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

• carers needed a realistic, liveable income to be able to care for their children well• income support should be changed to allow carers to stay at home with their childrenin the early years.Some submissions from Pasifika groups suggested mentoring parenting programmesfor parents or caregivers who look after vulnerable children.Often parents do not understand how children develop. Providing education willremove this barrier. Time to learn and be mentored is another barrier that needsto be removed. (NGO)Watching out for vulnerable childrenThe Green Paper asked 11 questions about watching out for vulnerable children, including theissue of information-sharing about children and families.• Should we regularly monitor vulnerable children and their families/whānau to see how theyare going? Who should do this and under what circumstances?• How much monitoring of vulnerable children should the Government allow?• Should we monitor every child from birth?• Who should monitor vulnerable children and under what circumstances?• How can the possible negative consequences of increased monitoring be minimised?• What other mechanisms could be used to keep track of vulnerable children and theirfamilies and whānau?• What information should professionals be able, or required, to share about vulnerablechildren?• How much personal information should be shared between the professionals and otherswho are working with a particular child or family/whānau?• Who should be able to share information, and with whom?• Under what circumstances should they share information?• What else can the Government do to make sure professionals and services have all theinformation they need to make the best decisions about services for vulnerable childrenand their families and whānau?SummaryMonitoring vulnerable children: There were diverse views on how much monitoring shouldtake place, with most submissions either advocating for as much monitoring as possible ormonitoring at a minimum level to ensure child safety. A small number opposed any form ofmonitoring. Some suggested monitoring be limited to vulnerable children while others favoureduniversal monitoring. Submissions stated that monitoring should be conducted in a positive waywith emphasis on supporting families, and this could be achieved if it were conducted by thosealready involved with children (for example, Plunket). Some submissions also discussed ways ofPractice Changes Policy Changes Show Leadership Share Responsibility Children / Young People Executive SummaryThe Green Paper for Vulnerable Children Full Summary of Submissions127