111 Million injections

111 Million Injections

We complain when a Government does nothing, but fronting $111 Million to save at-risk kids is a few steps in the right direction. The Government is there to think not just throw money at a problem.

People are not informed of all the circumstances of the department and assume all is in hand. Why was a management called "dysfunctional" in a ministerial report? The problem may in fact be a long term hiring problem that has seen a department not able to place adequate staff to address the burgeoning problem some have with children. And it is not just abusive or negligent parents or children who are at risk in the home that CYFS attempts to address as a department. The real question of course in our minds is how a department that only deals with severe problem clients is going to cope without resources.

There has been a lot of talk in the media about specific things wrong with the CYFS - how inadequate the Northern Regional lockup is - but they all seem to miss the point. If you have one problem child, it may take several staff to control the circumstances of the problem. Take for example the domestic violence environment. Two social workers manage the situation, and proceedings may be also brought by police. The calls for blood letting by a reactionary bogus media that can not interview staff of the CYFS quasi corporation as Government business in New Zealand are not completely divorsed from the corporate advantages of the private sector while remaining in a quagmire of slow process. The paper work must be exact due to the need for regulation in this area.

We believe that if there is a need for bureauracy, then it is an independently funded and established bureaucracy that works with the deliverers of servce to clients. Those skilled social workers that do the work of two others that are not there could have a better chance of delivering if there was an accurate assessment of need and a proper requisistion from Government. Instead we have a manager apologising for the lack of resourcing and you are not convinced she is not actually in negotiation with her tight fisted treasurer or is actually not up to adminstration (possibly having an experiential history of a practicioner now expected to undertake business adminstration), (or worse, a bottom line man that has no appreciation of the art of delivery to clients.

Government after Government falls on this sword. Crime reduction is achieved when there are enough jobs for the unskilled. And the really stupid or evil kids are addressed early in their careers, with assistance, to be able to live and cope with our fast moving world.