Three million dollars has been stripped from the Ministry of Social Development(MSD) budget resulting in the need for restructuring. Close to six hundred jobs will be disestablished of which 18 are child abuse education social workers.
The role of child abuse education social workers is to help teachers, early childhood educators and anyone who is working with children to recognise the signs of child abuse.
The MSD says that it will be replacing child abuse educators with more front-line social workers.
Annette King, opposition Labour Party spokesperson on social development says that social workers already have full case loads and will not have time raise public awareness.
While she approves the government’s decision to employ more front-line social workers, she asks why it needed to come at the cost of child abuse educators. The cost of employing 18 workers is minimal she says, and could have been funded by slowing down the building of the (national) cycle lane or cutting it out of the cost of the party for the rugby world cup.
With 12,000 child abuse cases reported last year, child abuse educators must be regarded as a priority in New Zealand.
During parliamentary debate earlier this month, Ms King said, “All of us in this House know that child abuse has been a deep, dark secret in families for generations, and it is only now that we are seeing the light of day being shone upon it.
“It is only now that people are prepared to come forward and report child abuse because they are aware of it, they know it is wrong, and they are prepared to step forward.”
Education provides people with the confidence to report child abuse.
However Prime Minister John Key believes that in the prevention of child abuse, employing more front-line workers is a more practical solution.
“In other words, some people who were employed to promote awareness are being replaced by a much greater number employed to promote prevention,” he told The New Zealand Herald.
“The problem is not awareness any more; the solution is prevention and doing something about it, not promoting more awareness of it.”
The role of child abuse education social workers is to help teachers, early childhood educators and anyone who is working with children to recognise the signs of child abuse.
The MSD says that it will be replacing child abuse educators with more front-line social workers.
Annette King, opposition Labour Party spokesperson on social development says that social workers already have full case loads and will not have time raise public awareness.
While she approves the government’s decision to employ more front-line social workers, she asks why it needed to come at the cost of child abuse educators. The cost of employing 18 workers is minimal she says, and could have been funded by slowing down the building of the (national) cycle lane or cutting it out of the cost of the party for the rugby world cup.
With 12,000 child abuse cases reported last year, child abuse educators must be regarded as a priority in New Zealand.
During parliamentary debate earlier this month, Ms King said, “All of us in this House know that child abuse has been a deep, dark secret in families for generations, and it is only now that we are seeing the light of day being shone upon it.
“It is only now that people are prepared to come forward and report child abuse because they are aware of it, they know it is wrong, and they are prepared to step forward.”
Education provides people with the confidence to report child abuse.
However Prime Minister John Key believes that in the prevention of child abuse, employing more front-line workers is a more practical solution.
“In other words, some people who were employed to promote awareness are being replaced by a much greater number employed to promote prevention,” he told The New Zealand Herald.
“The problem is not awareness any more; the solution is prevention and doing something about it, not promoting more awareness of it.”
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