Social work services to children, young people and their families

Notifications

When a concern is expressed to CYF that a child or young person may be at risk of abuse, neglect or insecurity of care, a notification is recorded. CYF also receives notifications when there are concerns regarding a young person’s behaviour. Whenever such a report is made, the information is assessed by a social worker to determine whether or not a family/whānau will go on to access CYF services.

This intake process makes sure that sufficient information is gathered to make an initial assessment of the level of risk to the child/young person and to plan an appropriate response or investigation. Once it has been decided that further action by CYF is needed an assessment is made of the urgency with which a response is required.

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Trends in the number of care and protection notifications received

The total number of care and protection notifications received by CYF has increased since 2003/2004 (see table 5.2). This highlights New Zealand’s increased awareness of the need for care and protection of children and a growing willingness by communities to contact CYF where there are concerns for a child’s welfare.

The number of notifications which required further action following an initial investigation has fallen over the last two years after increasing over the previous two years (see table 5.2). The number of notifications that did not require further action is nearly nine times larger than it was five years ago.

Table 5.2 Trends in the ages of children and young people identified in care and protection notifications received

Age of child or young person identified in the notification	2003/2004 Number	2004/2005 Number	2005/2006 Number	2006/2007 Number	2007/2008 Number
	Notifications requiring further action1
0-1 year	2,318	2,910	3,502	3,541	3,496
1-4 years	8,207	9,945	12,035	11,041	10,403
5-9 years	10,192	11,880	13,216	12,469	11,330
10-13 years	8,650	9,709	10,113	9,507	8,869
14-17 years	5,132	6,199	6,700	6,184	5,612
18 years or over	25	33	37	34	36
Not recorded	826	923	938	1,069	993
Total requiring further action	35,350	41,599	46,541	43,845	40,739
	Notifications not requiring further action1
Total not requiring further action	5,589	8,889	16,198	28,082	48,722
	All care and protection notifications received1
Total notifications received	40,939	50,488	62,739	71,927	89,461

Note:

1. Number of notifications received during the year ended 30 June. More than one notification recorded in the same year may involve the same child or young person.

Over the last five years, the gender mix of children and young people identified in notifications requiring further action remained almost evenly split between males and females

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Trends in the findings of the investigation of care and protection notifications

Many of the care and protection cases that progress to the investigation stage don't result in findings of abuse or neglect. However, the proportion of investigations where evidence of abuse or neglect was found has risen over the last two years (from 37% in 2005/2006 to 53% in 2007/2008) (see table 5.3).

Of the investigations over the last five years where there has been a finding of abuse or neglect, an increasing proportion have found evidence of emotional abuse – 42% in 2007/2008, compared with 22% in 2003/2004 (see table 5.3). The next most common findings are behavioural or relationship difficulties and neglect. Behavioural or relationship difficulties accounted for 20% of findings in 2007/2008 (compared with 28% in 2003/2004), while neglect accounted for 21% in 2007/2008 (compared with 24% in 2003/2004). With the exception of 2003/2004 the abuse and neglect numbers remained fairly static and the incidence of self harm/suicide has slightly decreased.

Table 5.3 Trends in the findings of investigations of care and protection notifications requiring further action^{1, 2, 3}

Type of finding	2003/2004 Number	2004/2005 Number	2005/2006 Number	2006/2007 Number	2007/2008 Number
Emotionally abused	2,571	4,592	6,142	8,256	8,664
Physically abused	1,864	2,351	2,336	2,274	2,321
Sexually abused	1,149	1,424	1,291	1,194	1,003
Neglected	2,878	4,074	4,199	4,486	4,302
Behavioural/ relationship difficulties	3,325	4,355	4,657	4,461	4,154
Self harm/ suicidal	100	173	172	138	116
Not found	15,860	23,388	26,011	22,921	19,334
Total findings from investigations	27,747	40,357	44,808	43,730	39,894

Notes:

1. Investigations findings may not give an indication of the number of investigations completed as multiple findings can result from a single investigation.
2. Investigation findings relate to investigations completed in that year and may not relate to notifications received in that year.
3. Number of investigations may not relate to numbers of children or young people, as there may be more than one investigation related to the same individual in the same year. Numbers of investigations also may not relate to numbers of notifications assessed as requiring further action, as one investigation may address more than one such notification.

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Care and Protection Family Group Conferences

The Family Group Conference (FGC) is at the heart of the Child, Young Persons and their Families Act (1989) and recognises that families have the main responsibility for caring for their children and protecting them from harm. At times, though, families may need help. The FGC is a formal legal process that gives families the right and opportunity to make good decisions for the safety and wellbeing of their children.

