Parklands was a residential facility in Pukekawa,south of Auckland. The MOH has now closed this facility down after investigations showed Clients were forced to live in crowded, dirty conditions surrounded by more than 35 small dogs, fed inadequate food, neglected by untrained staff, provided with no meaningful activities and denied access to their own money.Residents were verbally and physically abused, made to do farm work and laundry and pick up dog faeces for as little as $4 per week. In perhaps the worst example of abuse, a teenage boy who was unable to talk was regularly left unattended in a paddock to eat grass "like an animal".
Catalogue of Abuse, according to the Ministry of Health
- Parklands was dirty, cramped and cold, with 35-plus dogs on the property.
- Staff watched residents on a surveillance camera rather than interacting with them.
- Residents rarely left Parklands, one man was confined for nine weeks, and medicine was badly handled and recorded.
- Residents were not given regular health checks, staff rarely bought fresh fruit or meat, and funding lacked transparency.
- Only $2000 was spent each month on food for 19 people, and residents' birthdays were not celebrated.
- Some clients were forced to share rooms.
- At times they resorted to hiding under the covers of their beds to get privacy.
- A young man with cerebral palsy was "told off" for reporting to ministry staff that his emergency call bell was broken.
- A resident was allegedly punched in the face by a staff member while they were trying to "de-escalate" his behaviour.
