CYF to get extra funding after bad review

12.00pm

Child, Youth and Family will receive a $127 million cash injection from the Government, though a review released today says funding boosts have had little sustained impact on the performance of the troubled child welfare agency.

CYF Minister Ruth Dyson announced the additional funding this morning at the release of a multi-agency review of the department.

Additional funding had been found over the next three years of up to $111.3 million for operational spending, and up to $7.4 million for capital spending.

Up to $8.5 million would be invested in improving education services for those in CYF care, and improving support for its clients with disabilities.

The review by Treasury, CYF, the State Services Commission and the Social Development Ministry found systemic problems within CYF.

It said the department was struggling to manage complex services with the money allocated to it.

There was a large variability in the quality of service delivery, it said.

"There is a poor level of understanding within the organisation of how different parts of the organisation fit together and how different parts of the system impact on each other," it said.

"The problems are deep and systemic and are about more than just levels of resourcing."

The troubled child welfare department has been under fire for its failings.

Last week it was found to have ignored a call for help from the father of slain Featherston six-year-old Coral Burrows, months before she was killed.

Reports released this week found CYF did not know whether those in its care were attending school, and critcised the facilities art its northern residential centre.

The goal was to help CYF stabilise its operations, learn more about what works, and improve its performance, Ms Dyson said.

The 10-month review was initiated as a way of assessing CYF performance after its first two financial years of operation.

Its key recommendations were:

* clarify the expectations, outcomes, roles and functions of CYF;

* address the demand for CYF services;

* improve the way CYF worked with other agencies and sectors;

* adopt a whole-of-organisation approach to service delivery; and

* build corporate and business systems, information and workforce capability.

CYF chief executive Jackie Pivac said she welcomed the review findings.

CYF would make significant organisational improvements in the next two to three years, she promised.

She identified employing additional frontline staff, developing a strategy for managing demand, and more support for regional delivery of services as having the highest priority for action.

"The department will focus attention on the goal of quality social work practice to reduce the recurrence of abuse and neglect, and reduce the rate and severity of re-offending by children and young people," she said.

"Staff have been working very hard and the Baseline Review will help make their jobs easier.

"The recommendations will give the department a real boost towards meeting our objective of keeping children and young people safe and secure."

CYF would lose to the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) responsibility for co-ordinating and developing broadly focused family support services, Ms Dyson indicated.

CYF would continue to fund community organisations, but overtime would focus on funding services that align with its safety and security role, she said.

"As a result, some organisations may be funded by other government agencies," she said.

"Protecting children and young people is a broad community responsibility, and Child, Youth and Family can only work effectively with the support of the wider social services sector, care and protection system and youth justice system."

Social Development Minister Steve Maharey said it made good sense to give his ministry the responsibility for general family support services.

"MSD already has a strong platform of family support activity," he said.

Ms Pivac said CYF had an initial implementation plan building on the recommendations.

More information would be available early next month, with a final plan completed before Christmas.

To "stabilise" CYF, it would appoint or recruit 28 additional social workers to focus on moving clients to permanency.

It would recruit 28 additional social workers or co-ordinators in 2002-2003 (with another 56 in 2004-2005), and up 36 additional social workers or coordinators to manage increase 2003-2004 workloads.

- NZPA