Stewart Barbara: Urgent Debates — Department of Child Youth and Family Services 
Stewart Barbara: Urgent Debates — Department of Child Youth and Family Services 
[Volume:613;Page:9643] 
BARBARA STEWART (NZ First) 
: 
 On behalf of New Zealand First I would like to say that the children of New Zealand need a better deal. They need to be kept safe. The Department of Child Youth and Family Services appears to have been in a constant state of flux in the time that I have been in Parliament. The department is in a state of crisis. We continually hear of mistakes. This is the second review that has now been held and hopefully we may get a bit further than we have in the past. 
A picture has long been emerging of this service as one that totally lacks direction that struggles under the weight of public expectations that suffers serious systemic failures and that cannot retain its workforce. The bottom line is that it does not have the systems in place to meet the increasing demand for its services. The Labour Government cannot blame previous administrations for the department’s performance over the past 4 years as I have heard. After 4 years in Government the Minister for Social Development and Employment Steve Maharey and the multitude of other Ministers who are also associated with this department with varying degrees of responsibility have not demonstrated the political will to address the steadily increasing demand for its services and the department’s ability to meet this demand. There is now a review that clearly illustrates where the department needs to improve its service delivery and a strategy to enable this to occur. 
We know that State intervention has become increasingly necessary in the lives of an increasing number of children and we really need to look at the bottom line. What will the Government—the Labour Government—do to ensure that this does happen? It is a dedicated department staffed by people who are struggling with the resources they have. The recent review points out that there are deep and systemic failures within the department. We hear that constantly and there is no action. The department does need to be efficient in the operational areas and it can be efficient and effective only when it has the resources. It is absolutely appalling to hear that the department which looks after a whole range of children in New Zealand does not know how many of those children attend school on a regular basis. 
Now I know as a parent that one of the first things I make sure my child does is attend school. I would have believed that while a child was under the care of the department that would be one of the key things it focused on as well. When I look at the unallocated caseload—and I hear the number of 1780 unallocated cases—I am very aware that people are now waiting longer and longer for help. I am very concerned now that I hear that telephone logs take so long to come to light and the department cannot even find out whereabouts the telephone call has been made. It is no wonder that the public of New Zealand has completely lost confidence in this department. I feel very sorry for this department as it struggles against the huge expectations of the public and it cannot deliver. Many many parents and grandparents have come to me worried and concerned about their children in the department’s care. 
We know that the department is short on resources. I hope that the new resources that have been allocated to this department do help but I also know that the buck stops with the Government. I am really concerned about what is happening because it is dealing with our future citizens here in New Zealand. It is a fact that staff members are stressed. Staff turnover is high; the numbers are constantly turning over. What that means is that nobody within the department ever has any experience to call upon. How can a new social worker give the same degree of service that an experienced social worker can give? I know that our newer people have heaps and heaps of enthusiasm but sometimes the experience that they need to call on is not there. 
I was very disappointed to see that Jackie Pivac has resigned and I hope she is not being made the scapegoat after this last damning review. I feel very concerned about the lack of social workers who are actually going into training. It is extremely concerning that nobody in New Zealand really wants to pick up on this line of work. So obviously something needs to be done about this. What can we see being done about it? Very very little! I would have expected at the very least that there would have been some concerted advertising campaign or something that we could see that tried to ensure that we have the social workers available. 
It is all fine and good to say that our social workers need to be registered. That will improve the level but the bottom line is that we actually need the social workers to be available to be registered. So it is going to be very interesting to follow up on the financial reviews on this particular aspect. The financial reviews themselves will be very interesting. Because of the huge turnover it will be most interesting to see who comes before our select committee at this point in time. 
We know too that closer cooperation is needed between all the Government departments involved in the care and protection of young people. The link between truancy and crime is very obvious and the Department of Child Youth and Family Services does not appear to be the only agency that is working on this. We know that the police youth service agencies are also working on this. So surely the departments could get together to come up with a concerted programme that would work across all people there. 
So all in all New Zealand First members believe that the review is very welcome. We would like to see it actually work because we know that the people of New Zealand have no faith in the department and some of the children they are dealing with are scarred for the rest of their lives with the type of treatment they get and the time they have spent waiting. 
One of the areas that the department will have to focus in on is the number of young P users that are coming into this area. It is important too that when the department gets back on track and is looking at the total review it takes the widest possible view and implements the report. This time around I will be following very closely what happens as a result of the report ensuring that the young children of New Zealand and the department actually provide a far greater degree of accountability for the outcomes that have been identified as being essential in this particular area. New Zealand First believes that the review was damning but it gave the department some really good signposts to work towards and we will be monitoring very closely how they are working towards ensuring that that review is implemented.