Sepuloni Carmel: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeSepuloni Carmel: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 27 August 2015. Volume:708;Page:6254. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]11.CARMEL SEPULONI (Labour—Kelston) to the Minister for Social Development: Does she agree with the statement by the Children’s Commissioner that “we don’t know if children are better off as a result of state intervention but the indications are not good”?Hon ANNE TOLLEY (Minister for Social Development): Yes. I have been concerned at the lack of data that tracks children through and beyond State care and that is why in April I appointed an expert panel to lead a complete overhaul of New Zealand’s child protection system to ensure that we get better results for children in care and to ensure that money is invested in the areas that will make the biggest difference for those children. I also note that the Children’s Commissioner’s recommendations line up with the expert panel’s terms of reference.Carmel Sepuloni: Does she agree with the Children’s Commissioner who said that to develop a trained skilled and supported Child Youth and Family workforce “will require considerable new investment”?Hon ANNE TOLLEY: Yes. I am expecting the expert panel—and I know that it is addressing the needs of the workforce. One of the concerns that I have and that I have conveyed to the panel is that we are asking social workers to deal with increasingly complex needs of children that they are simply not qualified to deal with. We should be employing more child psychologists and perhaps psychiatrists therapists etc. So I am expecting that the expert panel will be recommending a wider range of specialist services to support our excellent social workers.Carmel Sepuloni: Is she prepared to place that considerable investment into developing a trained skilled and supported Child Youth and Family workforce; if not will she take full responsibility for cases like the one where a child was removed from their home and then shifted an additional 60 times by Child Youth and Family?Hon ANNE TOLLEY: I do not want to get ahead of the process and as I said earlier in the House the Children’s Commissioner is very supportive of the work that I am doing with an expert panel to completely redesign the Child Youth and Family protection system. I think we should wait until we get that full business case to see where we need to invest more to get the best outcomes for those most vulnerable children in our communities.Carmel Sepuloni: Does she agree with the Office of the Children’s Commissioner’s finding that having poorly trained care staff in residences can increase risk for both young people and staff; if not why not?Hon ANNE TOLLEY: Yes I do agree with him.Carmel Sepuloni: Given that she agrees with that question and given that Child Youth and Family’s goal is of having 100 percent registered social workers by 2015 is she happy with the fact that there are still 500 Child Youth and Family social workers not registered; if not will she be supporting my member’s bill given that she has said there is nothing in it that she disagrees with—Mr SPEAKER: Order! Bring the question to a conclusion.Hon ANNE TOLLEY: As I told that member earlier today I will not be supporting her bill.Hon Nanaia Mahuta: Does she agree with the Children’s Commissioner that Child Youth and Family is particularly failing the 58 percent of children in care and 68 percent of young people in Child Youth and Family residences who are Māori and what will she be changing immediately to address this issue?Hon ANNE TOLLEY: I think that the member needs to be careful what words she is putting in the Children’s Commissioner’s mouth. His recommendation No. 5 is about improving cultural capability. In actual fact that was also addressed by the review that the Chief Social Worker did and a great deal of work is already happening within Child Youth and Family practice to make sure that every Child Youth and Family office has that cultural capability. In addition to that we have memorandums of understanding with five iwi and just this month a trial of a new way of working with iwi began with Tainui. That is entitled Mokopuna Ora and I look forward to the results of that 6-month trial.Marama Fox: Given that answer is the Minister able to expand on how that cultural capability can be improved in the residences and not just in the Child Youth and Family offices?Hon ANNE TOLLEY: As I said the review done by the Chief Social Worker which is the work that forms a part of the internal Child Youth and Family modernisation process is certainly addressing all of those issues in Child Youth and Family offices in residences and in youth justice facilities. Child Youth and Family is being considerably helped with that by its relationships with iwi and the different partnerships that are being explored in terms of the way we can work together to make sure that our mokopuna and tamariki are well connected into their Māori communities and to the larger whānau.