First Principles Baseline Review

Department of Child, Youth and Family Services

A ‘first principles’ baseline review of Vote: Child, Youth and Family Services is to be carried out and a report back made to the Ministers of Social Services and Employment and Finance by 29 August 2003.

The review will be carried out by the Treasury, Ministry of Social Development (MSD) and Child, Youth and Family (CYF). A Steering Group will oversee the review. It comprises:

Peter Bushnell, Deputy Secretary, The Treasury (Chair) Peter Hughes, Chief Executive, Ministry of Social Development Jackie Pivac, Chief Executive, Department of Child, Youth and Family Services Malcolm Inglis, Deputy Commissioner, State Services Commission

The Department was established in 1999 and Government has decided it is now timely to undertake a baseline review. The review will examine what services CYF needs to provide or fund, and how these are to be delivered, in order to achieve desired outcomes within the overall resources provided. The review looks at how much money is needed to fund these services.

OBJECTIVES

The main objective of the review is to make recommendations to enable the Department to move forward on a sustainable basis, within resource constraints, while meeting its performance targets and demonstrably achieving its desired outcomes. This includes making recommendations about:

desired outcomes breadth of role, including the department’s contribution to the desired outcomes which outputs should be produced to what quality, quantity and cost processes and systems required to produce those outputs capability and capacity required to produce those outputs, and the baseline in Vote Child, Youth and Family Services.

Approach

The suggested approach will first consider what outcomes the Government wants the Department to contribute to, and for whom, and what services need to be purchased to achieve those desired outcomes. It will then determine how those services should be produced and delivered, within what parameters, including quantity, quality and cost, and therefore what resources are required.

In order to reach conclusions the review will consider:

the role of the Department of Child Youth and Family Services the assessment and management of demand for services service delivery practices, professional requirements and other organisational processes financial management and controls, and organisational capability and capacity.

The review will endeavour to identify and address issues relating to outcomes for Maori and Pacific peoples at all stages of the review.

The review will need to consider the mix of services the Department should produce that can best contribute to its outcomes.

Project Management

A Review Team comprising officials from the relevant departments has been set up and will be led by Stuart Macdonald, Corporate Advisor, MSD, reporting to the Steering Group. The team will be supported by external advice as required.

Key Points

The Department was established in 1999 and Government has decided it is now timely to undertake a baseline review.

The review examines what services CYF needs to provide or fund, and how these are to be delivered, in order to achieve desired outcomes within overall resources provided. The review looks at how much money is needed to fund these services.

The review is not examining the basic existence of the Department and is starting from the intent of existing legislation. the Blueprint for Care and Protection will inform the review and there are likely to be crossovers

The review will take into account previous and current work, including the Brown report and New Directions.

Next Steps

The review team will be keeping departments and agencies informed, and there will be opportunities for input on issues of common interest.

The first major area of work relates to the role of CYF. A discussion paper will be released for comment in late March.

The Department will prepare a response to the review and a plan for action, in October 2003, including an integrated strategy for the Department to move forward building on the recommendations of the review.

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