Thursday, 29 April, 2004

Turner: New regime would work where CYFS fails

The case of a 14-year-old girl with drug and alcohol problems, whose parents were "quite literally crying out for CYFS help to prevent her becoming just another tragic statistic", demonstrated how United Future's proposed replacement for CYFS would make a world of difference, MP Judy Turner said today.

"Here we have a child who runs away from her parents and is placed in CYFS' care, yet her parents remain committed to getting her the support she needs to overcome her problems, but CYFS is simply not making this happen." Mrs Turner said.

"These are motivated, concerned parents looking to do the right thing - and still CYFS can't get it right," United Future's welfare and families spokeswoman said of the case that came to media attention this week.

"This is where there should be positive outcomes - we have the motivated family, but where is the effective, on-to-it CYFS intervention?"

"United Future's proposal to reform CYFS, which we launched recently, would see a two-track system in which serious cases would still go to a child protection agency, but which would also see the development of a comprehensive family support service.

"It is this service that I believe would work to address the needs families such as this one - it would help with parenting children and teens, and ensuring families have the resources and skills required to deal with the stresses we all face everyday.

"The key principle underlying this service is that getting help voluntarily needs to be destigmatised and recognised as the only way to really address the tide of abuse and family problems we have in New Zealand. "

Ends.

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