alcohol syndrome, was caught allegedly sexually assaulting a young family member in March.
The abuse was believed to have occurred twice a week for about two months, the woman said.
After the incident, it was obvious the child could no longer live in the same house as the family.
Child Youth and Family (CYF) initially refused to let the child go to a specialised facility, but changed its mind after the woman fought its alternative plan to place the child in a group home.
"A group home is not suitable for this child," she said.
Last Sunday, the child was finally admitted to a facility for the mentally disabled in Christchurch.
The child's stay in the facility was only short-term while the longer-term future was planned and more testing was done, the foster mother said.
She believed the issue was nowhere near being resolved. CYF shouldn't have been the agency to help the child in the first place, it should have been LifeLinks, a Ministry of Health agency, she said.
If LifeLinks had stepped up 15 weeks ago, CYF wouldn't have got involved, she said.
Instead, LifeLinks told her the child was not its problem because the child didn't meet its criteria. That "excuse" astounded the woman, who was assured LifeLinks would take care of such problems.
LifeLinks was now being questioned thoroughly as to why it didn't take responsibility for the child's care, she said.
"The battle is raging between the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Social Development.
"I'm standing behind CYF on this one because they shouldn't be involved."
CYF was the only Government agency to step up and say it would pay for the child's care, she said.
