- 13yo state ward pregnant
- By Kelvin Healey
- The Sunday Herald Sun
- 05/09/2004 Make a Comment
- Contributed by: admin ( 100 articles in 2004 )
Girl,13, says her life is ruined
A GIRL, 13, has fallen pregnant while in the care of the State Government.
The girl who can be identified only as Kate, says she was also exposed to drug and alcohol abuse.
Kate, who is 13 weeks pregnant, said her life had been ruined in the six months she had spent under the guardianship of the Department of Human Services.
She said she was pregnant to an 18-year-old or 20-year-old, both of whom committed statutory rape.
She claimed she had been:
BASHED by a fellow state ward who had been attempting to kill her unborn child.
ENCOURAGED to have an abortion by youth workers.
WITNESS to a culture of drug use by youngsters in welfare homes.
SENT to school for only one week in six months.
Human Services spokesman Brendan Ryan said the department could not comment on individual cases and matters under police investigation.
The revelations raised further questions about the department, with the Coroner's Court already scrutinising the deaths of three girls in state care.
Kate, of Rowville, said she wanted to return to the care of her mother, but said the department refused.
Kate was taken from her mother's care in March because of family problems. She remained in contact with her family.
Speaking from inside a secure welfare unit, Kate said drug use within homes for state wards was rife and workers tolerated children smoking and drinking.
She claimed she had fled a Wesley Youth Services home at Mitcham three hours after arriving because of the drug culture.
"I had a 13-year-old boy offer me speed and a 16-year-old boy offer me heroin," she said.
"I walked into the room that they expected me to stay in and there was a girl shooting up."
Wesley Youth Services denied the allegations.
Eastern regional manager Rina Minkou said illegal drugs, cigarettes and alcohol were not tolerated in the facilities and she did not believe Kate's allegation about a girl injecting heroin.
"We are quite strict," she said.
Kate's mother accused the Government of failing her daughter.
"They take our children off us, saying we are bad parents, and look what happens," she said.
Opposition community services spokeswoman Helen Shardey said: "It's tragic when, at 13, you're pregnant, you've been exposed to drugs and you've been bashed while supposedly in secure welfare.
"Most people would think that the worst parent in the world would not behave like this."
1Will not be visible to public.
2Receive notification of other comments posted for this article. To cease notification after having posted click here.
3To make a link clickable in the comments box enclose in link tags - ie.<link>Link</link>.
4To show an image enclose the image URL in tags - ie.<image>https://fredspage.com/box.jpg</image>. Note: image may be resized if too large
To further have your say, head to our forum Click Here
To contribute a news article Click Here
To view or contribute a Quote Click Here