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Questions for the Minister

Questions from Jacinda Ardern MP to the Minister for Social Development.  We’ll publish the answers on the blog when they arrive.

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Welcome to the nightmare: Social work, child protection and the punishment of the poor

Nigel Parton’s (2014) recent study of the political context surrounding the ‘reform’ of child protection practice and policy in England contends that the state is pursuing an increasingly authoritarian agenda in relation to a particular section of the population, England’s poorest and most vulnerable families. The neoliberal project involves a shift in responsibility for social outcomes from the state to families.

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Democracy in action?: The Minister answers questions on the CYF review

The text below consists of the answers given by Anne Tolley (Minister of Social Development) to the written questions of Jacinda Ardern MP. We leave it to you to judge the adequacy of the answers. Feel free to comment using the comment box below.

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The pictures in our heads part two: the child protection reforms and the causes of child abuse

In my first ‘pictures in our heads’ post, I noted that assumptions about how problems and their solutions are to be understood are implicit in policies of all kinds. These assumptions influence how we frame the key issues. Therefore, the changes proposed by the Vulnerable Children’s Act and Children’s Action Plan contain assumptions that shape the way we think about the causes of, and solutions to, child abuse.

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It’s behind you! The purpose (and distraction) of reviews in supporting families

A guest blog post by Kate Morris, Professor of Social Work at the University of Nottingham. Kate is one of the authors of Re-imagining Child Protection: Towards humane social work with families. In this post Kate reflects on her recent visit to Aotearoa New Zealand and the similarities between politically motivated reviews of child protection services in England and NZ.