A vulnerable teenager was hospitalised with an overdose last night after authorities decided to house him alone in a hotel - despite him attempting suicide two weeks ago. The 16-year-old has been in and out of residential care since he was 12 but had been placed in a Dunedin hotel this week due to a shortage of residential care facility beds. The Ministry for Vulnerable Children (MFVC) says the hotel placement is a "last resort" but the Children's Commissioner has labelled the short-term accommodation "not good enough". On Tuesday, the MFVC checked him into a hotel, telling his mother he could be there up to a month, she said. The teenager had to call his social worker three times a day, his mother said.

Source: New Zealand Herald April 20, 2017 16:52 UTC