Children enter the statutory part of ‘notify-investigate’ child protection systems via the reports of others, combined with acceptance by the statutory agency. This key nexus determines entry or deflection from statutory child protection services. To examine the decision reasoning and processes of community (non-governmental organisation) workers that underpin reports to statutory services. Participants are non-governmental organisation (NGO) workers in Aotearoa New Zealand. The methods are focus groups, interviews and a ‘think – aloud’ vignette-based protocol, used to elicit reporting decision rationales and experiences. Theoretical concepts of heuristics, institutional co-responsibility, and policy change are used to explore the study findings. Most cases are reported only after NGO workers ‘build a picture’ in the context of relationships with families and efforts to address risks. Reporting is a last resort option and occurs after ‘tipping point’ changes in the balance of protective and risk factors. Participants note a rising threshold and changes to the criteria for report acceptance by Oranga Tamariki (the statutory agency) in recent years, due to changing policy aims, abuse definitions, an ‘add value’ principle, and workload pressures. This heuristic change results in many reports not accepted or acted on, leading to frustration, anxiety, and ethical ambivalence for NGO workers. The rising threshold and ‘adding value’ principle while aimed at collective responsibility to family issues, is perceived by NGO workers as a deflection heuristic by Oranga Tamariki. In their view, it is applied too broadly, acts as a blunt tool that does not account for differences in role and power, and is used to deflect risk responsibility. Implications for children and whānau, (extended families) the possibilities for ‘co-responsibility’, ethical reasoning, and the data generated by reports are discussed.

中文翻译：

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社区记者与儿童保护机构之间的启发式分歧：在流沙中协商风险

儿童通过其他人的报告并得到法定机构的接受，进入“通知-调查”儿童保护系统的法定部分。这一关键关系决定了法定儿童保护服务的进入或偏离。检查社区（非政府组织）工作人员的决策推理和流程，这些决策推理和流程是向法定服务机构报告的基础。参与者是新西兰的非政府组织 (NGO) 工作人员。这些方法包括焦点小组、访谈和基于“大声思考”小插曲的协议，用于引出报告决策的理由和经验。启发式、机构共同责任和政策变革的理论概念被用来探索研究结果。大多数案件只有在非政府组织工作人员在与家庭的关系和应对风险的努力的背景下“描绘出一幅图景”后才会被报告。报告是最后的选择，发生在保护因素和风险因素的平衡发生“临界点”变化之后。与会者注意到，近年来，由于政策目标、滥用定义、“增值”原则和工作压力的变化，Oranga Tamariki（法定机构）的报告接受标准不断提高和变化。这种启发式的变化导致许多报告未被接受或未采取行动，导致非政府组织工作人员感到沮丧、焦虑和道德矛盾。提高门槛和“增值”原则虽然旨在解决家庭问题的集体责任，但非政府组织工作人员认为这是奥兰加·塔马里基（Oranga Tamariki）的一种偏转启发。他们认为，它的应用过于广泛，是一种生硬的工具，没有考虑角色和权力的差异，并被用来转移风险责任。讨论了对儿童和家庭（大家庭）的影响、“共同责任”的可能性、道德推理以及报告生成的数据。