The Green Paper for Vulnerable Children - Ministry of Social ...

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Opposition to early intervention: A small minority of submissions was opposed to a focuson early intervention. Most of these submissions argued intervention should be targeted atproblems rather than people, and problems can arise at any life stage.Child-centred budgeting: A small minority of submissions argued for savings on othergovernment services. Many submissions suggested that government rationalise spending acrossits whole budget to prioritise the needs of vulnerable children. Many submissions argued this wasnot a matter of juggling funds within existing social services budgets – it was more a matter ofgovernment putting the needs of children to the fore when all funding decisions were made.We do not support slicing up the social services cake differently – we support a biggercake. To that extent, we prefer investment to be cut from areas that cannot demonstratethey advance the best interests of children. (NGO)Increasing the tax take: A small minority of submissions called for the Government to increaseits tax take to fund early intervention initiatives. Free-form submissions echoed the suggestionsof the question and answers submissions:• higher tax on alcohol, cigarettes and gambling• higher tax rates, and reduced tax evasion, for high income earners, businesses and banks• capital gains tax.Some submissions also suggested they would be prepared to pay more tax to ensurevulnerable children received the support they needed. Many of these submissions referred tothe fact that New Zealand’s spending on children is low compared with other OECD countries.They argued that New Zealand needs to invest resources more in children and that a higher taxrate was a small price to pay for improved wellbeing in children.Reducing vulnerability amongst children and their family/whānau requires investment.The Green Paper’s reference to funding from within existing allocation throughredistribution of resources overlooks evidence that NZ expenditure on childrenis among the lowest in the OECD. (NGO)A small minority of submissions argued for fines as a source of funding.Evidence-based fundingSupport for evidence-based programmes: A minority of submissionsexpressed support for evidence-based funding. About half of otherorganisations, and a large minority of NGOs, community meetings and aminority of frontline workers supported this idea.It is illogical for central government to be funding any social servicewithout being in a position to provide to the tax payer reasonableevidence that this service is improving people’s lives and reducingchild maltreatment. (NGO)Evaluating existing programmes and services: A small minority of submissions argued for anevaluation of existing programmes and services. A large minority of other organisations anda minority of NGOs and community meetings approved of this idea. The main view was thatevaluation was an essential part of quality service provision.118 Make Child-Centred Policy Changes
MSD has funded a vast array of interventions over the years, very few of which havebeen evaluated. However in the case of child abuse, almost no interventions have beenevaluated in terms of efficacy, and that includes CYF interventions, police interventions,the criminal justice system and hospital-based child protection teams. (frontline worker)Another smaller group of respondents were concerned existing programmes were not resultingin good outcomes for children, and said we needed to work out where we are going wrong.I believe that a review of existing services looking out for the children and vulnerable familiesis vital – given that the outcomes for better statistics for the wellbeing of the children have notimproved and we seem to have more and more organisations, fragmented at best, all tryingto do that same thing and the results are not there. (general public)Evidence from overseas: A small minority of submissions argued there was rich evidenceavailable overseas that could be adapted to the New Zealand context. In particular thesesubmissions recommended examining examples available in Nordic nations, the UnitedKingdom and Australia.Programmes based on international best evidence need evaluation to ensure they areappropriate for the NZ context. (other organisation)Investing in more research: A small minority said we needed to invest in more research to helpus understand child vulnerability. This view was particularly strong among NGOs and communitymeetings. Most of these respondents expressed a desire for research to be undertaken onspecific issues such as:• autism• parent/child bonding• research based on tikanga Māori principles.A small group of submissions expressed support for investing in research evidence in principle,irrespective of the particular subject matter.Some submissions, particularly from NGOs, argued government must invest in research into thepotential impact of policy reform before changes are carried out.Further research and analysis on the impact of welfare reforms on our most vulnerablechildren be undertaken prior to the introduction of the policy. (NGO)Urgent action should be taken to commission evaluative research to inform legislativedevelopments and changes in social work practice. (NGO)Supporting innovation: Another small minority of submissions said that it was important tosupport innovation. This position was particularly prevalent among submissions from otherorganisations. These submissions argued while evidence was important, it was vital to leave spacefor people to explore new ideas. In particular, these submissions argued innovation emergingfrom the community level needs to be nurtured, evaluated and rolled out if successful.There must be greater scope for innovation within government and communities, throughuse of high-trust contracts, results-based accountability and standardised measurementof outcomes. (NGO)Practice Changes Policy Changes Show Leadership Share Responsibility Children / Young People Executive SummaryThe Green Paper for Vulnerable Children Full Summary of Submissions119
