CYF grilled over lack of beds in youth justice units

Child Youth and Family officials faced a grilling by MPs yesterday over children being remanded into police cells because of a lack of youth justice beds.

The Social Services parliamentary select committee questioned officials about the problem after Judge Graeme Noble criticised CYF this month when he had to remand a 16-year-old youth back into police custody.

Judge Noble was told the departments had 70 beds in three youth facilities across New Zealand, but all were full.

CYF operations general manager Lorraine Williams said there were now 90 beds, with 12 more available in October when the new youth offenders' unit at Rolleston opened. The 32-bed unit will replace the 20 beds at Christchurch's Kingslea Residential Centre.

"It appears that the more beds we put on the more young people there are. We've got working groups looking at it," Ms Williams said.

The supported bail scheme, which began in January and enters a new phase next month, is expected to see 300 youths on bail instead of in care by the end of 2007.

CYF Minister Ruth Dyson said not many beds needed to be freed up to relieve the problem and keep children out of police cells.

The committee was told that youth crime mainly happened between 9am and 3pm, when children should be in school.

The committee was also told CYF received more than 53,000 notifications of possible abuse or neglect in the year to May.

The figures were up on 2004 when there were 43,314 notifications, out-stripping the 31,781 notifications it received in 2002/03. Ms Dyson said it reflected a growing willingness to report abuse.

Of the 53,000 notifications, only 11,488 were substantiated as child abuse.

The notifications involved about 30,000 children and young people. About 4000 children were in care.

CYF received $410 million in the last financial year and $450 million is being invested this financial year.

The present staff of 1150 social workers compared with 975 in October 2003. Sixty per cent of social workers were qualified.

Social workers had an average of 23-25 cases each.

Of social workers, supervisors and advanced practitioners, 63 per cent had less than five years' experience, 37 per cent had five years or more - of that group, 20 per cent had more than 10 years' experience.

The clients comprised 43 per cent Maori, 31 per cent Pakeha and 6.25 per cent Pacific Island.

Ms Dyson told the committee there was international demand for social workers, but New Zealand was retaining them well.

The hardest area to recruit in was Auckland.

- NZPA