UPDATED 5.43pm: Child, Youth and Family is going, and in its place will be a new Ministry, with a new name, and completely new model of operating.
The Government has announced the Ministry for Vulnerable Children, and is keen to stress, that it's not just a re-brand.
Prime Minister John Key announced the creation of the new post, and said Anne Tolley will take up the job as the head of the new Ministry for Vulnerable Children from April next year.
LISTEN ABOVE: The new minister for vulnerable children, Anne Tolley, speaks with Larry Williams
Social Development Minister Anne Tolley said everything will change to allow the Ministry to focus on the individual needs of each child.
"CYFs was crisis management, that's when it really came into children's lives, but the new Ministry will focus on prevention through to transition."Â
She said that means there will need to be strong leadership at the new Ministry to bring in big changes over the next five years, and embed the necessary culture change within staff.
"In the existing system there's no one single point of accountability. There's no one agency or oversight that tracks what is happening to that child and that family."
Ms Tolley said they took cross-agency advice from the State Services Commission, Treasury, and Ministry of Social Development, which all recommended a stand-alone agency to prove accountability and focus.
However, the name of the Ministry is being criticised, with the opposition saying the Ministry for Vulnerable Children will stigmatise the very kids it's trying to help. Â Â
Labour's spokesperson for Children, Jacinda Ardern, said the new Ministry sounds too narrowly-focused, and risks treating symptoms, rather than the cause.
"The cost of child poverty in New Zealand in terms of poor outcomes in education and in health is huge as well, so we would absolutely be establishing a ministry that focuses across the board on child well-being."
Prime Minister John Key disagrees with the sentiment.
"If you don't call it what it is, then you run the risk that is loses its focus and starts spending resources and time away from those most in need."
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