Julie Green

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's important to note that, in this area, the vast majority of individuals do not need medical detox prior to beginning treatment. When they do require detox, there are several options: one is to detox at the treatment location or with the facility that's related to the treatment location. Another option is to detox in the Northwest Territories, either through a local health centre or through the hospital with the support of a case manager who would be assisting that person in the treatment application, facility-based treatment.

Mr. Speaker, we do not have a one-day...

We are now in year three of four of the children and youth care counselling program, which is a joint initiative with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, and those counsellors are in place throughout Yellowknife and north to the Beaufort Sea. The last area that will be brought online is the South Slave. We have the Community Counselling Program, which is available in 19 communities, and then available in different ways such as telephone, virtual, and occasional visits to the remaining communities. We have the dedicated funds of on-the-land healing, peer support and suicide...

The Department of Health and Social Services and, more particularly, the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority, Tlicho Community Services Agency, and Hay River Health and Social Services Authority are the operational arm that provide these services. Non-government organizations are pretty thin on the ground outside of the major centres. That's why the government is delivering this.

The Community Counselling Program, which I spoke about earlier, is available to NWT residents of all ages on all topics. There is a mental health and addictions worker located in Fort Providence...

The current mental wellness and addictions recovery plan expires next month, so there is no point, at this point, to try to bring new actions into it. Instead, what we're doing at this point is we are looking at other ways to capture information and trends, as I mentioned before, and bring those into the everyday operation of the department. The Member referenced the social indicators that were produced for the first three months of the pandemic. It's my understanding that the department is getting ready to produce another of those reports. The thing about that first report is that it only...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is no question, as the Member says, that alcohol is a great hardship for many of our residents and in many of our communities. With respect to an education program, that is something that would be led by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, and we would certainly be interested in working with them if they wanted to develop a curriculum on this topic.

What we do offer now is an awareness program called My Voice, My Choice. That's been around for a number of years, and it's now being revamped and will be relaunched later in this calendar year. The...

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will take that as a comment.

In our most recent Mental Wellness and Addictions Recovery Action Plan, we talked about the reform that we were planning to undertake in the Community Counselling Program, which is now largely complete. What we have taken on is a methodology called "stepped care." How this works is people are seen in person, often on the same day. There is no wait list. There are no appointments necessary. It is, in fact, possible to walk into one of the 19 Community Counselling Program offices across the NWT and see a counsellor right away, with no wait times and same-day appointment availability. In those...

It's my understanding that, in fact, these wellness workers do work with communities on actions and priorities with the community and then set up with supports needed to realize them. I realize that information may not be available online, but this is an ongoing and iterative program of supporting communities to realize their own goals that they have set in their wellness plans.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What we hope to get from the addictions survey is to learn about what is working with the addictions recovery services that we currently offer at the Department of Health and Social Services and what changes would make those services more effective. We are particularly interested in hearing from people who have lived experience, who have actually used these services themselves or who have close family members who have done that. That survey is available online, and hard copies are available at health centres and other places where mental health services and addiction...

There is kind of a two-part answer here. The specific commitment is to reduce the number of hospitalizations resulting primarily from alcohol use. That is something that is collected by the hospital and healthcare system, and that is ongoing. With respect to the Spruce Bough, the department is working with them to develop reporting and data-monitoring tools that could talk to us in more detail about the kind of services that have been provided connected to the outcomes of those services, so how those two things connect. This information is being collected now, and it will continue to be...