Thank you. On page 6-9, activity summary, children's programs, operations and maintenance, total operations and maintenance, $9.691 million. I have Mr. Miltenberger.
Debates of Feb. 24th, 1998
This is page numbers 1041 - 1091 of the Hansard for the 13th Assembly, 5th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was chairperson.
Topics
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1079
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1079
Michael Miltenberger Thebacha
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have questions dealing with child welfare services and I would like an update from the Minister and staff about the superintendent of child welfare and the kind of services that are capable of being provided out of headquarters to the regions, communities and social workers when, in fact, child welfare issues are raised and they require some guidance or approvals. Thank you.
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1079
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1079
Ramsden
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The role and responsibilities of the superintendent of child welfare are varied and are quite significant. I think the person and delegates of that person need to be available to offer advice, whether it be in terms of case management or of advice related to preparations when a matter is heading for court. The person is able to offer advice in terms of dispute resolution, whether it be between various types of caregivers or caregivers and parents. The superintendent needs to make judgement on compliance with both legislation regulation and policy. The superintendent needs to be able to assess and take action where training is deemed necessary so that the people working in each of the boards can perform their responsibilities confidently. Thank you.
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1079
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1079
Michael Miltenberger Thebacha
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Could the Minister indicate what kind of expert or qualified support services are there to assist the superintendent of child welfare who indicated that child welfare is not the forte or the area that she has training in. Thank you.
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1079
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1079
Ramsden
Mr. Chairman, the superintendent of child welfare has access to each area of expertise that the department holds, whether they be psychologists, trained counsellors, lawyers or family counsellors. There is a broad range of expertise available to that individual. Thank you.
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1079
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1079
Michael Miltenberger Thebacha
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Could the Minister or Mr. Ramsden indicate, is there in fact, in headquarters as there used to be in days of yore, a section for child welfare where there was a whole floor of people who were
dedicated to dealing with child welfare issues as opposed to, I am not sure what the deputy is saying, whether you have to pick up the phone and track down these people? Are there people there who can respond and provide support services when a tough issue is brought to light? You do not have the case apparently where the social worker was told to figure it out, we are pretty busy right now, and get back to them later. Thank you.
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1080
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1080
Ramsden
Mr. Chairman, it is difficult to respond to an anecdote. It is my view, both the Minister and myself, who received the advice directly of this individual, hold our confidence without fail. It is a constant process of development. It is certainly an area where when tough decisions are made, I insist and I am sure that this person insists that people in the field do their job to the best of their ability. When they have concerns that their ability is exceeded in terms of the challenges the situation represents, they need to seek advice and the department remains prepared to offer that advice when it is needed. Thank you.
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1080
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1080
Michael Miltenberger Thebacha
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will try not to base my concerns on anecdotal evidence. So in response to that general reassurance, I would like to know, from an organizational point of view, who in the organization, besides the superintendent of child welfare, is in headquarters who are tasked to respond to child welfare issues to work with communities that can speak to child welfare legislation, that can respond to foster parenting issues, adoption issues, that can respond to issues related to the new legislation we have with these committees we are going to be setting up other than the superintendent of child welfare. Thank you.
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1080
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1080
Ramsden
Mr. Chairman, it is probably not appropriate that we introduce a lot of names of public servants into the House at this point. What I might suggest is that I write to the Member and share with him the range of positions and the competencies that we believe are available to provide this support. What we are trying to do is suggest that our support for children comes in a broad range of areas. We are most interested in insuring that we have the types of expertise available to respond to the matter at hand whether it be a facility care matter, an adoption matter, around preparations for a foster placement or access to a lawyer who can give us advice in terms of a legal preparation and certainly I can undertake to lay out the names of the people and the sets of skills that we think are available in terms of our ongoing support to boards in this area. Thank you.
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1080
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1080
Michael Miltenberger Thebacha
Maybe I did not make my question as clear as I should have. I am not asking for the names of employees. I am not asking that you stand up and say Joe Blow and Ingebor Zilch are in these particular positions. I am interested from an organizational point of view if you layout an organizational chart with all those nice little boxes and you tell us for instance, you have a board's support section that you have just set up that does all these things for board support. Is there a child welfare section in the department or is the superintendent of child welfare the only box there that provides support on child welfare issues? Like the legislation that we are implementing with all these committees and all the work that has to be done, is it up to the superintendent of child welfare then to pick up the phone book and phone around to try to find information or is there somebody, a coordinated group dealing with this very important part of the department's mandate implementing this brand new legislation, looking after the children in the communities in a way that provides consistent support to the boards to the social workers in the communities? That is what I am asking.
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1080
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1080
Ramsden
Mr. Chairman, it is certainly possible for me to provide a layout of our organizational chart and the resources. The answer to the question, do we have a separate section dedicated to child welfare, is no. In fact, we have established ourselves on a broader mandate than that. In terms of the area of whether we have a department that is specifically set up to support children, I can identify that area of the organization to the Member and would be quite prepared to do that. Thank you.
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1080
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1080
Michael Miltenberger Thebacha
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will be going one-on-one with the deputy on Thursday morning. I think this issue of child welfare is a critical one to every constituency, to everybody in this Assembly and to every family and every child in the Northwest Territories. It would be a benefit if you could indicate, not just to me, but to this House, what structure is in place so there is no special dedicated section or body of people dealing with child welfare. Obviously you must have some jobs that have a child welfare component in their duties and functions that can provide support. Social workers or people, when they listen to this debate, can know that when they pick up the phone and phone Yellowknife that, in fact, there is going to be someone there who has experience in the field who has the qualifications and can respond to specific issues. Thank you.
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1080
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1080
Ramsden
Mr. Chairman, we would certainly be quite prepared to that. The superintendent of child welfare has already sponsored three extensive workshops with board staff representing every single board introduce all of the people that are in support of the child welfare program. We can both lay out that and provide further documentation to people in terms of where those resources rest in the organization. Thank you.
Committee Motion 22-13(5): To Identify The Amount Of Federal Funding For Western NWT Aboriginal Health Care
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1081