• Mick Brown Review of Child, Youth and Family
• Tertiary Commission Report Out This Week
• Regional Tertiary Forums
• Making Work Pay
• Pacific family services fund launched
• Volunteering

Mick Brown Review of Child, Youth and Family

The Government is acting immediately to implement Mick Brown's report of Child, Youth and Family which was released last week by Social Services and Employment Minister Steve Maharey.

In vMarch 2000, former Principal Youth Court Judge Mick Brown was invited by Mr Maharey, to undertake two independent reviews into the procedures of Child, Youth and Family for care and protection referral and notification, and for placement of children and young persons outside their immediate family or caregiving arrangement.

The report includes 57 recommendations ranging from the very specific to the very general. Overall they suggest two interconnected approaches for bringing about needed change - increased resources from the Government and changes to the culture and operation of the Department.

Mr Maharey said that improving care and protection services for children through Child, Youth and Family is a Government priority.

The Government has agreed to five areas of immediate action to improve the Department's performance:

• the development of a blueprint for the whole care and protection sector;
• care management;
• organisational performance and capability;
• organisational change to support the Department's performance; and,
• staff training and development.

Work on the development of the blueprint for the care and protection sector, including devolution of the non-statutory functions of Child, Youth and Family and responsiveness to Maori is already underway.

The Department is in the process of finalising a detailed action plan to implement all the Brown report recommendation. As implementation of key recommendations in the report is largely dependent on 2001 Budget decisions this plan will not be publicly available until the Budget has been presented.

Mr Maharey said Child, Youth and Family has been working this year on a number of areas to improve its capability, and to reduce the number of unallocated cases in line with the Brown report recommendations.

These include appointing 38 practice managers to provide professional leadership, re-directing existing resources to those areas in greatest need, and working with voluntary sector agencies to establish a more collaborative approach to the management of cases that do not require a statutory response.

Mick Brown's review of Child, Youth and Family, Care and Protection is about Adult Behaviour, and the Government response has been posted to the 'What's New' section of the Ministry of Social Policy website

The Tertiary Education Advisory Commission it to release its second report - Shaping the System - on Wednesday (March 7).

The report details the Commission's advice to Government on how New Zealand's tertiary education system should be shaped to meet the needs of the knowledge society and the tools and mechanisms which should be used to enable this to happen.

The TEAC report will be available on-line from 1pm on Wednesday at www.teac.govt.nz

Associate Education (Tertiary Education) Minister Steve Maharey and Tertiary Education Advisory Commission Chair Russell Marshall are travelling to the major centres over March to discuss the TEAC report and to seek initial feedback.

The public consultation sessions will be held in Hamilton (March 9), Wellington (March 15), Palmerston North (March 17), Christchurch (March 22), Auckland (March 29) and Dunedin (March 31). The meetings will provide the opportunity for discussion of the report and for input into the Commission's forthcoming deliberations. Further reports are to focus on priorities for tertiary education, and strategies and instruments to achieve these priorities, including funding of research and learning, co-operation and collaboration and relevant learning opportunities.

for further details about the regional meetings please contact the Commission Secretariat, e-mail: enquiries@teac.govt.nz

Parliament last week passed the Social Security Amendment Bill. The Bill places less emphasis on compulsion and more on obtaining sustainable results through working with beneficiaries to make the most of personal and work opportunities.

The ineffective community work scheme is axed and the obligations to actively seek work and be involved in education or training will now be contained in individualised Job Seeker Agreements. Sanctions have been retained for those beneficiaries who do not comply with their agreement.

The new statute abolishes the community wage and replaces it with an unemployment benefit and a separate non-work tested sickness benefit from 1 July 2001.

Social Services and Employment Minister and Labour List MP Luamanuvao Winnie Laban launched a $3.1m parenting and family support package for Pacific families at Parliament last week.

The new contestable fund will build Pacific providers and community groups to work with families where family violence or child abuse may be an issue. Community-based groups will be supported to develop local programmes meeting local needs. Initially groups based in South Auckland, Porirua, the Hutt Valley and Christchurch will be given priority.

Many MPs are marking the International Year of Volunteers and Volunteer Awareness Week (11-17 March). Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Steve Maharey spent time on Friday cleaning at his local hospice. For further information about the week contact local Volunteer Centres.