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Published by the Ministry of Social
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Ministerial forewordWhen I launched
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MethodologyHow submissions were ana
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The role of government: Children an
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Features of an action plan: Some su
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Make child-centred policy changesTh
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Mandatory reporting: A small number
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Improving service deliveryWe want t
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The community and government: In th
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What does it mean to thrive, belong
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When abuse is occurring: A minority
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A third party that would act as a m
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What kind of information can be sha
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A good school, with good teachers w
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Children and young people: Free-for
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Meet their physical needs: Adults s
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SchoolsChildren and young people wa
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Lower taxes, increase income: Relat
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Listen to usI reckon adults should
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Q&AParents and caregivers:Question
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There must be better financial supp
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Clearly something is wrong because
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When a child is notified or abuse i
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The gap between rich and poor is to
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Mental health: A small minority of
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I would love to see a strengthening
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Increase community action on child
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Not allowing alcohol to be readily
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Some submissions specified the poss
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Supporting familiesMoney and resour
Page 69 and 70: Through paid employment: A minority
Page 71 and 72: This theme was raised by a large mi
Page 73 and 74: Other submissions echoed the idea o
Page 75 and 76: We believe that the primary respons
Page 77 and 78: Show leadershipAn important element
Page 79 and 80: Q&AA Vulnerable Children’s Action
Page 81 and 82: Raise awareness: A minority said an
Page 83 and 84: • Improving education.Fund altern
Page 85 and 86: A Vulnerable Children’s Action Pl
Page 87 and 88: Goals and actions for a Vulnerable
Page 89 and 90: School ageEducation: A small minori
Page 91 and 92: Q&ALegislation changes:Question and
Page 93 and 94: What other actions or principles wo
Page 95 and 96: Other: A small minority of submissi
Page 97 and 98: • reviewing child support provisi
Page 99 and 100: families in. Service-based strategi
Page 101 and 102: Vulnerable Māori children need to
Page 103 and 104: What could be improved to ensure th
Page 105 and 106: Are the children aggressive (there
Page 107 and 108: Work in partnership to deliver serv
Page 109 and 110: Similar to the question and answer
Page 111 and 112: Reallocating funding: Submissions c
Page 113 and 114: Reduce funding when not child-centr
Page 115 and 116: • new motorways and bike tracks
Page 117 and 118: Review government spending to get b
Page 119: Support for universalism: A small m
Page 123 and 124: SummaryPrioritising carers, family
Page 125 and 126: • prioritisation should be consid
Page 127 and 128: What services do you think should b
Page 129 and 130: • carers needed a realistic, live
Page 131 and 132: Q&AWatching out for vulnerable chil
Page 133 and 134: Ten years ago I would have said “
Page 135 and 136: This should be managed by key peopl
Page 137 and 138: What negative consequences are impo
Page 139 and 140: How much personal information shoul
Page 141 and 142: Under what circumstances should the
Page 143 and 144: Health professionals: A small minor
Page 145 and 146: As much as is fiscally practical. I
Page 147 and 148: from community meetings, other orga
Page 149 and 150: The ‘one child-one-record’ syst
Page 151 and 152: needs assessment, culture, mental h
Page 153 and 154: Removing funding and contractual ba
Page 155 and 156: Need to link agencies that have peo
Page 157 and 158: To support New Zealand families we
Page 159 and 160: The primary level services Plunket
Page 161 and 162: Q&ABetter connecting vulnerable chi
Page 163 and 164: All services should feed through sc
Page 165 and 166: Improving service deliveryThe Green
Page 167 and 168: What other opportunities exist to d
Page 169 and 170: Practice ChangesPolicy Changes Show
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