Turner Judy: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Turner Judy: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:616;Page:11634] 
6.  
JUDY TURNER (United Future) 
 to the  
Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment (CYF) 
: Does she stand by her comment that the current crisis of unallocated cases at the Department of Child Youth and Family Services is just a “departmental issue”? 
Hon RUTH DYSON (Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment (CYF)) 
: 
 I did not say that it was just a “departmental issue” but the department does have the responsibility to address operational issues including managing notifications. I have confidence that the strategies and actions the department has put and is putting into place will result in cases being dealt with in an appropriate time. 
Judy Turner 
: Why then does the Minister continue to ignore the requests of agencies such as the Hamilton-based support service Parentline which has offered assistance for the last 2 years to the Department of Child Youth and Family Services to reduce its unallocated caseload when 99 percent of the 4595 cases unallocated as at 31 January this year were in the lower two criticality levels and could be given timely attention by such community child and family services? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: In direct contradiction to the member’s assertion in her question I do not ignore the calls of community groups. I am delighted that the Department of Child Youth and Family Services is continuing to work with organisations such as Parentline to improve the support that those organisations can give us in the delivery of services. 
Dianne Yates 
: Can the Minister outline the strategies and initiatives the department is putting in place to ensure the safety and security of children and young people? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: As part of the $120-million additional investment in the Department of Child Youth and Family Services we have employed 90 additional social workers and a further 56 are to be employed in the coming financial year. The department is also employing administrative assistance in order to enable social workers to concentrate on professional tasks and is developing a demand management strategy and collaborating with the community sector to ensure the safety of our children. 
Katherine Rich 
: Why has the Government not implemented Judge Mick Brown’s December 2000 recommendation “that funding and resources be concentrated on reducing the number of cases unallocated by the time set for response to zero within the next 6 months and that provision be made to ensure that response remains at zero”; and why in March 2004 is the list worse now than it was then? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: There are two points I would like to make in response to that question. The first is that in the December to February period the number of notifications to the department increased by 40 percent—an unprecedented increase and one that was not physically able to be dealt with within the capacity of the Department of Child Youth and Family Services. Secondly as the member will know from the baseline review recommendations it is critical that despite the best efforts of Opposition politicians we must not be distracted from ensuring that the services we deliver are quality services rather than just quantity. 
Sue Bradford 
: Are the 90 extra social workers recently recruited making any impact yet on Department of Child Youth and Family Services caseloads; if not what is holding them up? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: No the additional social workers would not have had an immediate effect on the total number of cases that we have referred to in earlier questions because the notification increase has been so significant. But had those 90 social workers not been there of course the picture would be a lot bleaker than it is. 
Dr Muriel Newman 
: From the point of view of the nearly 6000 children who are waiting to see a social worker can the Minister explain to the House exactly what the difference is between “a departmental issue” and abject Government failure? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: I would prefer it if the member would at least give the House the courtesy of accurate figures. There are not 6000 unallocated cases at all. There are about 4300 cases that have not been dealt with in the appropriate time. They have been not left in a corner and ignored. They have been referred for regular supervision within their own organisations. The 1000 cases that have been added on—conveniently to make the number up to 6000 as that seemed to be a good round number—have been referred to the regional offices for action. 
Judy Turner 
: Does the Minister agree that the Department of Child Youth and Family Services cannot cope with the pressure placed on it by the current level of notifications and should involve community agencies in working with lower-level cases particularly when half the cases that come to the department are re-notified later and 80 percent of those cases are at the lower criticality levels that could appropriately be dealt with by community agencies; if not why not? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: Yes and I can say again to the House that the department is working with community organisations so that the workload can be shared in cases where the statutory role of the Department of Child Youth and Family Services is not required. 
Judy Turner 
: Does the Minister agree that the New Zealand public expect nothing less than a radical overhaul of the child protection system when the findings of recent investigations into the deaths of children in the care of the Department of Child Youth and Family Services showed that when the department is pressured—as it is with the crisis-level status now—its overworked social workers fail to follow established policies and procedures and children slip through the cracks; if not why not? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: The baseline review was such a comprehensive review of the workings of the Department of Child Youth and Family Services and the implementation of the recommendations is what this Minister will be focusing on. 
Judy Turner 
: Does the Minister agree that treating this crisis as a departmental issue only is short-sighted and makes no attempt to deliver the national attitudinal change that Mick Brown in his 2001 review pleaded for which would see all New Zealand families and communities taking responsibility for the safety and well-being of their children rather than leaving it to the Department of Child Youth and Family Services; if not why not? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: Yes.