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

• services should be targeted to all parents, not just those with vulnerable children• carers should only be prioritised when they show evidence they are putting effortinto turning their lives around• support should bypass the carers and go directly to the child.When should adults who care for vulnerable children be prioritisedfor services over others?Carers to be prioritised when they need it: About half of the responses to this question saidcarers should be supported only when they need it or when it was observed that a child was atrisk. Submissions argued that carers should be prioritised when:• it was observed that carers were unable to meet children’s basic needs• there was risk to the carer’s or the child’s health• there were mental health, addiction or violence problems in the household• parents had demonstrated they were caring for the children well.When failure to do so results in an increased risk to that child/children. (general public)Carers to be prioritised always: A large minority of submissions said carers of vulnerable childrenshould always be prioritised for services. Most submissions in this category argued the childrenand the carer were a “package deal” and it was important to support both at the same time.They should have the same priority as those children who are vulnerable. It should gohand-in-hand. (general public)Look after the adults. They’ll look after the kids. (frontline worker)Carers never to be prioritised: A small minority said carers of vulnerable children shouldnever be prioritised for services. These submissions argued that:• support should be universally distributed• carers of vulnerable children should not be rewarded for mistreating their children andthat these children would be better off being removed from the home all together.I would rather see the children taken away from these adults and the children givenpriority. The adults have got to want to get help. It may not necessarily help the adults orthe children over others. Often these people take, take, take from the system and no-onebenefits. (general public)The needs of non-parent carers: A theme to emerge from the submissions was that nonparentcarers need to be given more support than they currently receive. These submissionsargued non-parent carers are often caring for children who have been damaged by previousneglectful or abusive parenting. These submissions argued these non-parent carers are oftenill-equipped to meet these special needs. Other submissions said grandparents and non-familycarers needed the same level of financial support as other foster carers, and access to respite care.Adults such as grandparents and aunts/uncles who are looking after children should begiven help to do this…. These people need to keep the children when there is nowherefor the young to go.… Some of the older people are going without food and basics forthemselves to enable them to provide for the children. (general public)124 Make Child-Centred Policy Changes