State care reform Bill passes second reading
Hon Anne Tolley
Minister for Social Development
1
November 2016
State care reform Bill passes second
reading
Social Development Minister Anne Tolley says that the first stage of major state care reforms has passed its second reading in Parliament.
As part of the radical overhaul of care and protection, the first raft of legislative changes in the Children, Young Persons and Their Families (Advocacy, Workforce and Age Settings) Amendment Bill will:
• Extend the age of state care and protection
to a young person’s 18th birthday
•
• Ensure
the views of children and young people are taken into
account as part of decision making at an individual level
and in the development of services and
policy
•
• Support the establishment of an
independent youth advocacy service,
and
•
• Enable the broader range of professionals
with specialist skills who will widen the expertise within
the new model to perform some functions under the Act.
Social workers would still be the main professionals
responsible for carrying out these functions.
•
The
Government recently announced that further legislation is to
be introduced before the end of the year to enable young
people to remain in care or return to care up until the age
of 21, with transition support and advice available up to
25.
“We are introducing bold reforms to ensure that we have a truly child-centred system which delivers the life outcomes that vulnerable young people deserve,” says Mrs Tolley.
“They must have a say in the decisions that affect their lives, and their voices need to be heard as we develop a completely new operating model for our care system as part of the new Ministry for Vulnerable Children, Oranga Tamariki.
“We are at the beginning of a multi-year transformation process. This is not simply another restructure. We must take the time to get this right and this legislation will ensure that children and young people are involved at every step in the process.”
ends