Evidence,accountability and legitimacy: The oversight of child welfare services

Abstract

New Zealand typifies countries that were colonized in that its indigenous population has long remained disproportionately affected by child protection services and their periods of doctrinaire practices, despite decades of reviews, reforms and promises to change. The very broad scope of child welfare services and their complexity require strong means of holding them to account. Diverse operational practices, as well as differing views of the science and received wisdoms are just some of the elements which create a system which is disconnected for those who engage with it. Public agency performance measures and transparency are not sufficient to bring about the degree of accountability that will meet the needs of public legitimacy when there are diverse communities with different histories with child welfare services to take account of. Strong independent oversight is needed to determine what might make it possible for trust to be properly placed, and legitimacy to be sufficiently established at a system level in order to support social workers in their difficult work amongst all communities. The problems for child welfare services in establishing political legitimacy have significant parallels in how agency and system accountability needs to be established across many unrelated forms of public administration.