Children's Commissioner monitoring report calls for CYF to become more child-centred now
Mon 20 Jun 2016
The Office of the Children's Commissioner (OCC) has published its annual State of Care monitoring report. The report summarises findings from ...
The Office of the Children's Commissioner (OCC) has published its annual State of Care monitoring report. The report summarises findings from the OCC's monitoring of Child, Youth and Family’s (CYF) policies, practices and services.
The 2016 State of Care report focuses on child-centred practices. The report found that while there were positive examples of child-centred practices and policies, these were not implemented consistently. In general, CYF was found to not be sufficiently child-centred.
The outgoing Children's Commissioner Dr Russell Wills called for changes to CYF to begin now, rather than waiting for the implementation of the CYF reforms. A bill addressing the first stage of the reforms passed the first reading in Parliament last week, but the full package of reforms is expected to take up to five years.
Russell Willis said “The system is about to be turned on its head and I am very optimistic these reforms will lead to better lives for our most vulnerable children. But there are some areas where changes could happen right now – changes that could also ensure the new agency is in a good position to work in a child-centred way when it’s up and running."
The Commissioner also cautioned that children currently in the system could be negatively impacted during the transition, saying "I’m critically aware that with such major change comes risk. Reforms are known to cause a dip in performance - but we are talking about kids’ lives here - not profit margins. There needs to be a plan to ensure they are not negatively impacted during this transition phase."
The report has three major recommendations:
- "Recommendation 1: Plan to reduce the risk to children and young people of a dip in performance during the transition period
- Recommendation 2: Develop a clear understanding of child-centred practice in the particular cultural and organisational context of the New Zealand care and protection and youth justice systems
- Recommendation 3: Empower and support staff now to strengthen their child-centred practice"
The report includes detailed findings from two thematic reviews focused on children and young people living in non-kin foster care placements and young people with dual care and protection and youth justice status. Monitoring in 2015-2016 included visits to CYF residences and interviews with children and young people.
The report also prioritised cultural assessment, as Māori children account for 61% of children and young people in the care and protection system and up to 70% of children and young people in CYF residences. The report found that "Our monitoring over the last year has shown that the majority of sites could do much more to work in culturally appropriate ways with mokopuna Māori."
Social Service Providers Aotearoa National Manager Brenda Pilott welcomed the report, agreeing with key findings. However, Pilott said the report raises concerns for impacts to the voluntary sector which will be key to implementing changes. Pilott said “SSPA supports the funding being made available to enable CYF to make significant changes. The missing piece of the puzzle, however, is increased funding that recognises the greater role community agencies will be making, according to the proposed new operating model.”
The Labour Party has raised concerns about the future of the Office of the Children's Commissioner to continue monitoring CYFs. Jacinda Ardern, Children’s Spokesperson for the Labour Party, said “At select committee this year, Dr Wills told Parliament he was no longer able to inspect care and protection facilities every 12 months, and had instead reduced visits down to every 18 months."
The monitoring role of the Office of the Children's Commissioner is still being reviewed as part of the CYF reforms.
Related event
Holly Walker and Dr Kathleen Logan from the Office of the Children's Commissioner will speak at a talk on child-centred thinking in Wellington on 6 July 2016.
Background
See the NZFVC story on the 2015 State of Care report.
Selected media
Top-down, Wellington-led services failing whānau, Press release: Te Pou Matakana, Scoop, 23.06.2016
Te Pou Matakana calls for greater community role, Press release: Te Pou Matakana, Scoop, 21.06.2016
Urgent action needed at Te Puna Wai, Press release: Public Service Association, Scoop, 21.06.2016
'Every day that goes by with a new report, it means the child waits', One News, 20.06.2016
Children's commissioner dishes out first 'detrimental' finding to Te Puna Wai, Stuff, 20.06.2016
Daryl Brougham on fixing CYF: 'We need to look through a child's eyes', Newstalk ZB, 20.06.2016
'We are talking about kids' lives here', Radio NZ, 20.06.2016
Children's Commissioner: Moko's death will haunt me, Newshub, 20.06.2016
Jacinda Ardern: CYF's consistently lacks resources, Newstalk ZB, 20.06.2016
Dr Wills' last word: CYF reform good, but kids need help now, Newstalk ZB, 20.06.2016
The lost children - Vulnerable youths at risk, NZ Herald, 20.06.2016
First step in major CYF overhaul in Parliament, Radio NZ, 16.06.2016
Image: Pixabay