Tolley AnneCHILDREN YOUNG PERSONS AND THEIR FAMILIES (ORANGA TAMARIKI) LEGISLATION BILLFirst ReadingHon ANNE TOLLEY (Minister for Social Development): I move That the Children Young Persons and Their Families (Oranga Tamariki) Legislation Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Social Services Committee to consider the bill. This bill provides the foundation for transformational reform across the care protection and youth justice systems and support for the Ministry for Vulnerable Children Oranga Tamariki which will focus on five core services: prevention intensive intervention care support youth justice and transition support into adulthood. It represents the most far-reaching changes to the Children Young Persons and Their Families Act since its commencement nearly 30 years ago. It also amends the Vulnerable Children Act and makes some minor amendments to other legislation.This bill follows on from the changes recently passed through the House in the Children Young Persons and Their Families (Advocacy Workforce and Age Settings) Amendment Bill. This bill will ensure that we place children and young people at the heart of what we do so that we can provide them with safe loving and stable homes and the successful lives that they deserve. These reforms are vital.We have heard time and time again of the poor long-term outcomes children in care face. We have heard these young people talk about how they were not listened to and that they need more support as they move into adulthood. We have also heard that the current system is complex and difficult for families communities and professionals to navigate and we have heard that when things do go wrong the system lacks the accountability that children and young people deserve.This bill makes several important changes aimed at improving the long-term life outcomes for New Zealand's most vulnerable children and young people and I want to start with a change the Hon Amy Adams and I announced just last week. This bill enhances support for those at risk of reoffending by including lower-risk 17-year-olds in our youth justice system. Let me be clear from the outset: 17-year-olds who commit serious crimes will continue to be dealt with in adult courts but the research tells us that dealing with 17-year-olds in the youth justice system offers us the best opportunity to break that cycle of reoffending and help these young people grow into responsible adults.That is what this bill is all about—ensuring that our most vulnerable young people can live the successful lives they deserve. One 13-year-old boy wrote to me sharing his experience of living in care. He told me of how scary it is to leave your family especially when you do not get to see your brothers and sisters very much. He said he is living with good people but that he has had 18 Child Youth and Family social workers during his time in care. He told me as many other young people have that this is simply not good enough and that he is looking forward to the changes that we are making. It is voices like this that we need to listen to and we must have a system that puts the interests the rights and the views of children at the centre of all decisions and actions.To provide the foundation for this new system the bill makes changes to the purposes and principles of the Act to embed a truly child-centred approach and to ensure children's and young people's participation. But we know that the system must balance the need to take account of the views of children and young people while making it possible for their families iwi hapū and whānau to take important and significant roles in decision making about their children and young people. This means continuing to consider children in the context of their family whānau hapū iwi and community and recognising the need to strengthen families to continue caring for their children at the earliest opportunity. With six out of 10 children currently in care being Māori we must—and we will—do better which is why the bill includes new purposes principles and duties that recognise mana tamaiti (tamariki) whakapapa and whanaungatanga which promote capability-building at the whānau level and encourage strategic partnerships with iwi and Māori organisations.We also know we need sustained and coordinated efforts by social sector agencies if we are to make a real difference in the outcomes for vulnerable children and prevent problems from escalating. The bill amends the Vulnerable Children Act to ensure social sector agency chief executives work together to improve the lives of our most vulnerable children and young people and it places duties on the chief executive of the ministry to ensure coordination of prevention services and to promote the services that are designed to improve the outcomes for those vulnerable children. The enduring credibility of all our work requires checks and balances and the bill requires the ministry's chief executive to establish a complaints system that is accessible and responsive and requires the Minister to report to Parliament on whether the accountability settings are meeting the needs of vulnerable children. New and amended principles focus on intervening early to improve the safety and well-being of children young people and their families and these changes will support a change in focus from crisis management to proactive and early support so that families are assisted to provide the love and care their own children need and deserve.Where a child is unable to live within their family arrangements need to be made for that child to form a stable and loving relationship with a caring family at the earliest opportunity. But make no mistake these changes do not diminish the central role of parents families whānau hapū iwi and communities. Family placements and community placements will be considered in the context of the best interests needs and views of the child.To support children in care the bill requires regulations to be made setting out national care standards to ensure that children are cared for in a way that meets their needs and expectations and improves their outcomes. And of course it is vital that we not only protect our most vulnerable young people while they are in care but also support them as they transition out of care and take on the responsibilities of adulthood. So this bill creates an entitlement for young people to remain in care or return to care up to the age of 21 and it extends the chief executive's ability to provide support and advice up to 25 years of age. This will ensure that those young people have the ongoing support that we know they need to thrive because for some of them it takes a bit longer to develop.Finally I would like to touch on an aspect of the bill that is crucial to realising our commitment to our most vulnerable children. For years those working to protect children at risk of harm have told us that a major barrier to keeping them safe is the lack of a consistent approach to information sharing across agencies and professionals. So the bill creates a bespoke information-sharing framework to enable timely and appropriate exchange of information about vulnerable children to promote their safety and well-being. Within strong safeguards this framework will allow information to flow as required to those who need it when they need it.In conclusion this bill is the next stage in the multi-year transformation of the whole system which will ensure that children's and young people's safety protection and needs always come first. It is important that the public professionals and most importantly young people with experience in care have an opportunity to have their say on the bill. That is why alongside the select committee process I will be continuing to actively engage and meet with young people in care with communities and with iwi chairs and organisations like the Māori Women's Welfare League in the new year.The changes needed to be achieved are too important to leave to recommendations and goodwill as so many past reviews have done. Achieving real and enduring change that improves the long-term life outcomes for our most vulnerable children and young people requires bold legislative reform and that is what this bill is about. I commend this bill to the House.