Editorial: Hope that radical CYF plan is enough

Mark Dawson, Editor of Wanganui Chronicle

After innumerable inquiries, revamps and restructures, Child, Youth and Family, the organisation that has to care for the most vulnerable in New Zealand society, is going to be pulled apart and put back together - once again.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley is looking for the transformation of an entity that deals with the most desperate edge of life - and one that gets roundly rubbished when things do not work out for the best, as is too often the case.

This week she picked herself a formidable ally.

On Tuesday she announced that Judge Andrew Becroft would be the next Children's Commissioner, appointed on a short, two-year term specifically to offer guidance to the "radical changes" that CYF will undergo.

Any man denounced thus by WhaleOil blogger Cameron Slater - "Any judge that quotes The Spirit Level while pronouncing that hugs and cuddles for criminals is preferable to being tough needs to be sacked, forthwith" - must have something going for him.

The appointment has been widely praised, with Becroft regarded as an inspiration in his approach to the care and protection of the young, and for his mature and restorative work in youth justice.

Minister Tolley has always had a particular interest in children in care, even when handling the education and corrections portfolios, so she, too, seems the right person to lead the overhaul of CYF.

Many who have dealt with this organisation have considered it unresponsive, uncaring, obstructive and incompetent. But I tend to think that it is really a service that is swamped by the workload it has to handle, and by the complexities and difficulties of the dysfunctional families it has to deal with. When a child in care has suffered harm, it has been easy to point the finger at social workers - our collective guilt requires someone to blame - but we should look at the issues a little more deeply.

The revamp of CYF will see more money come the way of child protection though, disappointingly, it seems to be money culled from other departments. The question is: Will it be enough?

New Zealand has a fairly horrendous record of abused, injured and killed kids who have come from broken families, so we must wish the best for Tolley, Becroft and others. They have a chance to make a difference.