PSA Press Release

Attention: State sector reporters December 17, 2003

Child Youth and Family reviews

The reports released today by Child Youth and Family reveal a service which has been grappling with systemic problems for some time, PSA national secretary Richard Wagstaff said today.

“There are obviously lessons to be learned from the findings of these reviews and urgent attention paid to some of the systems and processes which the service has in place in its dealings with young children.”

Richard Wagstaff said social workers need adequate systems and processes, and resources, to be able to carry out their job properly.

“It is clear that the Baseline Review of Child Youth and Family carried out earlier this year, and the subsequent rescue package announced by the government, came not a moment too soon for the service.”

“The Baseline Review identified concerns over the quality of management practice within the service. It is critical that Child Youth and Family use the extra funding provided by the rescue package to address the urgent issues of recruiting more staff, increasing resources to improve services, and implementing better systems to support managers.

Richard Wagstaff said the service had been struggling to cope for some time, and it should be acknowledged that the problems it faced could not be turned around overnight.

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