Te Tai Tokerau MP Dover Samuels and Social Services and Employment Minister Steve Maharey met officials from Child, Youth and Family in Wellington yesterday to be briefed on the service’s Kaitaia office.

A draft quality audit report leaked to One News earlier this week suggested the office was having difficulty maintaining services to the Kaitaia community.

Dover Samuels said he has been assured that the report detailed historical problems which have been sorted out.

“Child, Youth and Family were able to reassure the Minister and I that the office is now fully staffed, is on top of its workload and is being closely monitored by the department.

“The office has been through a difficult 18-month period, running on less than its full complement of staff and dealing with a particularly high number of notifications. This situation has now been reversed.

“I have asked Child, Youth and Family to keep me fully informed about the performance of the Kaitaia office. Child, Youth and Family staff do an enormous amount of hard work providing safety for children and strengthening families and it is essential that they are able to meet the needs of our local community,” Dover Samuels said.

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