Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, next week is National Foster Family Awareness Week. In honour of this week, I would like to invite Members of this Legislative Assembly to join me in thanking NWT foster families for the essential services they provide to children.
Mr. Speaker, we know that families and extended families play a vital role in helping children grow and develop to their fullest potential. We also recognize the valuable strength and contribution of the extended family in helping family members to raise children or even to assume the primary parenting role. Sometimes, however, children need a surrogate family to provide for their well-being. For example:
- • the child's home may be unsafe due to child neglect, abuse or abandonment;
- • the parents may be unable to provide care due to a parent's physical or mental illness; or
- • the child may have behavioural problems, mental disabilities or physical disabilities that require extra attention or specialized care that cannot be provided by the parent.
Foster families fulfill this important role by providing safe, caring homes to children who require long-term, temporary or emergency placements. And let me clarify, Mr. Speaker, that foster parenting is more than just providing the basics of food, clothing and a place to sleep. Foster parents also:
- • play an active role in maintaining and encouraging positive relationships between the child and their families;
- • arrange for medical and dental care;
- • provide discipline, structure and stability in a child's life
- • help the child grow through educational, cultural and social experiences; and
- • help prepare the child to return home (where possible).
Today's foster parent is a key member of a team of people dedicated to helping children and youth. They join social workers, mental health workers, nurses and other community professionals to meet the emotional, social and physical needs of NWT children.
For this reason, Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have this opportunity to speak to new developments this year that contribute to training and peer support for foster parents. For example, a new NWT-wide foster family coalition will be created. This coalition will strengthen the links between foster homes and provide peer support to foster parents in all communities. A founding board of directors has already consulted with communities to develop a mission statement, goals, objectives and a framework for making sure all foster families have a voice in this new organization, and they anticipate their first annual general meeting to occur in the next six months.
In addition, this year will see the implementation of a training program for all foster parents. The Parent Resources for Information, Development and Education (PRIDE) program is used in other jurisdictions to provide foster parents with the tools to give quality care. This program is designed to strengthen the quality of family foster care by providing a structured, standardized framework for recruiting, preparing and selecting foster parents. It also provides foster parent in-service training and ongoing professional development.
At this time there are close to 200 foster families in the NWT. These families volunteer their time and open their hearts and homes for the welfare of NWT children. I ask all Members to join me in thanking foster families for the contribution they make to the health and well-being of children in the NWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
-- Applause