New directions for Child, Youth and Family 1/6

Jackie Brown
Chief Executive, Child, Youth and Family

We take great pleasure in being able to present to you New Directions - a
way forward for Child, Youth and Family.

During this morning's presentation we will show you how this plan,
with the support of the additional funding provided through Budget 2001 will
enable Child, Youth and Family to move forward to work with families to achieve
long-term solutions when children need help.

The impetus for this new direction comes from recommendations from former
Judge Mick Brown's report - Care and Protection is about Adult Behaviour as well
as from a review Child, Youth and Family did to identify its strengths and
weaknesses.

At the time the Brown review was released we promised there would be a
comprehensive plan for change, supported by additional funding.

Budget 2001 has delivered additional funding responding to the Brown report's
recommendations about the resourcing of Child, Youth and Family.

And now New Directions will present the way forward for Child, Youth and
Family.

For the past few weeks the Chief Executive of Child, Youth and Family, Jackie
Brown, and Capability Development Manager, Craig Smith, have been travelling New
Zealand discussing the organisation's 'New Directions' with staff, providers,
community agencies and government agencies.

This programme is Child, Youth and Family's response to the challenges set
out in the recommendations of the Brown report Care and Protection is about
Adult Behaviour. The report contained 57 recommendations that were accepted by
the Government at the time of its release in March.

'As chief executive, I acknowledge that Child, Youth and Family is under
extreme pressure in many areas and that change is needed as a matter of urgency.
That is why we've developed the New Directions plan to implement the
recommendations of the Brown Report, says Jackie Brown. With the additional
funding provided to the Department by Budget 2001, Child, Youth and Family has
begun the process of implementing this comprehensive programme for change - a
programme that reflects a renewed focus on quality outcomes for children, young
people and their families, not just on seeking immediate solutions to immediate
problems.

'New Directions is an exciting initiative that will bring benefits to our
clients, our staff and the wider community,' says Craig. 'It places us much more
on track for meeting our legislative requirements and work proposed aligns with
the findings of Mick Brown's review of our procedures for referrals,
notifications and placements.'

New Directions' goal is to 'build an organisation that advances the
well-being of families and the well-being of children and young people as
members of families, whanau, hapu and iwi. Children and young people who are in
need of care or protection, or who offend against the law, are the primary focus
our services.'

The programme aims to achieve its goal through a strengths-based,
outcomes-focused approach, which harnesses the strengths of individuals and
families to achieve six overarching results for children and young people:
safety; family functioning and support; permanence and stability; cultural and
spiritual identity; client satisfaction; and well-being.

'Reaction to the approach has been extremely positive,' says Jackie. 'It
combines approaches that have been successfully used both internationally and by
other providers in New Zealand, and we're confident it's the right direction for
us. Indeed, we're keen to learn from the experience of others in developing our
own programme, and look forward to working with them.

'I've greatly appreciated the contributions of all who have attended the New
Directions forums,' she says. 'The next thing we must do is act, and get our new
approach working for clients, staff and providers.'

Strategies for change
'New Directions requires us to look at the
issues we currently face and identify strategies and initiatives for
improvement,' says Craig. 'It's about changing how we interact with our clients
to ensure we get good results, and about how we can build an organisation that
supports our people with the right resources and training for the work they do.'

New Directions sets out three broad approaches to guide the programme of
change:

• Join and build alliances with communities to achieve better outcomes
• Become a joined up agency that is outcomes focused, strengths based and
  client centred
• Take a regional approach to delivery

The programme has five key strategies:

1. Improve practice: improve Child, Youth and Family's delivery of its
   core care and protection and youth justice services.
2. Strengthen the professional workforce: improve support for social
   workers' professional practice through practice models, training, supervision
   and practice support.
3. Collaborate with communities; develop clear strategies, relationships
   and alliances with communities.
4. Design and build a joined-up agency: align Child, Youth and Family's
   structure, processes and systems to support a regional approach.
5. Build leadership capability: improve the organisation's strategic
   capability, with a focus on leadership development.

Each of the five strategies has a set of projects, of which nine have been
identified as critical to the programme's success:

1. Holding future search conferences with community partners.
2. Designing the joined-up and regionally focused agency.
3. Improving the interface with communities.
4. Implementing an organisational governance and strategic leadership
   programme.
5. Implementing a comprehensive social work workforce planning strategy.
6. Implementing a learning and development strategy to meet social workers'
   professional development needs.
7. Implementing strengths-based, outcomes-focused approaches to social work
   practice.
8. Designing and implementing meaningful performance measures for Child, Youth
   and Family.
9. Establishing quality assurance and internal monitoring processes and systems
   which will drive the new strengths-based, outcomes-focused approach.

Work is already underway on developing the social work practice model, and
future search conferences are scheduled for later this year. Meanwhile, work
will begin soon on organisational governance and leadership development.

Reference group contribution critical
Child, Youth and Family
recognises the importance and value of contributions from people beyond the
organisation itself. With this in mind it has established an External Reference
Group, which will provide advice on the programme as a whole and on significant
individual projects.

The organisation will also establish an Internal Reference Group to provide
front-line perspectives and offer advice.

Long-term sustainability
'Of course this change is not going to
happen overnight,' says Craig. 'While we will see some immediate changes, it
will probably take three to five years to implement the whole New Directions
programme. Above all, we want to make sure we do it at the right pace, one step
at a time. It involves wide-ranging changes for everyone involved, and it's
important that we do it well.'

Over time the programme will offer staff improved access to training and
enable them to take a more comprehensive approach to social work practice as
Child, Youth and Family's resources are focused on client services and outcomes.
Clients will find the Department's services easier to access and understand. We
will work to engage clients and work with them for positive results through
identifying needs and building on client strengths as well as responding to
risk.

Community providers will see and hear one voice and story from Child, Youth
and Family. They will be involved in services planning and share outcomes with
the Department, which will work collaboratively with the community as part of a
continuum of social service response. 'The challenge for us as a Department will
be to make New Directions a reality. For this to happen three changes must
occur: firstly adults' behaviour and attitudes must change; secondly we need
improved resourcing and the Budget has provided us with a significant boost; and
we need to improve our capability as an organisation.'

'We welcome Mick Brown's report, which has encouraged us to focus and plan to
improve our service and approach. We also strongly support his view that child
abuse is about adult behaviour and that this is an issue for all New
Zealanders,' says Jackie. Extract from Early Help June 2001