As posted on CYFSWATCH New Zealand
Friday, February 23rd, 2007
MEDIA RELEASE
23 January 2007
Anti-CYF Blogsite Due to Lack of Accountability
Family First calls for a CYF Complaint AuthorityA new blogsite which offers parents a means to vent their frustrations at Child Youth and Family is simply an outcome of a lack of transparency and accountability over the activities of CYF.
“There is no avenue for people who feel they have been unfairly treated by the Child, Youth and Family,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First.
“Family First is being regularly contacted by families who claim to have been unfairly treated by CYF Social Workers – yet these parents who’s families have been torn apart have no independent body to appeal to. Their only option is a costly court process where CYFS have an unlimited pool of resources to defend its actions, courtesy of the taxpayer.”
“This is grossly unfair when families are being ripped apart, often just based on the subjective judgment of a social worker,” says Mr McCoskrie.
CYF themselves admit that they do not always get it right. There is also evidence that CYFS are not following their own procedures, and are not acting where they should.
Bob McCoskrie has a background of social work in
South Auckland for 15 years and knows too well how difficult it is to get CYF to intervene on the really urgent cases. Yet there is no real avenue for appeal in these cases either.
“There is a Health and Disability Commissioner, a Police Complaints Authority, even a Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal,” says Mr McCoskrie. “We desperately need an independent body to hear complaints about the highly sensitive nature of intervening in families.”
Family First calls on all MP’s, the majority who will have received anecdotal evidence of claims of unfair treatment by CYF, to support the urgent establishment of a CYF Complaint Authority.
ENDS
For more information contact Family First:
Bob McCoskrie JP – NATIONAL DIRECTOR
Tel. 09 261 2426 | Mob. 027 55 555 42
email. bob@familyfirst.org.nz | http://www.familyfirst.org.nz
P.O. Box 276-133, Manukau City, Auckland, New Zealand
Family First NZ (Inc) was formed in April 2006 to speak up in the public domain on family issues. It has a Board of Trustees, a Board of Reference including Ex-All Black Michael Jones, TV personalities Jim Hickey and Anthony Samuels, over 200 financial supporters and over 2,000 e-mail supporters.
