Statement of Intent 2006 - Managing our risks

This section describes the key risks to Child, Youth and Family and how we address these risks.

Why we Manage Risks

Serving New Zealand’s most vulnerable children and young people is a demanding task with significant risks for Child, Youth and Family. To have confidence in Child, Youth and Family’s services, our stakeholders need to be assured that we have risk management embedded in our business practices. We achieve this by applying our risk management policy to our strategic and operational planning and management. We are developing a culture of continuous learning and improvement, where risks are identified and solutions to mitigate them are explored.

The risks faced by Child, Youth and Family fall into four broad categories, relating to our:

operating environment
business processes
people capability
financial management.

Operating Environment

Child, Youth and Family operates in a complex environment where internal and external influences have a significant impact on our ability to respond to vulnerable children and young people. These influences may interrupt, delay or otherwise impede the delivery and development of effective services.

RISK	RESPONSE
If we do not adequately respond to the diverse needs of our clients, we risk not being able to achieve our outcomes – keeping children and young people safe from abuse, neglect or offending.	We are developing and implementing a number of initiatives to meet our clients’ needs: The Differential Response Model will provide options for responding to Care and Protection reports, and will enable closer collaboration with community service providers. The Family Group Conference and Family/Whanau Agreements, enables the child or young person to have a voice in key decision-making affecting them, and the family or whanau; and in the case of offending, enable victims to engage in the decision-making process also. Social Workers in Schools is an early intervention and prevention programme targeted at year 0 – 8 children, and their families in low decile schools. The Family Safety Teams are expected to strengthen the criminal justice response to family violence and encourage better use of services such as, protection orders, counselling, income, housing, education and health support, by matching family needs to locally available services.
If we do not work closely and collaboratively with other agencies we may risk being unaware of the effects that the actions of each agency can have on demand for our services and vice versa.	Child, Youth and Family is committed to working closely and collaboratively with its partners, at the strategic and operational levels. We support an emphasis on a whole of government approach to achieving positive outcomes for children and young people.
If we do not inform our stakeholders of our role, including the public, we risk an ability to act effectively in the community.	Our work in this area includes: Social Workers in Schools (see above). Everyday Communities programme which raises awareness of child abuse and assists the development of prevention strategies through, for example, community engagement.
Managing current and forecast demand	Child, Youth and Family is realigning its Demand Management strategy in order to: Better manage intake and investigation through the implementation of robust systems Achieve greater consistency of responses Progress is also being made around enhancing decision making and judgement at the point of intake in the call centre and sites. Family violence and police notifications are the main drivers of demand. A range of initiatives are underway to improve effectiveness in this area: Implementation of the Family Safety Team pilots Development of cross-sector initiatives with ministers and officials from Police, Health, Education and Social Development (refer to the External Review, p122).

Business Process

Business process risks are those associated with the core processes and systems that enable Child, Youth and Family to deliver its services. We pay attention to risks around the efficiency and effectiveness of our systems and processes.

RISK	RESPONSE
If our systems and processes do not provide staff with effective and efficient ways to support their work, we risk non-compliance, the inability to meet our stakeholders’ needs, and non-productive use of staff time.	We are developing and implementing a number of initiatives to strengthen our systems and processes. These include: implementation of the Management Information and Systems programme to enable management staff to access data relevant to their role through a single portal. introduction (in 2005/2006) of a cross-Child, Youth and Family management group that meets regularly to facilitate the co-ordination of the strategic and business planning and financial management processes across Child, Youth and Family. introduction (in 2005/2006) of a cross-group forum conducted at a senior level, to oversee the co-ordination and integration of developments within our information management systems programmes. On-going research and evaluation work of our service effectiveness will feed into on-going service development and improvement initiatives.
We may not be able to sufficiently respond to client demand for our services owing to either a disproportionate increase in the demand and available resources to meet that demand; or our inflexibility in how we manage the increasing demand.	Our on-going research into the drivers of demand will help inform our understanding of these to more accurately forecast increases or decreases. Working closely with strategic partners, for example, the Police, will also help us improve our understanding of how their work may impact on levels of demand for our services.

