How the GNWT says it’s improving child protective services

The Department of Health and Social Services says it has made headway addressing concerns raised by Canada’s auditor general in its review of Child and Family Services.

Speaking at a public briefing on Thursday, departmental deputy minister Alan Doody said there is more work to be done and the department is committed to improving accountability and service delivery.

The department’s handling of child protective services was the subject of three audits completed in 2014, 2018 and earlier this year. (The latest audit was separate from another published this week regarding early learning and childcare.)

The 2018 review found that service delivery worsened since the previous audit.

Social workers lost contact with almost nine in every 10 children placed in foster care, didn’t carefully screen where children were placed, and frequently failed to take basic steps like consulting criminal record checks, that report found.

Earlier this year, the OAG presented another report that found many of the issues previously raised persisted.

It noted the issues were largely related to staff shortages and demanding workloads exacerbated by the time and resources required to travel to isolated communities on a regular basis.

In Thursday’s briefing, Doody said that since the 2018 report was published, 56 positions have been added to the child protection system.

Additionally, he said, a greater proportion of youth are receiving services in their own homes.

The number of children in permanent care decreased from 122 to 98, Doody said, and the number of Indigenous caregivers rose over the past three years from 88 to 104.

Doody pointed to an action plan and accompanying progress tracker that show 12 of 26 actions have been completed.

During the briefing, executive director of Child and Family Services Arijana Haramincic outlined some of the actions taken to address recommendations made in the auditor’s report earlier this year.

They include the development of cultural training for caregivers and standards for group homes.

Deputy auditor general Andrew Hayes said his office is satisfied with the territory’s response to its recommendations and its apparent commitment to action.

“I will temper that with the fact that since 2014 we have been reporting these sort of issues, and that is a long time,” said Hayes.

“It is an urgent whole-of-government responsibility here that we’re calling on everybody to be paying attention to moving forward.”

Speaking in the legislature on Thursday, Monfwi MLA Jane Weyallon Armstrong said more should be done to keep children out of the foster care system.

“When Indigenous children are placed outside their home communities, they risk losing their connection to their language and culture, and the sense of belonging that comes from growing up surrounded by their own people,” said Weyallon Armstrong.

“We have spent decades acknowledging the consequences of past government practices, and our Child and Family Services should reflect the lessons we have learned.”

In the legislature, the territory’s new health minister, Denny Rodgers, pledged to improve services.

“We are moving from acknowledgement to implementation, from broad commitments to measured steps, and from isolated responses to a more disciplined approach to quality improvement,” said Rodgers.