Mr. Speaker, just for clarity, raising children is, first and foremost, a responsibility of the family. Parents have the right to make decisions about where their children live, but the GNWT is not necessarily responsible for paying for those decisions. The only time the GNWT would actually become involved is if a family has some financial challenges, is living in poverty, and we would provide income support. Families can make the decision to have children stay with one group and then apply for income support.

When health and social services becomes involved, the only time we can actually engage with families and do the types of things the Member is talking

about is when they actually become part of the system and we have a file on them. When they come in, whether it’s voluntary, which I think is part of what the Member is talking about, or whether it’s through an intervention, we will work with families and we will try to find ways to keep the children with the families. If that requires a foster placement, we have a process that is expedited or modified for family placements, which is less thorough – thorough is not the right word – less intense than the normal foster process. When they are placed with those people, whether it’s a shorter term placement or a longer term placement, they do get the same funding or financial support.

But as we move forward with child and family services, we’re talking about changing our philosophy. We’re talking about helping support and build stronger families, which means we want to work with families when they are struggling, so that they can continue to provide the loving care that they want to to their families, which will include the types of things that the Member is talking about. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.