RISK

RESPONSE

If our systems and processes do not provide staff with effective and efficient ways to support their work, we risk non-compliance, the inability to meet our stakeholders’ needs, and non-productive use of staff time.

We are developing and implementing a number of initiatives to strengthen our systems and processes. These include:

implementation of the Management Information and Systems programme to enable management staff to access data relevant to their role through a single portal.
introduction (in 2005/2006) of a cross-Child, Youth and Family management group that meets regularly to facilitate the co-ordination of the strategic and business planning and financial management processes across Child, Youth and Family.
introduction (in 2005/2006) of a cross-group forum conducted at a senior level, to oversee the co-ordination and integration of developments within our information management systems programmes.

On-going research and evaluation work of our service effectiveness will feed into on-going service development and improvement initiatives.

We may not be able to sufficiently respond to client demand for our services owing to either a disproportionate increase in the demand and available resources to meet that demand; or our inflexibility in how we manage the increasing demand.

Our on-going research into the drivers of demand will help inform our understanding of these to more accurately forecast increases or decreases.
Working closely with strategic partners, for example, the Police, will also help us improve our understanding of how their work may impact on levels of demand for our services.

People Capability

Capability risks relate to the ability of our staff to deliver consistently high-quality services to all our clients.

RISK	RESPONSE
We may have a reduced capability in parts of Child, Youth and Family owing to recruitment and retention issues, including shortage of appropriately qualified and/or experienced staff.	We will: continue to recruit staff with the appropriate qualifications, skills and experience continue to implement our leaders’ and managers’ strategy for building capability. Our focus on learning and development assists staff in gaining the qualifications and skills necessary for their roles (in respect of social workers, p135).
High market demand for some sets of skills and experience means we may have difficulty recruiting and retaining staff, particularly experienced staff.	We will continue to focus on: encouraging the learning and development of our staff through, for example, payment of study awards and study advance agreements, and paid study leave building a positive working environment building our understanding of the marketplace for skills sets and experience addressing remuneration.

RISK

RESPONSE

We may have a reduced capability in parts of Child, Youth and Family owing to recruitment and retention issues, including shortage of appropriately qualified and/or experienced staff.

We will:

continue to recruit staff with the appropriate qualifications, skills and experience
continue to implement our leaders’ and managers’ strategy for building capability.

Our focus on learning and development assists staff in gaining the qualifications and skills necessary for their roles (in respect of social workers, p135).

High market demand for some sets of skills and experience means we may have difficulty recruiting and retaining staff, particularly experienced staff.

We will continue to focus on:

encouraging the learning and development of our staff through, for example, payment of study awards and study advance agreements, and paid study leave
building a positive working environment
building our understanding of the marketplace for skills sets and experience
addressing remuneration.

Financial Management

Financial management risks relate to the availability of adequate funding for Child, Youth and Family operations. The chief risk in this area is that demand for our services might put excessive pressure on our budget.

RISK	RESPONSE
In a fiscally tight environment, we risk our financial resources not meeting the actual demand for our services.	Efforts to increase our understanding of the drivers of demand for our services, will enable us to: forecast, plan and respond to demand more effectively have accurate information to discuss our resource needs with influential stakeholders. Our emphasis on strategic prioritisation of resources as part of the annual planning and financial management process, helps us to increase our understanding of financial pressures and enables us to manage these more effectively. Further refinement of a financial management tool will enhance the integration of business planning and financial management.

RISK

RESPONSE

In a fiscally tight environment, we risk our financial resources not meeting the actual demand for our services.

Efforts to increase our understanding of the drivers of demand for our services, will enable us to:
- forecast, plan and respond to demand more effectively
- have accurate information to discuss our resource needs with influential stakeholders.
Our emphasis on strategic prioritisation of resources as part of the annual planning and financial management process, helps us to increase our understanding of financial pressures and enables us to manage these more effectively.
Further refinement of a financial management tool will enhance the integration of business planning and financial management.