Overview

Positive outcomes will result from combining quality social services and interventions with activities that encourage community participation, ownership and empowerment. As an important step in developing better relations with the community, the department and its authorities must work with communities on all levels: project planning, implementation and evaluation. Empowering the communities to take responsibility for their own child protection and family services and supports would go a long way towards effectively managing cases of maltreatment and abuse in a culturally and contextually relevant way.

One of the key ways to empower a community is by developing community agreements, establishing local child and family services committees, and delegating authority. These provisions currently exist in the act, but major challenges prevent their implementation. These include the department's fear of risk and liability, gaps in community capacity, resource constraints, lack of public information and awareness in the communities, and lack of initiative at the department and authority levels to engage communities effectively.

Community Empowerment

60. Amend the act to:

a) require the director to actively pursue the

delegation of responsibilities to aboriginal and community organizations, as defined in the regulations;

b) require the Minister to enter into a

community agreement in each community, even if the agreement simply states that the community does not wish to acquire responsibilities from the department of child and family services.

61. Develop capacity for monitoring and oversight

at the department and authority levels that would be required with delegation of authority to community organizations.

62. Develop policy and standards for delegating

responsibilities and services to community organizations.

63. The department should develop a plan and

policy guidelines in preparation for devolution by working with the authorities and communities, including both aboriginal and non-aboriginal Northerners in the planning process.

64. Support and encourage interagency meetings

and coordination of services at the community level.

Community Agreements and Child and Family Services Committees

65. Amend the act to:

a) require the director to provide funds,

including a salary for a committee coordinator position and per diems for members, training and support to child and family services committees;

b) allow flexibility of mandate and function for

the child and family services committees so that communities can create a model appropriate to their culture and situation;

c) allow and encourage child and family and

services committee members to participate in all child protection processes and develop the supporting policy.

66. Assign one or more staff members to pursue

and administer the development of community agreements, community standards, and child and family services committees; provide public education and capacity building services to communities.

67. Community agreements should be designed to

develop understanding and consensus on contextually appropriate definitions of neglect, harm and abuse.

Mr. Speaker, at this time, I’ll pass the reading onto Mr. Beaulieu.