Page 5938 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 8 December 2010
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At no point have those opposite sought a briefing on this. Have they raised the notion of any other opportunity to review? No, they have jumped straight to an inquiry under the Inquiries Act that will not deliver in a timely manner the depth and breadth of work that we need to have done.
Youth and family services—program
MS HUNTER: My question is to the Minister Children and Young People, and it is about the new youth services program and family services program framework. Minister, there are significant concerns from the youth sector regarding the levels of bureaucracy required under the draft service delivery framework. Can you confirm that, in order to receive service, clients—that is, young people—will need to be referred to and assessed through a centralised information intake and coordination service?
MS BURCH: The framework—as do the discussion paper and the many conversations leading to the existing framework—recognises that the sector is fragmented and often has different services being provided to individuals and to families. The notion behind an entry point is that it will provide the coordination and support and connection to the other services that are required.
I see it not as a layer of bureaucracy; it is a new way of doing practice, but it does afford an opportunity for better and enhanced coordination across a range of services that often these individuals and families require.
MR SPEAKER: Ms Hunter, a supplementary?
MS HUNTER: Minister, have concerns been raised that the centralised intake system will be a daunting and overwhelming experience for clients, particularly young people, and turn them away from accessing services that they may require, want or need, particularly those who might just want to drop into a youth centre?
MS BURCH: It is certainly not the intention of a new system to deter access to any services. There was a general understanding and feedback from the sector that clients and individuals and families are often repeating their stories across different services. This is in some way to offset that. I am quite happy to have a look, to make sure that someone wanting to access a youth centre does not need to fill out duplicate forms. That is not the intent.
This is around unifying and harmonising across the system, across the family systems, across the youth systems, to provide better access to services, not to deter access to services.
MS LE COUTEUR: A supplementary, Mr Speaker.
MR SPEAKER: Yes, Ms Le Couteur.
MS LE COUTEUR: Minister, given the draft service delivery framework notes that the intake system is partially staffed by network coordinators from each of the four service networks, who else will be used to staff the service?
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