Wednesday, 21 February 2007

Kiro and CYF complaints authority complementary

United Future deputy leader Judy Turner, who proposed and lobbied for the newly planned Child Youth and Family complaints authority, has described concerns from the National Party as misinformed.

“What United Future has proposed in no way undermines the work of or confidence in the Children’s Commissioner. In fact I met with Commission staff to discuss a complaints authority before I went public.

“The Commission accepted that they did not have the power to investigate many areas regarding CYF complaints, as their mandate only pertains to the welfare of children.

“Any complaint from parents regarding their maltreatment or perceived abuse or other failure of CYF is completely out of the hands of the Children’s Commissioner,” says Mrs Turner.

“Ms Kiro’s role and the role of an independent complaints authority would be complementary.

"The Children’s Commission have publicly admitted that they do not have the resources to investigate all the complaints, instead “looking into matters where we have some common themes coming through – systematic things”, according to general manager Gordon McFadyen.

“I have always said that I fully support the role of the Children’s Commissioner and have previously called for better resourcing to carry out their investigative role.

“The need for a CYF complaints authority is urgent, and I hope that Judith Collins and National will fully support the proposal,” says Mrs Turner.

ENDS

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