Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Perhaps the most frequent concern voiced to us was about some aspects of the Social Assistance Program. Most stated that the money they got was not enough. The shortfall was acutely felt by those recipients who did not hunt. This is not surprising. As we pointed out in our last report, the social assistance food allowance is only enough to pay about 60 per cent of the cost of buying a nutritious supply of food for families in the Northwest Territories.
We reaffirm our call for a major overhaul of the way financial assistance is provided to the Northwest Territories residents. While these long-term fundamental changes are being considered, specific adjustments still need to be made immediately. Action is needed to respond to people's concerns about not being able to meet their family's basic needs. People need to be able to provide enough good food for their families, and they can be helped to do this in a number of ways.
The key is a flexible approach geared to a client's situation, one of providing more money to buy food or to purchase supplies or gas to go out on the land to harvest it.
People need to be able to properly clothe their families. Speakers made it clear that the current clothing allowances are not enough to buy suitable clothing at local prices. Our climate demands that people be properly clothed.
People need to be encouraged to earn money. The current earned income exemption provision appears to have the opposite effect. Clients told us that they did not see any point in earning money beyond the exemption amount as it only reduced their social assistance benefits by the same amount. To avoid the penalty, some risk prosecution by lying about their earnings. Many people seem to be confused about what percentage of their earnings from carvings or from handicrafts they needed to claim. This aspect of the Social Assistance Program needs to be structured so that the client is better off if he works. The client should always keep at least some portion of every dollar earned.
Programs need to be more understandable to those who seek help. We came across clients who thought they were not eligible for certain benefits or payment options. We checked and found they were eligible. The complexity of the program and the work load of the workers combine to limit chances to clarify such misunderstandings. One such example is the provision of seasonal clothing for children whose parents receive social assistance and who move to another community to continue school. The child is deleted from the parents' social assistance budget because he or she is not living at home. The Department of Education pays for the student's room and board but not the student's clothing needs.
If the student is at least 16, she can apply or he can apply for her own or his own social assistance. If he or she qualifies, he or she becomes eligible for a seasonal clothing allowance after three months on a pro-rated basis of a certain amount monthly. So what does the student do if it is November? Can he or she wait three months to get a warm coat? I doubt very much if she can, or he can.
From what we heard, the Social Assistance Program is complex and confusing to clients. Ways must be found for clients to thread their way successfully through the maze and get the help that they need.
One other aspect, the Social Assistance Manual, from our experience, should be in the language, in this particular case in the Nunavut area, in Inuktitut. With access to support and counselling, there needs to be more access to help people trying to cope with those things that make their lives difficult if not unbearable and unlivable.
On the matter of respite care, people need some relief from their responsibilities of caring for relatives with special needs. Some parents of mentally handicapped adults or children wanted to be able to turn over the care giver job to a home care or a day care worker.
Others talked of wanting a group home or a long-term care facility for temporary or permanent placement of their family member with special needs. The committee recommends that the government review the proposed respite care policy developed by the Northwest Territories Council for Disabled Persons and move to implement it.
On the matter of the community council, people need to be able to seek help for personal and family crises within their own community. Those with whom we spoke pointed out the costs of failing to meet this need in terms of continued family breakdown and violence and suicide. Flying therapists in or flying clients out for intense week long sessions is expensive and benefits only a few, due to the costs involved. Services need to be available within a community. People need ongoing support as they try to heal themselves and their families. As many pointed out to us, elders and other care giving community members can play an effective role in helping people heal. There are those who focus on the use of local para-professionals, with support and training from skilled regional specialists, have been used in the Northwest Territories to offer this support. What is needed to ensure success is the staff and the financial resources to ensure that the helpers are adequately trained and supported in their work. If they are to continue to be helpful, those who listen to people and share their pain, must in turn have someone who supports and listens to them. The committee, therefore, urges the government to look into a pilot project involving provision of para-professional counselling at the community level. The project must include the provision of ongoing training and support to community care givers to ensure maximum benefits. An evaluation component needs to be built in to ensure that assessments can be made as to the success of the initiative.
In this report we have presented the major concerns of those whom we met in the Keewatin. We have recommended action for those concerns which seem particularly compelling. Some refer to shifting to more inclusive approaches to assessing needs planning and delivering services that involve staff and consumers. These are shifts that we see as necessary if we are to be effective in responding to the needs of the people of the Northwest Territories.
Other recommendations call for immediate policy changes or expansion of programs to make them more responsive to the needs of the people of the Northwest Territories. In order to achieve our committee's overall goals, much more information needs to be gathered for our committee's database. It will come from our remaining regional consultations and research projects. This additional information will support and expand on what we have heard and recommended, as well as giving rise to other recommendations.
Our next regional consultation will occur from January 25 to 29, 1993, in the communities in Nahendeh, Deh Cho and in Hay River. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
