Call for children’s ministry watchdog as complaints rise

Radio NZ News 26 July 2017
Family First Comment: We’ve been calling for this for years!!
The number of complaints against the Ministry for Vulnerable Children has doubled over four years, with a third being upheld.
Figures released under the Official Information Act show formal complaints jumped from 512 in the year ending June 2012 – when it was called Child, Youth and Family – to 971 in the year ending June 2016. The number stood at 699 for the nine months to the end of March 2017.
In total, some 4949 complaints had been received since 2012, with 1088 partly upheld and 565 fully upheld.
The high point was in the year ending June 2014 when complaints totalled 1080, with 242 partly upheld and 125 fully upheld.
“The number of complaints needs to be put into context,” the ministry said in a statement.
“The ministry received over 63,000 care and protection notifications for the six-month period … to December 2016 and … had over 5000 children in the custody of the chief executive.”
READ MORE: http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/335817/call-for-children-s-ministry-watchdog-as-complaints-rise