Keeping kids safe
Children's early years are vital to their long-term development; they are also the time children are most at risk.
Most New Zealand families manage the balancing act of raising their children – but for some, added pressures affect their ability to cope. From experience we know that the earlier families get support, the better off their children are in the long term. Our focus will be on getting this help to families with children aged under two years.
Never Ever Shake a Baby
The Government recently announced a set of initiatives to further protect vulnerable infants, including a new campaign reminding people to Never Ever Shake a Baby. The initiatives are designed to help protect our children aged under two years and feature advertising, new-parent education, community-worker support for abused children and for families, and protection of abuse victims. It focuses on new parents (especially young men) and it is expected to reach up to 5,000 new parents a year.
In 2009/2010, we'll:
- put Child, Youth and Family social workers in six hospitals around the country
- develop multiagency plans to protect hospitalised children on their release
- run a multimedia awareness campaign.
Focus on the youngest children
Young children are the most vulnerable members of our communities. We're investing more resources in Child, Youth and Family so that young children at risk can have an opportunity to grow up in safe, stable and positive home environments. We will complete the rollout of the Child Abuse Protocol with Kura Kaupapa Māori, which aims to ensure all children live free from abuse and neglect.
Responding when we're needed
Differential Response means we can respond more creatively to families' needs when they come to the attention of Child, Youth and Family and we can work more closely with social service providers in the community. We work with organisations to support families who don’t need our help but who would benefit from community-based social services.
Reducing family violence
Through the Family Violence Interagency Response System, we are working with the New Zealand Police, Women's Refuge and other key non-government organisations in case managing incidents of family violence. Working together, we can provide a cohesive and thorough response to an increasingly high-profile issue.
