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Care and protection of children
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When is care and protection needed?
Care and/or protection is needed when a child (0–13 years) or young person (14–16 years) is believed to be ‘at risk’ because they are experiencing (or likely to experience) such things as:
- physical or sexual abuse
- violence or conflict between their caregivers
- emotional or physical neglect
- behaviour which is beyond their, or their caregivers’, control
- lack of stable or adequate care.
Protecting children from suffering harm, ill-treatment, abuse, neglect and deprivation, and ensuring they have the care and protection they need to keep them safe from harm is a large part of the work of Child, Youth and Family.
Each year some 25,000 reports of neglect, ill-treatment, harm or abuse of children are made, and the numbers are increasing all the time.
Whenever such a report is made, it is assessed by a social worker to determine whether or not a family or whanau will go on to access Child, Youth and Family services. This intake process makes sure that sufficient information is gathered to make a preliminary assessment of the level of risk to the child or young person and to plan an appropriate investigation or intervention. This initial information gathering and assessment ensures the child or young person's immediate safety. A risk estimation assessment must be completed for every case where a social worker reasonably believes that child abuse or neglect has occurred.
When problems are found to be serious, a social worker must, as soon as is practical, undertake or arrange an investigation into the report of abuse and, once that has begun, must consult with a care and protection resource panel about the investigation. (You can read more about the work of the panels in the Working With Communities section of this website.)
The welfare and interests of the child or young person is the first and paramount consideration. When problems are serious, a family group conference may also be called. Sometimes the situation may not be so bad, but the family still wants help. There are a range of options for families in this situation including family/whanau agreements that can help with a range of family problems and issues. Child, Youth and Family must always work with families and whanau to strengthen their ability to care for their children and young people.
When deciding what response is needed, the social worker taking the initial information will consult with their supervisor on whether to initiate:
- Immediate service. The social worker provides a service there and then and takes no further action. This is appropriate if immediate advice or information was wanted.
- Onward referral. The caller is referred on to a more appropriate agency that specialises in the type of service needed.
- Further Child, Youth and Family involvement. If this is the case, the degree of urgency is determined next.
Every notification is treated seriously and sensitively and all notifiers treated with respect. Intervention under the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act 1989 must ensure that the child or young person is protected from harm, but every effort should be made to limit the damage and disruption to the child's relationship with their family or whanau.
In more serious cases, as described above, and when a child or young person is believed to be in need of care and/or protection, the care and protection resource panel is consulted and a family group conference is called.
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If your child is taken into care
Taking a child or young person away from home, away from their parents or their usual caregivers, is done as a last resort. It will only happen when there is no other way of keeping the child safe.
The only reason social workers or the Police are allowed to remove children from their home is to make them safe. When they take a child or young person into care they must have good reason to believe that the child has been harmed or is not safe.
Further information on what happens when a child or young person has been taken into care is available in You, the law and the courts in the Services section of this website.
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What is a family group conference
A family group conference (FGC) is a formal meeting for members of the family group/whanau/hapu/iwi to discuss, often with social workers, what needs to be done to make sure a child or young person is safe and well cared for.
The law recognises that families have the main responsibility for caring for their children and young persons, and protecting them from harm. At times, though, families may need help. The FGC ensures that families and whanau are supported to develop their own solutions to their problems. Social workers and families work together to reach agreement on how to keep a child safely within the family group.
The FGC is a means of balancing children’s need and right to be safe, with their need and right to be in a family.
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Attending the FGC
- A care and protection coordinator from Child, Youth and Family will make arrangements after consulting the family.
- As many family members as possible will be invited to attend. Final arrangements about date, time and place will be made, as far as possible, to suit those who want to be there.
- Some financial help may be available from Child, Youth and Family to make sure that everyone who needs to go to the conference can do so.
- The conference can take place anywhere that the child or young person and their family or whanau feel comfortable, such as in a meeting room, on a marae, or in a home.
- The coordinator will explain which people outside the family are likely to be at the conference, what the family/whanau rights are, and what everyone is expected to do.
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Who attends an FGC?
People who may attend the care and protection FGC are:
- the child or young person
- parents/guardians
- family/whanau
- a social worker from Child, Youth and Family or other agency or iwi or cultural social service (who referred the matter)
- a care and protection coordinator
- counsel-for-the-child (if appointed)
- Police.
Other people with special information may attend as necessary, such as a public health nurse; teacher; support group; psychiatrist; doctor; or lawyer. These people are there to provide information and give advice, not to make decisions.
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The care and protection process
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What happens at the FGC?
Step 1: Information and advice giving
This involves all members of the conference. It lets everyone know:
- why the FGC is being held
- what the issues are
- what help is available to sort out the problem.
Step 2: Family discussion in private
The family has time to talk in private about how the child or young person can be cared for and kept safe, who should look after the child or young person, and what help can be provided.
Step 3: Decisions, recommendation and plans
- The family reports back its decisions to the whole conference, and everyone has to decide and agree on whether there is a care and protection problem and whether the proposed plan will keep the child safe.
- The plan has to say who is going to be responsible for the care of the child or young person and where they will live, what services or organisations are needed as support for the child and family, what payments are needed to support the child, and when the plan is to be reviewed.
- In over 90 per cent of cases, family group conferences agree about what should be done. If agreement can’t be reached, the case may go to the Family Court for a solution to be worked out.
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After the FGC
Copies of the plan will be given to everyone affected by the decisions. The coordinator has responsibility for seeing the plan is reviewed. If it is not working, or circumstances change, the coordinator must be told immediately and another FGC may be called.
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Family rights
Family members have the right to decide whether or not they agree that a child/young person is in need of care and protection. If the family members don’t agree, the matter is referred back to the social worker or agency who presented the case and who will then consider what action to take. If there is non-agreement, the social worker may refer the matter to the Family Court.
Family members also have the right to:
- be fully informed about the investigation
- be consulted about who is in the family and who should attend the conference, and where and when it will take place
- give and be given any necessary information
- consider matters in private at any time
- have an interpreter
- take as much time as necessary to find solutions
- expect their plans, recommendations and decisions to be accepted unless they are impractical, do not keep the child safe, or are in breach of the law.
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The Family Court
The Family Court is where you get help to sort out family problems. Family Court judges are approachable and are appointed to work in this Court because of their understanding and experience of family matters.
The Family Court deals with a wide range of issues affecting families and children that includes:
- care and protection matters
- the adoption and guardianship of children
- custody or access disputes when parents separate.
To read more about the role and processes of the Family Court, click here.
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Services 