The aim of the Care and Protection FGC is to develop a plan and recommendations that respond to the care and protection concerns for the child or young person. This ensures how the plan will be followed and monitored through to completion.

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Trends in the number of care and protection Family Group Conferences held

The total number of care and protection FGCs held has increased over the last year, with growth in both new conferences and reconvened and review conferences (see table 5.4). Increased numbers of conferences reflect the increased emphasis on working with the family/whānau and ensuring they are supported to develop their own solutions to the issues they face.

Over the last year, the proportion of these FGCs which were new conferences has decreased slightly (from 71% to 67%), with a corresponding increase in review conferences (from 18% to 21%) (see table 5.4). Over the same period, around 60% of new conferences have been concerned with children aged less than 10 years, including around 34% concerned with children aged less than five years.

Table 5.4 Trends in the ages of children and young people involved in new care and protection Family Group Conferences

Age of child or young person when conference held	2006/2007 Number	2007/2008 Number
	Number of new conferences held1,2
0-1 year	496	496
1-4 years	1,019	1,191
5- 9 years	1,144	1,234
10-13 years	940	1,089
14-17 years	798	830
18 years or over	5	4
Not recorded	23	22
Total new conferences held	4,425	4,866
	Number of other conferences held1,2
Reconvened conferences	702	824
Review conferences	1,110	1,552
Total other conferences held	1,812	2,376
	All conferences held2
Total conferences held	6,237	7,242

Notes:

1. Number of conferences held during the years–ended  30 June.
2. Number of conferences may not relate to numbers of children or young people, as there may be more than one
   conference related to a particular individual in the same year.

Over this period, the proportions of new care and protection FGCs concerned with males and with females remained about even.

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Care Services

In some situations the assessment and family decision- making will result in a child/young person needing to come into the care of the Chief Executive. This response is reserved for situations whereby the care and protection concerns can’t be addressed by working with the family whilst the child or young person remains in their care.

In all situations it is preferable for the placement of the child/young person to be with their family or extended family member. A placement outside the family will only occur when there are no suitable family/whānau, hapu or iwi placements available.

Residential care is an institutional intervention and only used in extreme circumstances. Children and young people are only placed in residential care when it is impossible to have their needs met within the community, and safe contained care is required.

Care services in New Zealand are underpinned by the principles (13, 5 and 6) in Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act (1989). Relevant principles are :

• children or young people should not be removed from their families unless this is necessary for their safety and protection
• they should be returned home as soon as possible, wherever possible and where safety  can be assured.
• preference is given to placement with family, whānau, hapu, iwi and family group.

These principles are expressed in the following statement of aims of CYF policy around the care of children:

We want all children to feel that they belong and are secure in their permanent living arrangement. Wherever possible we need to support their family to care safely for them, and to support their extended whānau to care when children can't live with their parents.

When a child/young person is in the custody of the Chief Executive it's important that we respond to their needs and create an enduring living arrangement for them. This also includes supporting them as they transition out of care and move towards independence.¹

The current focus on care services includes:

• keeping the focus on extended family being the first option for care if children and young people can’t live with their parents – thus increasing the percentage of children/young people in care being in family/whānau care
• a strengthening of support services to caregivers
• appropriate support and services to disabled children and young people
• working with Education and Health to strengthen their services to children in care
• permanency for children and young people.

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Trends in the number of children and young people in a care and protection placement

The number of children and young people in care decreased slightly over the last year (see table 5.5). Over the last two years, around 43% of children and young people in care have been in a family/whānau placement, and around 35% were placed with CYF caregivers.

Table 5.5 Trends in the placements of children and young people in care

Placement type	Number of children and young people in care1
	2007 Number	2008 Number
CYF bednights	703	667
CYF caregiver placement	1,824	1,523
Family home placement	218	177
Others	78	128
Residential placement–CYF residence	57	45
Family/whānau placement	2,164	1,982
Total	5,044	4,522

Note:

1. Number of children and young people in care as at 30 June.

Over the last two years, around half of the children and young people in care have been under 10 years of age, including around 23% aged less than five years (see table 5.6). Over the same period, slightly more than half (around 53%) of these children and young people have been males.

Table 5.6 Trends in the ages of children and young people in care

Age of child or young person	Number of children and young people in care1
	2007 Number	2008 Number
0-1 year	192	161
1-4 years	1,004	897
5-9 years	1,370	1,197
10-13 years	1,248	1,204
14-17 years	1,202	1,044
18 years or over	28	19
Total	5,044	4,522

Note:

1. Number of children and young people in care at 30 June.

¹CYF Practice centre--Caring for Children Policy

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