Turner Judy: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
Turner Judy: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
[Volume:613;Page:9921] 
2.  
JUDY TURNER (United Future) 
 to the  
Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment (CYF) 
: Does she have confidence that the Department of Child Youth and Family Services’ systems and front-line staff consistently deliver best social work practice; if not why not? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Minister for Social Development and Employment) 
 on behalf of the 
Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment (CYF) 
: In general yes. However the two reports released today clearly show that high-quality social work practice is not happening as it should. In the particular cases of Saliel Aplin and Olympia Jetson the chief social worker’s and the Children’s Commissioner’s reports show that social work practice did not comply with social work standards within the department. That is totally unacceptable. 
Judy Turner 
: In light of the fact that Department of Child Youth and Family Services staff failed to follow not one but a number of established policies and procedures in the Olympia and Saliel case which the service acknowledges contributed to the deaths of the girls can she give an assurance that New Zealand’s children are made safer by simply restating the policies to the service’s staff over the last year? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: The point the member makes is a good one and that is that both these reports show that over the last 4 years a large number of protocols practices and training programmes have been put in place but in this case it appears they were not followed. It will be a challenge for the department to ensure that those processes are indeed followed by every single social worker in every single situation. 
Georgina Beyer 
: What is being done to ensure that the department’s systems and front-line staff can consistently deliver best social work practice? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: Since this Government was elected in 1999 we have been committed to the best possible social work practice. For example we have increased social work wages recruited more staff and instituted an increase in the baseline of this department’s funding which is now 50 percent higher than when we came in. With the completion of the recent baseline review we have continued those improvements with an investment of $11.55 million over 3 years to ensure that the department’s systems are efficient and effective. We are recruiting even more social workers strengthening regional management instituting social work professional registration and investing more in training. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I will not warn members again about interjecting from a seat very much more favourable than their own. 
Katherine Rich 
: When the roopu team in Masterton overseeing the Aplin sisters’ cases had a caseload 36 percent higher than the non-Maori case team managed files of greater complexity and had a key leadership position in that office eliminated does she accept that as a result of the Labour Government’s restructuring at the front line front-line staff on that team were on a hiding to nothing; if not why not? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: The Labour Government has not restructured the front line of social workers in this country. The major restructuring that took place around front-line social work was the institution of the practice managers system which runs across the country and indeed provides the support of supervisory staff for those front-line staff workers. 
Barbara Stewart 
: Given the difficulties experienced by the service in providing the level of care and protection required by at-risk children has the Government considered developing a team-based approach that would utilise the resources of the police the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health and reduce the likelihood of children slipping through the cracks in the system; if not why not? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: As a direct result of the report on James Whakaruru a child who died in 1999 and whose death was reported on by the Commissioner for Children the Government did indeed institute protocols among the police educators the Department of Child Youth and Family Services health workers and other people who come into contact with the community. These reports show that those protocols are in place and unfortunately on this occasion did not get used. 
Sue Bradford 
: Will the Minister consider supporting changes to the Department of Child Youth and Family Services so that the chief social worker can in future be an integral part of the top-level leadership team for the department so that some of the problems that have happened up till now will hopefully no longer occur? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: Yes the chief social worker in the Department of Child Youth and Family Services has traditionally occupied the position of being leader of the profession rather than being a line manager. I think it is partly a compliment to the current chief social worker Shannon Pakura that so many people would like to see her have line accountability. That is of course a matter for the department rather than for the Government but it certainly makes good sense to me. 
Judy Turner 
: Does the Minister agree that the comment from the Masterton social work supervisor that Olympia and Saliel’s social worker “knows them better than they know themselves” demonstrates the reality that investigations of ongoing abuse must be done objectively by an independent team in order to ensure that the same failure of the social worker and supervisor to comprehend the significance of the allegations does not occur again? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: That makes very good sense. 
Judy Turner 
: Does the Minister believe that the failure of the social worker and her supervisor in this case to follow established policy and procedures was a result of systemic problems or was it an individual error in this case? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: Both the chief social worker’s report and the Commissioner for Children’s report would indicate that the systems were in place but they were not used by that social worker and by that social worker’s supervisor. 
Judy Turner 
: In light of the fact that the social worker had a longstanding and familiar 13-year relationship with the Aplin-Jetson-Howse family and presumably understood the volatile dynamics of the situation can the Minister explain why a letter was sent to the home in which Bruce Howse resided referring to “new information” which ultimately incensed Howse and contributed to the murder of the two girls? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: Yes I can confirm that this case does stretch back to 1994 and in the case of the letter the member describes I find it inexplicable that a letter was sent to the household enabling it to be opened by that man which of course led to the tragic events we now face. 
Judy Turner 
: Does the Minister intend to implement the Commissioner for Children’s recommendation that independent teams carry out investigations? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: The Government has yet to consider all the recommendations which were divided up amongst departments to look at. At the present time as I mentioned we have already had a report that has required teams within communities to be involved where child abuse is in place. We will have to consider whether we can improve on that in the light of this report.