WELCOME to the Website of PANIC Parents Against Negative Intervention by Child Youth & Family Service (CYFS) This website is dedicated to the children “imprisoned” in the welfare system of CYFS, children who are crying out to go back to their families.

What is PANIC?
PANIC is a Christian organisation dedicated to support families who have suffered unfair intervention by the Child Youth & Family Service or other social agencies, including many families who have been unjustly caught up in Family Court proceedings.

Members of PANIC are a growing group of parents, grandparents and others who are struggling with the CYFS-Family Court system to obtain JUSTICE for their families. Many of the families who have contacted PANIC are trying to win back their CHILDREN WRONGLY REMOVED by so-called professionals who have inappropriately used the almost unlimited powers available to them to uplift the children.

PANIC was founded by John Tonson who on June 25, 1998 received a phone call from a father who informed him that CYFS had uplifted their six youngest children but on very questionable grounds. Several parents who had suffered the removal of their children, joined John and his wife, Krissy, to begin the group in July 1998.

What have families experienced?

Families expect CYFS and the Family Court do what is in the best interests of their children but for many children it has become a harsh and uncaring system which, without reasonable cause, removes them from their parent(s) for months and sometimes many years.

Families sometimes need the positive assistance of a helping agency so CYFS is often the first port of call. However because of the inadequate investigative skills and the callous attitudes of some social workers, parents often feel they are being unfairly treated as criminals and that CYFS’s approach is totally destructive.

The Department often displays a judgemental and punitive attitude. Social workers may see family situations in the worst possible light, their unbalanced investigations distorting the truth and convincing the Family Court that intervention is necessary to keep the children safe,when it is only a case of perhaps being likely to be at risk.

When children are removed from basically safe and loving homes, they suffer intense trauma and long-term misery from being separated from their parent(s) and siblings. Many run home or attempt to do so showing how they disagreed with their removal

It is clear to PANIC that the approach to many families is wrong and very unprofessional. The main purpose of the Children Young Persons and their Families Act 1989 is to assist and support families and to remove children only as a last resort.

Please note that we are against NEGATIVE involvement by CYFS but support the level of intervention needed in order to keep children safe when there is clear evidence of serious abuse or serious neglect by a parent or other caregiver.

PANIC does recognise the commitment and care provided by those CYF social workers who work in a professional way to ensure protection of children in actual cases of child abuse. We also recognise the compassionate efforts of many social workers in Christian and other non-government agencies who work with families.

What practical help do we seek to give?

1. Offer a supportive listening ear to all who contact us, seeking to provide emotional and spiritual assistance to parents, grandparents, and other caregivers who feel badly treated by CYFS or other social agencies.

2. Advise parents on: finding a suitable lawyer;

obtaining their files from CYFS;

writing formal complaints to CYFS & other professional bodies;

dealing effectively with social workers;

coping with family group conferences;

preparing affidavits for Family Court hearings;

using other avenues to obtain justice.

3. Encourage parents to document everything and to write down their story, both for their own benefit and to help PANIC build up a body of credible evidence revealing the frequent occurrence of inappropriate treatment by CYFS and other professionals.

4. Facilitate support of families by PANIC support people in local areas and the setting up of support networks and organised groups throughout New Zealand.

5. Inform the public and parliamentarians about the injustices suffered by children and their families in order to promote more family-friendly services and greater accountability by social workers.