'It's a broken system,' says MLA
Skepticism remains on whether NWT foster care system will be fixed as the auditor general meets with MLAs and bureaucrats
Laura Busch
Northern News Services
Published Monday, May 5, 2014
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
Serious issues in the how the GNWT deals with child and family services have been allowed to persist for more than a decade, a source of frustration for Canada's assistant auditor general.
Not only are there rampant issues of neglect, a lack of reporting, failures to screen foster homes, a lack of financial and human resources and a general lack of accountability within the system, these issues have been brought to the government's attention three times since 2000.
Assistant Auditor General Ronnie Campbell was in Yellowknife April 23 to discuss the report of Child and Family Services tabled in the assembly on March 4.
"I think you need to start out with the fact that this is about children - very vulnerable children," Campbell told News/North. "Therefore, any problem becomes a really important problem. I think what's key here is that pretty well everything we looked at really needs to be improved."
He then pointed to a report prepared by the Standing Committee on Social Programs in 2010 that found many of the same problems he and his team found.
"It would appear that what we found in this audit has been known for a number of years," he said, adding that as an auditor, this can be frustrating. "But I'm an optimist and I think in many ways the North is still young and departments have capacity issues that hopefully in time they'll resolve."
MLAs also expressed frustration with the fact that the issues raised in the audit were also raised in the 2010 report, as well as another report presented to the government by the Child Welfare League of Canada in the year 2000.
"I'm having a very difficult time understanding why in the last 14 to 16 years we have not been able to make some progress and get rid of some of the concerns which have been expressed in three of these reports," said Frame Lake MLA Wendy Bisaro.
Sahtu MLA Norman Yakeleya put it more bluntly.
"You can call it whatever you want to call it. We're not doing the job," he said. "It's a broken system.
"That's another residential school time, period, when aboriginal children were taken out of aboriginal homes and put in different homes."
The audit found that about 95 per cent of the roughly 1,000 children within the foster care system in the NWT are aboriginal.
Furthermore, there has been almost no reporting on child and family services to the department in the last 10 years.
During his time auditing programs offered in the three territories, this is the first time Campbell recalls seeing a program fail to report back to its department for a full 10 years.
"I cannot explain why no audits were done," said Debbie DeLancey, deputy minister of Health and Social Services during her turn in the hot seat before the Standing Committee on Government Operations.
She offered a variety of contributing factors that may have allowed the shortfalls in child and family services to fester for more than a decade, citing "significant instability" in senior management positions within the last 10 years, the fragmented accountability structure for child and family services and the fact that there are eight different health authorities with eight different heads managing them.
"It is an explanation, but it's not an excuse," she said. "We need to do better."
For Arlene Hache, retired executive director of the Centre for Northern Families, who was in the audience throughout the public hearing, the proof of how seriously the department is taking these concerns this time around is in the pudding, so to speak.
"They've made a commitment now and that's good. Can they deliver? They haven't so far but I'm open," she said.
She was particularly pleased that DeLancey made commitments to take a family-support approach and engage communities, which Hache said would be most effective through funded community groups that could provide support to families.
"If they manage to do that, it will work but I don't think that department is going to get those two things done," said Hache. "If they do, I'll eat my hat. That will be a major accomplishment because that will mean they were able to do what no one has been able to do in 20 years."
Child and Family services reports timeline
May 2000 - Key findings of 'It Takes a Community' report prepared by The Child Welfare League of Canada
- Social workers overwhelmed by huge caseloads.
- Disparity in resources, leadership and management between HSS boards.
- Concerns from field workers on amount of paperwork required.
- Lack of funding and human resources.
- Lack of accountability framework.
October 2010 - Key findings of Report on the Review of the Child and Family Services Act prepared by the 16th assembly's Standing Committee on Social Programs.
- A need to provide support to the whole family.
- Lack of confidence, trust between communities and department.
- A need for less intrusive measures in cases of neglect; review of apprehension guidelines.
- Challenges with human resource management, supervision and oversight, monitoring and evaluation, data collection, technical support and policy development.
- Need for expanded training for child protection workers.
March 2014 - Key findings of Child and Family Services - Department of Health and Social Services and Health and Social Services Authorities report of the Auditor General of Canada.
- Need for a thorough review of the child and family services accountability framework.
- All Health and Social Services Authorities must comply with required annual audits and should each submit action plans.
- Need to reassess financial and human resource requirements.
- Need for expanded training for child protection workers.
- More guidance for child protection workers in how to help families access prevention programs.
Sources: GNWT, Auditor General, Child Welfare League of Canada
