A one stop shop to help assess, treat and interview child abuse victims is proving it's worth both for staff and for the children they help.
Detective Sergeant Zane Smith is the officer in charge of the child protection team for the Western Bay of Plenty. He works out of a nondescript, unmarked building in Tauranga, but the work he does is anything but non-descript.
Rapuoranga (Seeking Wellness) is a multi-agency centre that houses the police child protection team, police family violence staff, specialist staff from Child Youth and Family, including specialist interviewers and non-government organisations involved in the area of family violence.
There is a medical facility onsite used for forensic medicals and soon to be used for "kids in care medicals".
"Significantly, it is not a police station and there are never any offenders here. We deal only with victims and so the facility is set up specifically for their needs." said Mr Smith
We have a purpose built evidential adult sexual assault suite and child evidential interview unit. We are set up for forensic and medical staff to examine victims.
A child who has suffered serious abuse will be interviewed by specially trained people from social workers, with a police detective present to monitor the interview for evidential purposes.
Detective Sergeant Smith said the centre was building up very effective relationships between the agencies who work in the area of child abuse.
"We now have a better idea of each other's roles, we can co-ordinate work on cases and we can support each other to provide better services to victims.
CYF specialist interviewer Rangi Rolleston is passionate about the centre.
"It's fantastic and something we have been wanting for a long time."
"Just having the police here all the time, makes a huge difference for Whanau. Something as simple as scheduling interviews is now so much easier and more efficient."
"I've been doing this job for 11 years and I can see how much better it is for families to have a place like Rapuoranga."
Midlands operations manager for Child, Youth and Family, Tayelva Petley says it makes sense to have all the experts on child abuse in one place.
"Rapuoranga provides children and their family whänau with a fantastic service tailor made to meet their needs during what is a very traumatic time in their life."
Acting Assistant Commissioner Win Van Der Velde says multi-agency centres are now also operational in Counties Manukau, New Plymouth and one is expected to open in Lower Hutt within the next few months.
"We are looking closely at the work of these centres and believe the multi-agency model is well-worth considering for other locations.
ENDS