1. Children are removed unnecessarily as result of false allegations and malicious notifications, exaggeration of everyday problems, or because health issues, physical and mental disabilities, and behavioural difficulties are unfairly blamed on the parents, when a family strengthening approach should have been followed.

2. Children torn away from a safe and loving parent suffer immensely from separation trauma and separation anxiety, lack of love and security. They are often forced to live with a family with a different culture and religion, and experience demoralisation of spirit, behavioural disorders, emotional and mental ill health.

3. Innocent parents are treated as guilty even if no reasonable evidence is found against them. Although the police decide there is no evidence of abuse by the parent or if a parent is acquitted in the criminal court, CYF may still regard them as unsafe caregivers and allow only supervised access to their children. Thus parents suffer character assassination.

4. Lack of professionalism, competence, and accountability is common in the Department of CYF. This is evidenced by - Lack of thoroughness in investigations; Failure to consult parents and children; Witch-hunt mentality, punitive and judgemental attitudes; Too much reliance on risk factors in assessments; Unwillingness to admit mistakes and redress inappropriate interventions; Lack of commitment to family strengthening principles of CYFS Act; Taking easy option of removing children instead of working with families.

5. Dictatorial and controlling approach. CYF impose its plans on families through manipulation of the law and the Family Court processes, particularly through family group conferences. There is often an arrogant: We are the professionals we know best attitude. Too many social workers are power freaks, in technical terms organisational psychopaths.

6. Huge imbalance of power social workers have considerable departmental resources especially finance, knowledge of how to use the law and almost unlimited power through the law. Parents feel they have no rights. In New Zealand there tends to be one law for the rich and powerful, and another for everyone else. There is one law for the rich and powerful, and another for the rest of New Zealand. Ian Wishart Paradise Conspiracy 2

7. Corruption as well as incompetence describes some inappropriate interventions. Betrayal of trust and confidentiality, lies, threats, and broken promises are commonly experienced. Quote - Power tends to corrupt but absolute power corrupts absolutely. Lord Acton.

8. Many families are forced into Family Court action which would be unnecessary if they were listened to and their decisions in family group conferences were accepted by CYF social workers. Involvement in the Family Court means a tremendous drain on the financial and other resources of families, on the Court system and on the nation as a whole.

9. Delays in getting a hearing. It may be one, two or three years before a full court hearing takes place because of time taken for investigations, psychological tests, family group conferences (FGCs), mediation and judicial conferences, and general stonewalling by CYFS.

10. Lack of a balanced and fair hearing because the scales are tilted in favour of the expert opinions of CYFS and other professionals supporting their decisions. Too often the affidavits of social workers, child counsel, and psychologists are given full weight and while the affidavits of parents and supporters are not given the attention they deserve.

11. Family Court of Injustice is often a bitter experience because there are low standards of evidence allowed and the standard of proof is the questionable balance of probabilities instead of beyond reasonable doubt. Affidavits by aggressive, scheming and malicious parties including social workers win the day over the innocent and trusting family members.

12. Financing the care of children unnecessarily removed by the Department is a significant cost - much more then the Govt would normally hand out in benefits to custodial parents. Financing the Department and its social workers, paying court-appointed child counsel, child psychologists, access supervisors, child care allowances to caregivers, counselling for children and parents, along with conferences, reviews and hearings in the Family Court amount to a huge financial outlay which would be largely avoided if interventions were appropriate!