Welfare Outcomes for children when the State Intervenes New Zealand's Family Court process at its Best

Author

Judge Jill Moss

Speaker

Judge Jill Moss

When family crisis or inadequacy leads to state intervention in family life, it is the results for children which call for effective intervention. But that process requires

Definition of proper intrusion in adult lives
Recognition of the conflict between the rights of family/whanau and the rights of children
Recognition of a conflict between the autonomy rights and the welfare rights of children
Provision of well planned, well resourced and effective services, delivered therapeutically.
Routinely the children are not the main players in the process, but are the main recipients of its benefits. The confusing of process resolution and service delivery can lead to incomplete or ineffective delivery of service.

This paper proposes that the role for the New Zealand Family Court in this conundrum is to assist in process resolution, leaving service delivery to the professional providers, principally the Child Youth and Family Service. The Court has a unique range of skill and enforceable interventions available to assist the resolution of conflicting rights within family, conflict over proposed intervention and supervision of provision of services. These interventions bolster outcomes for children. The paper will demonstrate by practical example rather than statistical or qualitative analysis(neither of which is available) that dividing resolution of conflicted process and service delivery leads to outcomes

where children are provided with services,
where social workers have clear measurable expectations for themselves and for family
where parents and caregivers have clear tasks
where there are clear consequences when outcomes for children do not measure up to the plan. My work in the Children Young Persons and their Families Act 1989 cases is "leading edge" because my analysis of the process/delivery divide enables families to participate in full with social workers who can maintain a therapeutic relationship with family, by leaving the conflict to the Court gives family an effective voice in the decision making process at all stages, especially by the use of Judge led mediation encourages active participation by young people directly as well as through their own lawyers.

Presentation

Paper

Biography

Judge Moss qualified as a lawyer in 1980 and was appointed a Family Court Judge in 1995. Her practice focussed on children's issues and the rights of the mentally ill. She has presented papers at Law Society and Judicial conferences in New Zealand, Australia and USA in relation to the position and representation of children in litigation, and judicial responses to family violence. Her work in relation to children who are abused and neglected focuses on enabling the best provision of services to children both by ensuring performance by service providers and bolstering the ability of parents and whanau to perform their roles. Her recent appointment to the Youth Court will enhance the range of interventions which can be tailored to young people who enter the Justice system with unmet needs