The new "Super-CYF" department unveiled yesterday will take responsibility for about one in five Kiwi children at some point in their childhoods.

All or almost all state care for children may go to non-government agencies in a radical reform of child protection being unveiled today.

Foster parents could be in for a pay rise of about $80 a week in a major review of the care system now before the Cabinet.

Tackling anti-competitive behaviour is one of new dame's many missions.

Dame Paula Rebstock has called on the New Zealand community to take vulnerable young children "into their hearts and homes" as she seeks to apply an investment approach at one of the country's most controversial agencies.

From the flag debate to the outrage surrounding the TPPA, this year the government was at the centre of the country's three biggest PR challenges.

When Daryl Brougham was 11, his social worker said: "Daryl, the way you're going, you're going to end up in jail."

Child Youth and Family could not find anywhere for teen to go after her arrest.

Rather than placing children in foster care the state should be helping to strengthen their family unit.

Severely disabled child used by his alcoholic mother and her boyfriend to access up to $80,000 in benefits.

It is extraordinary that a West Auckland teenager was held in police station cells for four days because CYFs could not find a bed for her, Labour says.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley says it's "very difficult" to stop negligent parents having more children but the country needed to have the discussion.

After a string of restructures of Child Youth and Family, Minister of Social Development Anne Tolley says she will fully implement the recommendations of an expert panel looking into children in state care.

The idea of Serco being responsible for a pipeline guiding children through their lives from cradle to grave - from CYF to prison - sounds like something from a dystopian novel, writes Richard Wagstaff.

The Green Party has won an apology from the Social Development Minister after it was confirmed Serco staff members had visited Child, Youth and Family sites.

A review panel is scathing of CYF's performance, saying the system is focused on immediate risks and containing costs at the expense of tackling harm.

Every person in the country aged up to 17 has been screened for factors that could later see their life take a turn for the worse - and cost taxpayers.

Fixing child abuse and neglect is all about building relationships with families in need, social workers say.

Fixing child abuse and neglect is all about building relationships with families in need, social workers say.

More financial support is needed for caregivers of vulnerable children to do their job properly, says Children's Commissioner Russell Wills.

Children's Commissioner Russell Wills has done the Government a huge favour with his State of Care report this week, whether he intended to or not.

The shortcomings at Child, Youth and Family reflect an agency that hasn't coped with a significant switch in societal attitudes to child abuse.

A damning report on Child, Youth and Family says 117 New Zealand children were abused in care last year - and some have had up to 60 placements.

A staffer working for Child, Youth and Family started a sexual relationship with a boy in the teen unit where she worked.

A former CYF social worker has admitted in court to shortcomings from her and the department resulted in a "vulnerable" teenager being returned to the home where he claims he was physically abused.

A Gisborne teenager told police he had been abused for years by his CYF-appointed caregiver, who was so cruel she knocked out his teeth with a knife-sharpening steel.

Frustrated foster parents have to get permission every time their foster child needs major medical treatment, changes schools or the family move.

A mathematical model designed to predict children at risk of abuse will be trialled with data about children reported to Child, Youth and Family.