Politics and reality not infrequently bear little relation to each other.
My last two posts have been about the Maori Party's determination to retain the CYF whanau first policy.
The new boss of CYF was recently at the Otara office facing questions from front-line staff. For example:
Will you solve the foster-parent drought that makes it impossible to find placements for our mokopuna?
Note the questioner wasn't asking for specifically Maori placements. More importantly, the question implies that they aren't enough whanau carers available anyway.
The main difficulty in recruiting foster parents, I expect, is the temporary nature of placements which is very unsettling for the children and, in turn, the carer. The vetting processes may also be off-putting or rule out potential carers for possibly trivial reasons. But more 'foster parents' will step up as the home-for-life rules become better known. I hope.
