A Hamilton woman who left her two toddlers at home alone in squalid conditions while she went out is facing charges of abandoning her children.
But Child, Youth and Family (CYF) said there was still a possibility the children could be returned to her care.
Police were called to the three-bedroom home in Dinsdale yesterday at 3.30am where they found a 2-year-old boy crying outside.
Senior Sergeant Kevin Anderson said when officers went inside the house they also found an 11-month-old boy crying in a portable cot.
"He had superficial facial injuries and in his cot were two RTD cans, some chips, a bottle of milk formula and a straw, and a sealed condom packet."
Police searched the house looking for a parent or caregiver and thought they had found someone in a bed.
"On inspection, police found the bed had been padded to look like someone was there, but under the quilt were blankets and pillows."
The children have been put in the care of CYF.
Yesterday, the Herald visited the 22-year-old woman's home but her mother threatened to call the police.
Another woman at the home would not comment when approached.
Neighbours said the young mother and her children lived quietly and kept to themselves after moving into the neighbourhood recently.
Some said the woman and her children could often be gone from the home for days at a time.
One neighbour, who asked not to be named, said the children seemed happy and occasionally played outside their home, which had mown lawns and toys visible on the window sills.
They said the incident was distressing.
They had no idea the children had been at home alone.
They had not seen any lights on in the house or heard noise from it.
"It's pretty ... [bad], I would never do something like that," they said.
"If you were to go out you'd think that getting a babysitter or a family member to look after the children would be your top priority - they were vulnerable and helpless; anything could have happened to them."
A CYF spokeswoman said the children were shaken but otherwise fine and that it was too early to tell whether the children would be given back to their mother, to other family members or if CYF would oversee their care.
CYF can hold on to the children for up to five days.
"We will be working with the family in that time to make sure they are well cared for," a spokeswoman said.
"We're just trying to find a safe place for them at the moment.
"That could mean going to live with other family members, or back with their mother. We'll need to assess what the best option for them is."
Police said when their mother returned home about 6am and found them missing, she assumed they had been picked up by their grandmother.
It was not until police came to the house about 7am that she knew what had happened.
She has been charged with two counts of abandoning a child under 6 and is to appear in Hamilton District Court.
Last year, a Hastings mother and her partner pleaded guilty to four charges of leaving children aged 2, 3, 8 and 10 at home alone while they worked night shift jobs.
They were each fined $720 by justices of the peace Peter Stokes and Dorothea Millen.
