Child, Youth and Family Minister Ruth Dyson is celebrating a 78 per cent reduction in Child, Youth and Family’s unallocated cases.

As at 1 July 2005, there were 993 unallocated cases, down from 4592 in May 2004.

Ruth Dyson says that this massive reduction is a huge achievement, and one that all New Zealanders should celebrate.

“In recent years public awareness of issues of child abuse has increased significantly, contributing to an 80 per cent rise in notifications since 2002. The Department has been working incredibly hard to manage this unprecedented demand for its services.

“I am doubly proud that, in spite of unprecedented demand, the Department is consistently meeting or exceeding performance targets for our most critical levels.”

The drop in unallocated cases and rise in efficiency is the result of a focused campaign within the Department over the past 10 months, which has included the use of a new risk assessment tool that helps social workers to prioritise cases more effectively.

“I congratulate the Department on its achievement and look forward to seeing the unallocated cases continue to drop,” says Ruth Dyson.

“In a perfect world there would be no child abuse, but the only way to make that goal a reality is to continue working together on the issues. Child abuse is not acceptable and we all have a part to play in preventing child abuse and caring for our children.”