A parent support group wants an independent commissioner to monitor the Child, Youth and Family Services' planned nationwide database to list unsuitable caregivers.
John Tonson, of Parents Against Negative Intervention by CYFS (Panic), said he feared that false information could be recorded on the database and used against parents.
"Inferences or suspicions may be put in a file, suggesting [a person] may be likely to abuse a child."
Even if the person was cleared of wrongdoing, the information could be used against him or her, because of CYFS' "extreme overreactiveness" and "witch-hunt mentality," Mr Tonson said.
"The general feeling overall is that parents who are suspect are treated guilty until proven innocent, whereas in the criminal courts it's the other way around."
Information recorded on the database needed to be monitored by an independent commissioner, he said.
The database, due to be running in November, will record all information known to CYFS about caregivers, including unsubstantiated allegations.
It will also record the names of social workers and everyone involved with a child, and their comments.
Chief social worker Mike Doolan has said information on the database would alert social workers to problems that might need further investigations.
All potential caregivers must be screened, he said. The safety of children was paramount. CYFS had always recorded information about caregivers, including allegations, but only on a region-by-region basis.
From November, the information would be accessible to social workers nationally on the $12.7 million computer system.
Privacy Commissioner Bruce Slane has asked CYFS for details on the database.
Council of Civil Liberties chairman Tony Ellis said the database was "constitutionally offensive."
- NZPA
Call to monitor caregivers' list
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