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

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minimising the negative consequences associated with monitoring, including the need forwell trained professionals, a focus on transparency and a balance between monitoring andprivacy rights.Use of monitoring information: Many submissions suggested effective information-sharingbetween professionals as a way of tracking vulnerable children. A centralised database was themost common suggestion for implementing this idea. However, the need for confidentiality ofinformation was raised as a concern.Mandatory reporting: A small number of submissions addressed mandatory reporting.The weighting between support and opposition for mandatory reporting was very close,with support for mandatory reporting slightly higher than opposition. Submissions supportingmandatory reporting commonly suggested it should be implemented with care, limited tohighly trained professionals, and that mandatory reporting would only be beneficial if agencieswere adequately resourced to follow up all reports. A small number of submitters supportedmandatory reporting for everyone. Those opposed to mandatory reporting argued that itwould be unfeasible, may deter help seeking and does not reduce child abuse/neglect.Some submissions suggested a more constructive approach would be to have highly trained,well-resourced professionals, who were able to use their own sound judgement to reportwhen necessary.How much information should be shared: The balance of opinion was for information to beshared among professionals to ensure child safety. Most submissions were in support of sharingonly enough information to keep children safe. Support for sharing all information was low incomparison as was total opposition to information-sharing. Many submissions talked about theneed for protocols to guide those sharing information in order to minimise encroachments onfamily privacy.Who should share information: Most submissions were in support of information-sharingamong Crown sector agencies and NGOs working with families. Submissions were in support oftrained professionals sharing information, with the aid of training, professional codes of ethicsand a centralised database. A smaller number of submissions argued that information should beshared among both the relevant professionals and the families involved in child welfare cases.When information should be shared: Submissions supported sharing information when therewere concerns about a particular child. A smaller, but substantial, group of submissions arguedthat information should be shared as a part of usual practice.128 Make Child-Centred Policy Changes
Q&AWatching out for vulnerable children:Question and answer submissionsShould we regularly monitor vulnerable childrenand their families/whānau to see how they are going?Yes to monitoring: Almost all submissions supported some formof regular monitoring of vulnerable children and their families/whānau.Submissions that supported monitoring drew on the following arguments:• monitoring should be framed in terms of support and should not impact on people’slikelihood of seeking help• higher-risk children should receive greater levels of monitoring, with regular monitoring wherethere is risk of abuse or neglect, or where a family is of concern to more than one agency• monitoring should be carried out by professionals who are specifically trained to undertakemonitoring and are adequately funded to do the job effectively• monitoring should start as early as possible, possibly during pregnancy• monitoring of “vulnerable” children should be compulsory• a definition of vulnerable is needed that would ensure no child who requires monitoringand support is left out, or there should be universal monitoring for the same reason.If the families were regularly monitored, support would be discussed and altered as theneed changed. (frontline worker)We recommend every unborn child is automatically screened against a standardised setof risk versus strengths assessment tool, conducted by the lead maternity provider andfed into a national database. From there it would be important to properly assess allthose infants and their parents who met the threshold for requiring additional monitoringand support.... If this screening tool separated out the level of need required for eachfamily, and the services selected matched this need, it would likely result in a moreefficient use of limited resources. (NGO)The criteria to measure “vulnerable” must not be too restrictive to ensure that childrenoutside the system are included. (frontline worker)No to monitoring: A small minority of submissions opposed monitoring of vulnerable childrenand their families/whānau. These submissions drew on the following arguments:• the focus should be on support for vulnerable families and prevention of child vulnerabilityrather than monitoring• monitoring is seen in a negative light, putting additional stress on vulnerable familiesand deterring them from seeking help• monitoring is expensive and unfeasible and may divert funds away from service delivery.This may lead to families hiding problems rather than seeking help. Offering supportand intervening at an early stage is a better course of action. (frontline worker)Practice Changes Policy Changes Show Leadership Share Responsibility Children / Young People Executive SummaryThe Green Paper for Vulnerable Children Full Summary of Submissions129
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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
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Through paid employment: A minority
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This theme was raised by a large mi
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Other submissions echoed the idea o
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We believe that the primary respons
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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 and 120: Support for universalism: A small m
Page 121 and 122: MSD has funded a vast array of inte
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: • carers needed a realistic, live
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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