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Volume Two of the White Paper

Child and adult
A minority of children in New Zealand are at significant risk of harm to their wellbeing now and into the future because of the environment in which they are being raised and, in some cases, their own complex needs. Environmental factors that influence child vulnerability include not having their basic emotional, physical, social, developmental and cultural needs met at home and in their wider communities.
 
The concept of vulnerability provides a way of thinking about children that recognises that their needs do not always fit neatly into the service categories of government agencies, and that their wellbeing depends on the actions of their parents, their wider families and whānau, their communities and government. The factors that make children more or less vulnerable are often multiple and interrelated in complex ways. Addressing those factors requires co-ordinated  action across the social sector, with families, communities and government working together.
 
This White Paper sets out:
  • what the Government  is doing to address the factors that place children at risk of becoming vulnerable, as well as the factors that protect children from vulnerability
  • major changes to the way in which children at risk of, or experiencing, maltreatment are identified and have their needs responded to.

The White Paper outlines a set of reforms that:

  • help to ensure that parents, caregivers, family, whānau  and communities understand and fulfil their responsibilities towards children, as the single most critical factor in the care and protection  of vulnerable children
  • give professionals new tools so that they can identify earlier children at risk of, or currently experiencing, maltreatment
  • build a new community-based approach to meeting the needs of children at risk of maltreatment as early as possible
  • reinforce joint responsibility and action across government to improve outcomes for children within target populations
  • develop a new direction for the way that Child, Youth and Family, justice, health, education and welfare agencies, professionals and other organisations work together, and an information platform through which they can record and share information
  • develop a new cross-agency Strategy for Children and Young People in Care
  • build a children’s workforce that is responsive to the needs of vulnerable children
  • introduce a range of new measures to manage adults at high risk of abusing children.
Volume II is available as a PDF document only. See Volume II of the White Paper PDF [3MB]

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