Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green, anything further?
Debates of Feb. 14th, 2017
This is page numbers 1609 – 1654 of the Hansard for the 18th Assembly, 2nd 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 going.
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Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
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Julie Green Yellowknife Centre
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have a different topic, so I could go back on the list for that topic or I could keep going.
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Julie Green Yellowknife Centre
Thank you. I'd now like to ask some questions about the Child and Family Services program audits. We have received information about the audit results and we've also received copies of plans, but there are two regions that did not supply plans to address the issues that were raised in the audits. So I'd like to know how the department is dealing with the question of compliance from the regions that have not produced plans to address their deficiencies in the area of child apprehension and foster homes. Thank you.
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The Chair R.J. Simpson
Thank you, Ms. Green. The Minister has indicated that Ms. DeLancey will answer this question. Ms. DeLancey.
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Delancey
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, it's true that both the Sahtu and the Tlicho regions were unable to produce action plans due primarily to staff vacancies at the time that the audits were completed. In each case, the chief executive officers at the time, who are assistant directors under the Child and Family Services Act, met with the director of Child and Family Services. It was agreed that they would implement improvements based on the findings of the other audits and then they will be undergoing a full audit on the 2016-17 fiscal year, as will every other region. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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Julie Green Yellowknife Centre
Thank you. I appreciate the answer from the deputy minister. So what action does the department take to follow up the plans that were submitted to ensure that the actions committed to were in fact taken?
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Delancey
Thank you, Mr. Chair. First of all, the status of the action plans are reviewed at quarterly meetings of the directors of social programs from all the regions with the Director of Child and Family Services, and then secondly, the improvements that were committed to in the action plans will be addressed when the audits are done for the 2016-17 fiscal year. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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Julie Green Yellowknife Centre
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, there are different levels of urgency that are presented in the plan. Some of them are for immediate attention and others are more sort of suggestive. So are there also different levels of enforcement, or what does enforcement look like, if there is even such a thing in this area? Thank you.
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Delancey
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Enforcement rests with the authority of the director of Child and Family Services, which is a statutory appointment. So if the director feels that the appropriate actions aren't being taken, the director certainly has the ability to direct an assistant director in a region to make changes; but for the most part the action plans are being implemented collaboratively with support from expertise at the department, with the best practices work that's being done on structured decision-making and with improving our ability to ensure information is up-to-date through the new Child and Family Services system. So we're really trying to emphasize best practice and improving practice as opposed to enforcement. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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Julie Green Yellowknife Centre
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that answer. I think that that is the right direction to go, rather than a punitive direction. However, some of the immediate problems were pretty alarming. In the Sahtu audit, for example, there was a recommendation that children who were apprehended were not receiving a medical examination immediately. So my question is: what is the department doing with those more -- it's not a paper compliance problem, it's a more immediate problem. What do they do with those? Thank you.
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Delancey
Thank you, Mr. Chair. For those kinds of situations, the Director of Child Welfare would deal with them on a case-by-case basis. So for example, with the example that the Member raised, the director would be in close contact with the regional supervisor or the regional assistant director and asking for verbal reports to ensure that those situations have been turned around, as well as, again, having a special focus on that issue in the follow-up audits that are done. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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Julie Green Yellowknife Centre
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess finally I'll just end with a comment. I appreciate that the information is collected and acted on. I just always am mindful of what the Auditor General said to us in a different context about not providing data for its own sake. So I'm glad to hear that there is quarterly follow-up on these reports and I would encourage that all the data be reviewed on that quarterly basis so that the information that is collected is dealt with in real time and problems are addressed in real time Thank you.
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February 13th, 2017
Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just a couple of questions here under page 173, under Family Violence. The community of Tsiigehtchic and a couple of other communities, were looking to maybe have a pilot project in the area, in Tsiigehtchic, for example, to offer a safe place for those in need when they're dealing with violence. Would the department be open to that sort of proposal? Thank you.
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Glen Abernethy Great Slave
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We're open to discussing anything, but I'm not sure exactly what the Member is referring to. Is the Member referring to, like, a safe house or is the Member referring to a family violence shelter? I mean, there are so many possibilities here. In the region, we have a shelter in the community of Inuvik that is available to the region. So it really depends on the nature and scope to which the community is referring.
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