Justice and Law Reform

September 2009 - Community Liaison Social Workers

These positions were first appointed in 1995 after an amendment to the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act 1989.  Before the amendment there had been much debate about the mandatory reporting of child abuse.  The outcome was that instead of the mandatory reporting of child abuse, an extensive programme of public education of child abuse would be undertaken supported by the development of interagency child abuse protocols for reporting child abuse.

At a national level, Child Youth and Family achieved public awareness of child abuse issues through campaigns such as “Breaking the cycle of child abuse”.

At a local level, the community and public awareness work on how to recognise abuse is carried out by the Community Liaison Social Workers (CLSW).  They have a key role in breaking down the barriers between CYF and the community and are influential in breaking down the barriers between CYF and schools, pre-schools, other agencies, iwi and community groups.

Much of the CLSW’s time is spent visiting schools, pre-schools and such like with frequent follow-up meetings or training sessions with more staff.  The main topics are usually the definition of abuse (including neglect), signs of abuse and reporting it, how CYF works and the importance of interagency protocols.

As part of CYF’s proposal to strengthen the frontline, these CLSW roles are possibly being disestablished. CLSW’s are worried about this as the current proposal is that managers will pick up some of this work.  As the managers are already stretched, how will this vital link be maintained with the community?

The CLSW’s feel that having a consistent face in the community delivering a consistent message, and a person easily contactable and available is not only good for building relationships, but also provides them with the ability to seize opportunities for education and training that otherwise may not be detected.