Khyzah Tawhai Raukaponga DeLaCroix** in *Gisborne, New Zealand*:A coroner has sharply criticised a disability service for failing to act on safety concerns raised by **the mother of 5‑year‑old autistic, non‑verbal Khyzah Tawhai Raukaponga DeLaCroix**, who was found dead in a farm pond near his *Gisborne* home in August last year. Khyzah went missing from his rural property in the *Hangaroa* district and was discovered about 24
hours later in a large pond about 180 metres from the house. Police and community search teams had mounted an extensive operation involving specialist rescue units before his body was recovered and his death was later ruled accidental by drowning.In the lead‑up to the tragedy, Khyzah’s mother had expressed serious concerns about her son’s tendency to
wander and lack of safety awareness, asking **Your Way | Kia Roha**, a service contracted by the *Ministry of Social Development’s Disability Support Services*, for safety locks on windows and doors and for fencing at his future school. Instead of proactively addressing these concerns, the service advised her to seek a home safety assessment through a
neurodevelopmental therapist — a step that was not urgently followed up. Coroner **Meenal Duggal** found that these concerns, given Khyzah’s disability and the clear risk he faced, “required urgent action” and should have been escalated more effectively by the disability service.The coroner also noted systemic issues facing families of children with developmental needs, including
fragmented services and the burden on caregivers to repeatedly communicate concerns across multiple agencies. Although Kia Roha accepted its response was not sufficiently proactive, it denied systemic failings and said it has since strengthened risk management, staff training, supervisory oversight and inter‑agency coordination — steps the coroner endorsed.
Khyzah’s death has prompted calls for better coordination within the disability support system to ensure families’ safety concerns are acted upon before similar tragedies occur.If you’d like, I can also provide context about disability service systems in New Zealand or the broader response from advocacy groups.
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