Edgeworth, Cessnock caseworkers walk out over understaffing
The Edgeworth office had been operating with a vacancy rate of 20%, with a vacancy rate of up to 22% in Cessnock.
色狼社区Assistant Secretary Steve Turner said understaffing and a lack of resources means the overwhelming majority of vulnerable children being brought to the attention of community services are not being seen by caseworkers.
鈥淐hronic understaffing聽means only one in ten children known to be at risk are receiving face-to-face visits from caseworkers in NSW,鈥 Mr Turner said today.
鈥淐aseworkers at Edgeworth, Cessnock and across the state have been placed in the impossible position where they simply do not have the resources to follow up every child at risk of serious harm.
鈥淭he Government is clearly failing some of the most vulnerable members of our community 鈥 children needing its protection.
鈥淐aseworkers and other community services staff say unless the State Government starts filling caseworker vacancies and providing better resources, preventable child protection incidents will keep on happening.
鈥淭here are vacancy rates of up to 22% for caseworkers at Cessnock, while other offices are struggling to cope with vacancy rates as high as 40%.
鈥淭he State Government must fill all community services vacancies 鈥 not just caseworkers, but the frontline staff who support caseworkers to do their job with vulnerable children and families.
鈥淚t should urgently address the failure of the computer system designed to free up caseworker time and other administrative issues keeping staff desk bound rather than聽out meeting children and families,鈥 he said.
Contact: Steve Turner 0418 675 564聽