IQALUIT - Nunavut's health and social services department has placed children in foster homes without conducting criminal checks of the adults residing there, according to a federal auditor general report tabled at the legislative assembly on March 8.

Sheila Fraser's audit of the territory's children, youth and family programs and services says the department is not meeting many requirements under the Child and Family Services Act and its own standards and procedures.

"While the department has been able to respond quickly when it receives reports of children needing protection, I am concerned that children are not receiving the protection that they should," stated Fraser in a press release. "These children represent the future of Nunavut and they have a right to expect protection from harm and neglect."

In 2009-10, the department provided protection services to 633 children, services including foster care, support programs to the family and substance abuse treatments, up from 487 in 2008-09.

Fraser's audit examined the child protection files of 61 children in seven communities.

Of the 16 children placed with extended family, the department had conducted the criminal record check and home study within the timelines for only four files, the audit shows. It adds for the 25 children placed with non-family members, those checks were done for only eight files before the children were placed there.

Health Minister Tagak Curley said they are concerned the background checks are not complete and the department doesn't know how many children have been placed in homes with people with criminal records.

"We were not shocked (by the report's findings). We expected they were going to hit us hard and they did," he said. "At least we are a step ahead in some ways because we already have commissioned major changes needed for the Child and Family Services Act and the review is pretty much completed right now."

Fraser's audit also found a third of community social service worker positions across Nunavut are unfilled, leaving some communities without a social worker while social workers in other communities see their caseloads rise.

Nunavut's three group homes - in Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay - were not evaluated yearly during 2008-09 and 2009-10, the audit found, except for a departmental evaluation in May 2010 of the Iqaluit group home.

Children may also be placed in facilities outside Nunavut and as of July 2010, 72 per cent of them were placed in eight facilities. The audit shows the Department of Health and Social Services was able to provide proof of current licences for only two of the eight facilities.

The Adoption Act was included in the audit and the auditor general stated nine of the 13 files her department examined were missing key documents, such as safety checks of adoptive homes, and criminal record checks of potential adoptive parents were absent from four of the files.

Fraser made 20 recommendations. The territorial health and social services department provided a written response to each.

Fraser will appear before the Standing Committee on Oversight of Government Operations and Public Accounts on April 14 to present the report. All regular members of the legislative assembly serve on the standing committee.

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