Judith Collins MP
National Party Welfare Spokeswoman

31 March 2005

CYF registrations increase

National Party Welfare spokeswoman Judith Collins says Labour continues to fail the children of New Zealand.

“CYF now has as many children registered on its books as a town the size of Timaru.”

Ms Collins is commenting on figures that show the number of children registered with CYF has increased from 24,624 in June 2001 to 27,724 in March this year, with three months still left to go in the June-to-June cycle.

The biggest increase has been in the registrations of under 2's. The numbers have more than doubled from 1,766 in 2001 to 4,730.

“Labour has spent $30 million on the Families Commission, and its much talked about ‘Agenda For Children’ appears to be in a constant holding pattern. Meanwhile many thousands more of our most vulnerable children are falling into the hands of the state.

“That’s why National is putting parental and personal responsibility at the core of its welfare and justice policies.

“This isn’t just about giving CYF the resources they need to do the job, this is also about properly equipping parents, including those on welfare. So far we have seen little evidence that any of the policies put in place by Labour are likely to make a sustained difference.

“The best way to keep these kids out of the system is to promote a culture where parents are expected to be responsible. For those depending on the taxpayer for financial support that should mean things like making sure their children attend school, stay out of trouble and get regular health and dental checks.

“Of course, none of this means children should not be removed from abusive situations.

“Youth suicide rates are still unacceptably high by world standards, child poverty continues to be a significant issue and beneficiary numbers are projected to rise over the next four years if Labour wins the election.

“After six years, it’s clear there is little hope that these disturbing trends will turn around under Labour,” says Ms Collins.

Attached: PQ 03523 (2005)

Parliamentary Question 03523 (2005)

Sent: Tuesday, 29 March 2005 11:58 a.m.
Subject: 03523 (2005) Published - Social Development & Employment (Associate Minister - CYF) - Normal Reply

Question: How many children are recorded as having a client number with Child Youth and Family presently; and as at the end of June 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004; and what were the numbers of children in the age groups under two years, two to five years, six to ten years, and over ten years of age at each of these dates?

Portfolio: Social Development & Employment (Associate Minister - CYF)
Minister: Hon Ruth Dyson
Date Lodged:15/03/2005

Answer Text: I am advised that the number of children recorded as current clients with Child, Youth and Family presently; and as at the end of June 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004, in the specified age groups is shown in the attached table.

Client age group
Clients Current As at 30 June 2001
Clients Current As at 30 June 2002
Clients Current As at 30 June 2003
Clients Current As at 30 June 2004
Clients Current As at 15 March 2005

Not known 196 136 165 194 363
Under 2 years 1766 2964 3777 4806 4730
Between 2 – 5 years 4855 5122 5691 6763 6450
Between 6 – 10 years 6571 6792 7487 8729 8719
Over 10 years 11236 10413 9808 9161 7462

ENDS

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