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Child, Youth and Family Services
March 28, 2011

Minister Announces New Organizational Structure

Today’s transfer of 107 staff from the Western Regional Health Authority to the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services marks a significant step towards the revitalization of child, youth and family services in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Honourable Charlene Johnson, Minister of Child, Youth and Family Services was in Corner Brook to welcome new staff who, effective today, transferred directly under the authority of the new department. In addition, Minister Johnson released details about the redesigned organizational structure for the department. The new structure focuses on strengthening the department’s core mandate: the safety and well-being of children and youth.

“The department has listened to the concerns of staff expressed during extensive consultations and have made the necessary changes to reflect their recommendations,” said Minister Johnson. “This new organizational model will better support their work, which will in turn improve our service delivery. This is about getting back to the basics of solid case management and ensuring greater consistency and accountability across all program areas and regions.”

Key elements of the new organizational model include improved administrative and supervisory supports for front-line social workers. For programs areas including child protection, adoption and youth corrections, the goal is to have staff work within a standard service delivery team consisting of one supervisor, six social workers, a social work assistant and a clerical support person. The model also includes a plan to work towards more manageable caseloads for social workers.

“This change means front-line social workers will have better access to a supervisor, as well as shared supports,” said Minister Johnson. “Social workers have said that their time was spent doing clerical and administrative work, that they had unmanageable caseloads and that they didn’t have ready access to a supervisor when they needed to discuss a case. This new service delivery structure focuses on addressing these issues.”

As part of this new approach, the department will work to reduce the number of different social workers that clients have to work with by having supervisors and social workers trained to provide services in all program areas. Under this model, a supervisor will have better flexibility to match the expertise of a social worker with the particular needs of a client.

Other highlights of the new organizational model include the delegation of authority to 13 Child and Youth Care Zone Managers from the existing five Regional Directors which will facilitate increased oversight of cases. These important positions hold both clinical responsibility and legislated authority in their respective zones. The model includes two separate managers for zones encompassing the Innu and Inuit communities as well as a dedicated region for Labrador.

“Government recognizes that some communities in the province face unique challenges, particularly our most isolated communities in Labrador,” said Minister Johnson. “We have committed to developing an innovative service delivery model incorporating aboriginal perspective for the Labrador region, and have established a Steering Committee including leaders from the Innu Nation, Nunatsiavut Government and the Nunatukavut Community Council to guide this work.”

Finally, the model includes a dedicated Training Unit already announced within the College of the North Atlantic, Stephenville Campus.

Previously, CYFS programs and services were regulated by the Department of Health and Community Services and operated under the Regional Health Authorities. Government announced it would create a provincial department specifically for the priority needs of children and youth under Budget 2009. All CYFS staff will transfer from the remaining three Regional Health Authorities to the department, in stages, over the next year.

“This is an exciting time to be working in the area of child, youth and family services,” said Minister Johnson. “The new organizational structure paints a clear vision for an improved operation which addresses many of the systemic issues affecting performance. We have to ensure that our frontline staff and managers, those who are dedicated to caring for children and youth, as well as supporting families and communities, have the necessary tools and supports to provide the best possible service in Newfoundland and Labrador.”

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Media contact:
Andrea Nolan
Director of Communications
Department of Child, Youth and Family Services
709-729-5148, 725-1593
andreanolan@gov.nl.ca 

2011 03 28             1:00 p.m.

 
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