A differential response model for child protection in New Zealand: supporting more timely and effective responses to notifications.

• Author: Waldegrave, Steve
• Position: Policy Development Papers

Abstract

In 2005 Parliament will consider amendments to the Children, Young Persons and Their Families (CYP&F) Act 1989. The amendments enable the introduction of a differential response model under which the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services (CYF) can respond to different reports of abuse, neglect or insecurity of care in a range of different ways. This article describes the policy rationale and intent of these changes. It then describes how the new system is intended to operate, and draws on international experience to predict some of the likely benefits and challenges of the new system. The likely challenges of a differential response model include resourcing the system, and CYF social workers accurately deciding whether a case requires investigation or other action. The likely benefits include a greater ability to keep children safe by targeting CYF investigative resources more effectively and responding more appropriately to different kinds of notifications. The Differential Response Model should also enhance CYF's ability to meet the broader welfare needs of its clients by supporting more assessment and service delivery partnerships with community service providers. Ultimately, the Differential Response Model should result in more timely, appropriate and effective services for CYF clients.

INTRODUCTION

In 1989 the Children, Young Persons and Their Families (CYP&F) Act was introduced. Under section 15 of the new Act, any person was explicitly allowed to report physical, emotional or sexual abuse, ill-treatment or deprivation to the police or a social worker. Under section 17 the social worker or police officer receiving the report would have to "investigate" (or arrange for an investigation) as soon as practicable.

At the time of the CYP&F Act's inception, government's response to matters of care and protection was embedded in its work to promote broader child and family welfare. An "investigation" was interpreted broadly as any appropriate response to the report (whether that report was considered a report under section 15 of the CYP&F Act or not (2)).

However, public, media and judicial pressure over time has led the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services (CYF) to interpret the concept of an "investigation" more narrowly. Now, an "investigation" tends to be more specifically understood (and has been codified in CYF social worker guidelines) as a full enquiry with the aim of establishing whether harm has taken place or is likely to in the future.

As the number of reports of alleged child abuse, neglect and insecurity of care have increased over time, and as CYF has increasingly sought to respond with a full investigation, the Department's ability to meet the demand for investigations has diminished. This situation appears to have contributed to severe budget pressures, variable service quality and a clear perception that the Department could no longer effectively deliver quality social work services to clients.

In 2003 Ministers initiated a Baseline Review which identified that the Department needed to stabilise, learn from its experience and improve its service delivery. However, over the six months following the review, the number of reports (or "notifications") CYF received increased by around 29% over the upper range predicted by the review. This threatened the very stability the review had sought to promote. The Department and its Minister needed to quickly explore ways to meet the greater-than-expected demand while implementing the Baseline Review recommendations.

In response to their concerns about CYF's ability to meet the burgeoning demand for investigations, a number of influential non-governmental organisations (NGOs) told the Minister that they saw a potentially greater role for themselves in assisting CYF. This proved to be an important catalyst for change. On 17 March 2004 the Cabinet Social Development Committee directed the Ministry of Social Development (3) and CYF to consider, and report back by 1 September 2004 on:

* whether sections 15 and 17 of the CYP&F Act should be amended to allow a more flexible CYF response to notifications

* whether amendments were appropriate to enable NGOs to carry out certain statutory care and protection functions on behalf of government.

In response, CYF and Ministry of Social Development officials analysed the care and protection systems in a number of overseas jurisdictions. They found that in none of the overseas jurisdictions studied did the care and protection agencies seek to respond to reports uniformly with a full social work investigation. Instead, overseas agencies provided what was often known as a "differential response"--a response that varied depending on the kind of report. For example, responses to reports of neglect often differed from responses that concerned sexual abuse.

In 2005 Parliament is scheduled to amend the CYP&F Act--a change that will underpin and support the introduction of a differential response model in New Zealand. This article explores the policy rationale and intent of these changes. It also draws on international experience to predict some of the likely benefits and challenges of the new system.

"CARE AND PROTECTION INVESTIGATION": AN EVOLVING CONCEPT

When the CYP&F Act was originally enacted in 1989, it provided a single explicit option for the police or a CYF social worker to respond to reports of abuse or neglect made under section 15 of the Act. The Act, in section 17 (1), stated:

Where any Social Worker or member of the Police receives a report pursuant to section 15 of this Act relating to a child or young person, that Social Worker or member of the Police shall, as soon as practicable after receiving the report, undertake or arrange for the undertaking of such investigation as may be necessary or desirable into the matters contained in the report and shall, as soon as practicable after the investigation has commenced, consult with a Care and Protection Resource Panel in relation to the investigation. [emphasis added] The term "investigation" was not defined in the Act, so it was left to those who worked under the Act to define and operationalise the concept. During the first few years after the Act's introduction an "investigation" was loosely understood to be the range of activities that a social worker undertakes in response to a notification under section 15. This included, for example, seeking more information, referring the client to another (e.g. NGO) organisation for services, or deciding that no further action was necessary.

This broad interpretation of "investigation" meant that the Department was able to respond in a variety of ways to notifications. For example, when a full investigation was needed (which could lead to a prosecution), CYF and the Police were able to collaborate. On the other hand, when more appropriate, CYF was able to undertake activities designed to preserve and support the family. Both the full enquiry designed to ensure the future safety of the child or young person and the more support-focused activity fell under the overarching concept of an "investigation". Furthermore, the "safety-focused" activity and the "child and family welfare" activity were seen to be complementary.

However, in New Zealand, as overseas, a number of key contextual developments changed this situation significantly over the 1990s. These included:

* a growth in public awareness of child abuse, resulting in a significant increase in the reporting of suspected abuse and consequent demand for care and protection services

* an increase in the complexity of problems faced by children and their families with care and protection issues

* an increased focus by the media and public on child safety rather than broader child welfare

* the development of influential research and practice paradigms in the social work and related professions that focused on protection and risk assessment.

These changes have contributed to increasingly risk-averse child protection services in New Zealand and similar jurisdictions. As part of this tendency towards risk aversion, the interpretation of an "investigation" under section 17 of the Act has narrowed over time. This has been further reinforced by a number of judicial decisions (4) Ultimately, this trend led CYF to develop, and put in its social work guidelines, a tightly specified and much narrower definition of what an "investigation" involves.

A social work investigation is now understood as being a "systematic enquiry" with a number of prescribed...