She lived with her husband Ryan, Jakob\u2019s stepfather, and their 9-year-old daughter Luuka.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t control him at home, he\u2019s too aggressive with us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jakob began \u201cattacking\u201d her and would also hurt himself.<\/p>\n
Luuka became scared and was \u201clocking herself in her room all the time\u201d.<\/p>\n
Before admitting him to hospital, Humphrey contacted \u201cevery agency\u201d she could think of.<\/p>\n
She was told \u201che was too young for adult disability services and too old for child-based ones\u201d.<\/p>\n
With \u201cnowhere else to turn\u201d, she admitted Jakob to hospital.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to … make a choice which was really, really hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Living in a hospital ward <\/p>\n
Humphrey said Jakob had been living in an adult medical ward, which was a \u201ccompletely inappropriate environment\u201d.<\/p>\n
He had \u201climited movement\u201d outside his room, no peers, a broken TV, and \u201cconstant exposure\u201d to death and sickness.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s almost imprisoned\u201d.<\/p>\n
She said a healthcare assistant was always with Jakob and she was thankful the health system had helped.<\/p>\n
Jakob Tindle has been living in a ward at Rotorua Hospital since September 2025. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
The family visited Jakob every two to three days.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got a little boy sitting on a hospital bed that doesn\u2019t really understand why he\u2019s there \u2013 he\u2019s not sick. And he\u2019s looking at the door to see if someone he knows … will walk through the door … it\u2019s really, really sad.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mother\u2019s call for action<\/p>\n
Humphrey emailed the disability issues, health, and children ministers on February 4, pleading for \u201cimmediate, cross-ministry action\u201d to secure a safe, residential home for Jakob in Taup\u014d.<\/p>\n
She wrote Jakob had \u201cfallen into a gap\u201d between the three ministries and the consequences had become \u201cunbearable\u201d for Jakob and his family.<\/p>\n
Humphrey did not believe it was an option for Jakob to return home with more support because of his unpredictable behaviour.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d love him to be in Taup\u014d, maybe in his own house with carers where we can still obviously have daily involvement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jakob Tindle’s mother has been told \u201che was too young for adult disability services and too old for child-based ones\u201d. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Humphrey said Oranga Tamariki connected her with a service provider on February 16 that could look at Rotorua housing options for Jakob.<\/p>\n
However, this was likely still \u201cmonths\u201d away if funding was approved, caregivers were recruited for, and an accessible home was found.<\/p>\n
She said Jakob would become eligible for Government-funded residential housing upon turning 18 in June but she wanted a solution faster.<\/p>\n
Hospitals \u2018often an interim safe option\u2019 <\/p>\n
Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora Lakes District operations group director Alan Wilson said it was committed to providing safe, ongoing care to all inpatients.<\/p>\n
He said public hospitals were \u201coften an interim safe option\u201d for complex patients requiring specialised residential care placement in the community.<\/p>\n
Wilson said Oranga Tamariki was responsible for placement of people younger than 18 in community-based care. <\/p>\n
The Ministry of Social Development\u2019s Disability Support Services (DSS) was responsible for commissioning and funding of residential support services for disabled people older than 18.<\/p>\n
He said it remained committed to working with wh\u0101nau, Oranga Tamariki and DSS to secure safe, community-based placements for young patients \u201cas soon as an appropriate option\u201d was arranged.<\/p>\n
Wilson said ward placement decisions were made case\u2011by\u2011case, accounting for the safety and wellbeing of the patient and other inpatients. Children under 15 were generally admitted to the Children\u2019s Unit.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, there are times when it is safer to accommodate older children (16-18) in other wards, especially if they display unpredictable behaviours.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wilson said it knew social support agencies often faced challenges in finding suitable accommodation for high-needs people.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also recognise that hospital environments cannot fully replicate the developmental, social and emotional supports provided in a specialist community setting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Living in hospital ward \u2018not an appropriate long-term solution\u2019 <\/p>\n
Oranga Tamariki north tamariki and wh\u0101nau services national commissioner Alison Cronin said it worked with health and disability services to support disabled children.<\/p>\n
For Jakob, care options required a service provider that was Oranga Tamariki and DSS provider-approved to ensure he did not need to move homes when he turned 18.<\/p>\n
Cronin said it was working with wh\u0101nau and meeting weekly with DSS and fortnightly with Health NZ to ensure \u201ca joined-up approach\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe appreciate the current situation is not an appropriate long-term solution, but at the forefront of all decision making is ensuring [the immediate safety of] this young person and their wh\u0101nau … with the resources we have available.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cronin said people under 18 with complex needs and not yet eligible for adult residential services could either remain at home with support provided or have \u201ca range of care options offered to them\u201d.<\/p>\n
If the young person required specialised out-of-home care, Oranga Tamariki worked with wh\u0101nau and other government agencies..<\/p>\n
DSS commissioning and funding general manager Catherine Poutasi said it knew this was a difficult time for Jakob and his family.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt should not have taken this long, and we acknowledge both their frustration and the impact this is having on them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are working together with Oranga Tamariki to find a provider that supports his needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Poutasi said the Needs Assessment Service Co-ordination agency (Nasc) advised it was working with Oranga Tamariki and potential providers to confirm a suitable residential option for Jakob.<\/p>\n
She said DSS was funding in-home care support for the teenager before his admission.<\/p>\n
Jakob would become eligible for adult residential support services at age 18, at which time DSS would become the lead agency for residential support.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will continue to work with Oranga Tamariki and the Nasc to support him, and to ensure continuity of support through his transition to adult services.\u201d<\/p>\n
Megan Wilson is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"She lived with her husband Ryan, Jakob\u2019s stepfather, and their 9-year-old daughter Luuka. \u201cWe can\u2019t control him at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305386,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[167067,74,1558,167066,9522,10537,1342,2082,5838,2241,78,4188,3234,130,6178,111,43,139,161462,69,1327,4054,131,664,102],"class_list":{"0":"post-305385","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-13monthold","9":"tag-after","10":"tag-been","11":"tag-developmental","12":"tag-disabled","13":"tag-else","14":"tag-five","15":"tag-for","16":"tag-help","17":"tag-hospital","18":"tag-in","19":"tag-living","20":"tag-months","21":"tag-more","22":"tag-mother","23":"tag-new-zealand","24":"tag-news","25":"tag-newzealand","26":"tag-nowhere","27":"tag-nz","28":"tag-rotorua","29":"tag-teenager","30":"tag-than","31":"tag-turn","32":"tag-with"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}