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

Ten years ago I would have said “NO” to this big brother approach, however after losingSO many of NZ’s little ones, I think we do need to “track” the babies. (general public)Some submissions supporting universal monitoring also mentioned the need for heightenedlevels of monitoring for at-risk children.Especially children whose parents have any violent criminal convictions or evidence ofsubstance abuse. (general public)Some submissions that supported universal monitoring made suggestions regarding whoshould undertake this monitoring. Suggestions included health workers, Plunket, schools,early childhood education centres (ECEs), Crown social sector agencies, police, social workers,NGOs, family, neighbours and friends.If parents disengage from these (health and school) systems, then perhaps monitoringcould occur through WINZ or Housing NZ Corporation. (general public)Against universal monitoring: However, a large minority of submissions opposed universalmonitoring, arguing:• monitoring is an invasion of privacy• monitoring won’t stop child abuse• resources diverted to monitoring could be more effectively utilised elsewhere.We are entitled to privacy. Just because others are bad parents we all shouldn’t have tobe tracked. (general public)How is tracking a child from birth going to stop a child from being brain damaged by afamily member? It won’t. (general public)We need all resources available to focus on those children at risk. At the moment wearen’t succeeding in preventing these tragedies. To track all children will be too costly,too time consuming. (general public)Universal monitoring for at-risk groups: A small minority of submissions suggested universalmonitoring for some at-risk groups of children or families. Suggestions of groups to betargeted included:• children living in homes where abuse is suspected or there is a family history of abuseor violence• children who are already known to child protection agencies• children of high-risk parents, such as very young parents, step-parents, parents with mentalhealth problems, and gang members• children of parents who are receiving benefits.Somebody in government needs to identify at-risk families and those children need to betracked. We all know which families they are, i.e. unemployed, young parents, alcohol &drug families, gang affiliated families etc. (general public)Who should monitor vulnerable children and under what circumstances?The responses to each part of this two-part question are reported separately.Practice Changes Policy Changes Show Leadership Share Responsibility Children / Young People Executive SummaryThe Green Paper for Vulnerable Children Full Summary of Submissions131