ThumbsUp4Cohen - Suicide Prevention is Everyone's Business

16/10/2025

I woke up this morning with these lyrics in my head:

“Everything I do, I do it for you…”

Pretty self explanatory I feel because everything I do, I do for Cohen.

As I sit here in uncertainty and anxiety, both feelings I’ve become accustomed to I have to believe that Cohen is still with me.

“Everything I do, I do it for you.”

Loveya mate 👍🏻💙

16/10/2025

15/10/2025

They made an observation, they spoke about that observation, they emailed about that observation, they made records about that observation and what did they do about that observation?

NOTHING.

14/10/2025

Tuesday 💔

I will alway remember that Tuesday. It’s burnt into my brain. My trauma, my grief, my broken heart, all began on that Tuesday. Our world blew up that day and we had to start it again without Cohen. It’s life now and it’s so hard.

I often say to other parents who are just starting this horrific journey, “It doesn’t get easier, it just gets different. Everyday brings us closer to seeing them again.” It’s one of the things that keeps me going.

We miss you Cohen, I hope you know much we all miss you.

Loveya mate 👍🏻💙

14/10/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1FBg88xRTr/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA)
9.00am to 5.00pm Wednesdays 19th and 26th November 2025
at The People Place Busselton

$180 per person for 14hr (2-day) course, including resources, YMHFA manual, catering and GST.

Register online at Eventbrite:
👉 https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/youth-mental-health-first-aid-training-busselton-tickets-1816819488999

Learn skills and gain confidence to support young people experiencing mental health problems with licensed instructors Mel and Nick from SWAN.

Mental illnesses often start in adolescence or early adulthood and it is important to detect problems early to ensure the young person is properly treated and supported.

The YMHFA course teaches adults (18yrs+) who have frequent contact with adolescents, such as parents, guardians, school staff, sport coaches, youth workers etc, how to support adolescents who are developing a mental health problem, experiencing a worsening of a mental health problem or are in a mental health crisis.

COURSE INFORMATION:
• 14-hour (2 day) Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) course.
• Participants will learn about adolescent development and the signs and symptoms of mental health problems, how and where to get help, and what sort of help has been shown by research to be effective.
• Course topics cover: developing mental health problems, depression, anxiety problems, psychosis, eating disorders and substance use problems, as well as su***de and other mental health crises.
• Participants receive a copy of the Youth MHFA Manual 4th Edition.
• Participants are eligible to become an accredited Mental Health First Aider by completing a short, open-book online test.
Important Notes:
• You must attend both days to complete the YMHFA training.
• One of our instructors is immune-compromised. If you are unwell, please contact SWAN for a full refund and we ask that you do not attend. Mask wearing is encouraged for your own health and safety, and air purifiers will be in the room.
• Venue is wheelchair accessible

Please contact SWAN by emailing info@swanautism.org.au or phone 0499 819 038 if you have any questions or require assistance.

14/10/2025

LATEST EMAIL SENT TODAY

TO ALL:

We would like to acknowledge that no one has responded to our emails that we sent on the 5th and 8th October 2020. We would like to also acknowledge that the Department of Education continue to refuse to address the neglect of our son Cohen Fink who died by su***de on the 4th June 2019. We would like to also acknowledge that the Department of Education have NO Standards or Integrity and are still not acknowledging that Cohen’s school breached the DOE Duty of Care policy, the DOE Student Health Care Policy, the DOE Code of Conduct Policy and the Disability Discrimination Act which ultimately resulted in the reprehensible neglect of our son.

We are realising from what we can see in the FOI, as soon as Cohen died that the DOE have never treated him as a human being and as a child who has human rights, to the DOE he is just a number that needed to be dealt with as quickly and as quietly as possible. Unfortunately for you all the number that you have been trying to cross of your to do list has a family that love him dearly and refuse to let his death be ignored. Not only have we had to experience pain and grief like no other we have had to deal with the disgraceful treatment by a government department that is essentially there for children and are quite content to allow schools to neglect children.
The justification of Cohen’s neglect is sickening and the way we have been told over and over that Cohen was not on the SAER list like that is the legitimate reason to the neglect is almost beyond belief. Why do you all refuse to acknowledge that Cohen was not put on the SAER list because his school failed to put him on it? Why do you all refuse to acknowledge that Cohen’s teachers all had concerns for his mental health, and they did NOTHING.

We thought that by putting a complaint into the DOE we would receive a fair and just investigation into the failures that resulted in the neglect of our son, but we realise now that the DOE will protect its own no matter what the circumstances and at all costs. It does not matter if a school breaches the DOE policies or the Disability Discrimination Act because the Department of Education DO NOT CARE. Our mentally unwell vulnerable child was allowed to fall through the cracks of a school that the School Psychologist assured us that Cohen would be well supported at and the Department of Education DO NOT CARE.

We have highlighted the contradictions, the discrepancies and the proof of neglect to you as we were told to do by the Ombudsman and still you refuse to recognise or make comment to the neglect of Cohen. Let us remind you that the FOI, the SMERO report and the SID report all got delivered to us in the same parcel so we are fairly certain all of you were very much aware of the clear evidence of neglect.
We sincerely hope you never are put in our position, a position where you have been asking questions about your dead child and never getting the answers until 15 months after they had died and only after applying for a FOI. Rather than looking at Cohen as a child who had rights to a safe, inclusive and supportive education you have all treated him as a “very unfortunate series of events” that have “caused angst” and “exhaustion”. I hope you are very proud of yourselves as educated professionals you have really outdone yourselves in not only treating us and Cohen’s death as a tiring inconvenience you have also demonstrated to every parent across our state right now with children with a mental illness that they should not expect the DOE to assist them if their school fails to support them or neglects them because as we all know the Department of Education DO NOT CARE.

Everyone who we have spoken to from politicians, disability advocates, disability discrimination lawyers, psychologists, to current teachers from other schools, to retired teachers, to the representatives from the Royal Commission into Disability who have all said what happen to Cohen is an outrageous shameful case of neglect and a serious violation of the Disability Act. But talk to anyone in the Department of Education or the Labor Government and you all have pathetic excuses to why it was perfectly okay for our son to be neglected by his school.

Chris & Pamella Fink

Public education in Western Australia
Mark McGowan
Roger Cook
Sue Ellery MLC
John Quigley
WA Government
WA Labor
Accountability for Children in Education Western Australia (ACE WA)

13/10/2025

💙💙💙

Lots of glue and even more heart went into this Blue Tree 💙

The preschoolers at Warriewood have been busy little bees, creating their very own Blue Tree from all sorts of recycled blue treasures.

Thank you, Warriewood School, for showing the little ones that it's always okay to talk about what's on their minds.
⁠
📍 Warriewood, NSW

12/10/2025

“My grief is so huge that I have to make myself breathe. I literally feel it in my bones. Every moment of every day, every muscle in my body aches wishing for a different reality.”

💔

"I have to live with knowing that I didn't save my daughter." https://bit.ly/4oeSXBY

12/10/2025

Aspirational refers to a strong, high-level goal that is a long-term dream, while realistic refers to a goal that is achievable with current resources and a practical plan.

Therefore it was realistic to expect Cohen’s teachers to contact us with their concerns for his mental health.

11/10/2025

👍🏻💙