MSD revising process for responding to claims of historic abuse in state care

May 03, 2019 at 11:42 AM

From the NZFVC

The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) is working on improving its process for responding to historic claims related to abuse in state care.

There are increasing numbers of claims being received by MSD and a backlog of claims. In some cases people who have made a claim (claimants) are waiting several years for it to be resolved. Claimants have also raised a number of other issues about the process.

MSD has released two reports commissioned as part of its review:

MSD has also published its response to feedback from the consultation process.

The first changes MSD is implementing were introduced on 1 November 2018. Other changes will be phased in over the next four years. MSD outlines the changes in brief:

"What will be different straight away?

  •  Streamlining the assessment process so where possible we assess claims without investigating fully each of the claimant’s concerns.
  • Being more aware of a claimant’s cultural and personal needs.
  • Improved communication from the Ministry.
  • Resources delivered through various channels that provide clear information about the claims process. These will be prepared with input from claimants.

What will be different over the next few years?

  •  Claimants having more choice about how they engage with us, and who they engage with.
  • Improved assistance to claimants when reading and understanding their personal records and why some information may be blocked out.
  • Significant increase in the numbers of Ministry staff working on claims.
  • Improvements around how the Ministry provides information to Oranga Tamariki to help prevent the same mistakes happening today, and sharing this with claimants."

Click here for more information



Category: Government