A Dunedin father says he is "relieved" his lengthy fight for a public apology from Barnardos has finally brought results.
Doi, who has used only one name for the past 30 years, battled for eight years to get the organisation to accept it treated him and his three children badly when they were using the organisation's supervised access services in Dunedin in 2001 and 2002.
Doi's difficulties were mainly with a Barnardos staff member who has since left the organisation.
In a letter to the Otago Daily Times, chief executive Murray Edridge said Barnardos staff "unfortunately did Doi the injustice of not responding effectively and comprehen- sively enough to the complaints he made".
Mr Edridge apologised to Doi and his family for "hurt or consequent damage" caused by any representations Barnardos made that were not true or accurate.
With the passage of time and the changing of personnel at Barnardos, resolving the outstanding issues had been difficult, Mr Edridge said.
"We are pleased to have reached a satisfactory resolution of the issues with Doi and his family and wish them all the best for the future."
After getting no joy from Barnardos in 2002 and 2003, Doi approached several other agencies including Dunedin North MP Pete Hodgson and the Privacy Commissioner's office.
Later, an audit of Barnardos by Child Youth and Family reinforced that there had been deficiencies in the way Barnardos had treated him and dealt with his complaint.
The support of others had helped, Doi said last week.
"At first it was just this slightly nutty man sending gruff letters.
But as other people did an extensive review of the literature and began confirming what I was saying, Barnardos seemed to realise . . .
I wasn't going to go away."
Doi said he persisted in pursuing an apology because "he knew what I was doing was true".
While he said the apology would not undo the problems Barnardos had created for himself and his children, the apology was "completion".
"It is a personal vindication, and that is sufficient for me."
As well as the apology, he said Barnardos had paid him a confidential contribution towards his costs, which he had put into a trust.
He would use the money to fund a non profit-making service advising other parents on their options for shared custody following relationship breakdowns.
The aim was to ensure parents knew going to the family court was not the only option, and that children should remain the central focus, Doi said.
