Thank you, Minister Abernethy. To the motion.
Question.
Question is being called. The motion is carried.
---Carried
Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that the director of child and family services report annually to the Minister of Health and Social Services, as required under the Child and Family Services Act. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Madam Chair. As much as this motion is simplistic in design, its lack of performance, I believe, has caused the complexity that we see here before us today, and I think that was echoed loud and clear through the Auditor General’s findings.
Moreover, I think members of this committee and I think the public at large are still quite perplexed that there was no reporting function, which is a statutory requirement of the department on this child and family services area, for well over a decade.
Again, without that information, it’s very confusing and a bit daunting that a department is able to guide themselves through the rigours of trying to satisfy the needs of our most vulnerable in society.
So this motion, again, as simple as it is, clearly states a statutory obligation to which we hope that, moving forward, the department sees as an important part of the legislative process. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. To the motion. Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Madam Chair. We agree with the intent of recommendation number 13; however, rather than tabling individual audits, it may be more practical and more appropriate to amend the format of the annual director’s report to include the information that’s outlined in the Standing Committee on Government Operations’ recommendation number 15. I have already committed to tabling that report, so it may be more practical for us to modify the content of that report rather than individual audit reports. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister Abernethy. To the motion.
Question.
Question is being called. All those in favour? The motion is carried.
---Carried
Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that the Minister of Health and Social Services table the director’s annual report each year in the Legislative Assembly; and further, that the Minister of Health and Social Services arrange for the director’s annual report to include updates for each regional authority on indicators associated with Exhibits 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the Auditor General’s report. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The committee felt quite strongly to include the series of motions in its format. We’ve just heard a recommendation from the Minister to do something maybe of a streamline in nature. This is something that we’d have to take back to committee for review, but again, the motion speaks for itself and it stands. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. To the motion. Minister Abernethy.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Two things. I’m a little confused. I think this is recommendation 15 from your report, not recommendation 14. The recommendation 15 goes right in, and for the record, we agree with recommendation 15 as it relates to recommendation 13. We were talking about modifying what’s provided in recommendation 13 and included in recommendation 15 so the information the Members are looking for is there. It’s just much more practical to do one report as opposed to multiple reports.
Thank you, Minister Abernethy. To the motion.
Question.
Question is being called. The motion is carried.
---Carried
Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that all future Department of Health and Social Services business plans adopt as performance measures the indicators associated with Exhibits 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the Auditor General’s report.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Madam Chair. We’re hoping that for the upcoming business planning cycle for 2014-2015 that this indeed is part of the business process and we look forward to seeing these performance indicators with all future business plans performance.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. To the motion. Minister Abernethy.
Thank you, Madam Chair. As I’ve already indicated, I’m prepared to commit to a public reporting of these indicators. However, the level of detail may not be appropriate for the format that we’re using for our business planning, but we will consider how best to do the public reporting.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. To the motion.
Question.
Question is being called. The motion is carried.
---Carried
Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that the Department of Health and Social Services, in conjunction with the health and social services authorities, perform a detailed assessment of the financial and human resource requirements for delivering child and family services; and further, that the department revisit this assessment periodically and identify any necessary changes.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I think, again, the motion is very self-explanatory, but to add a little clarifier to this is I believe Members, including the Auditor General of Canada, felt that because of the lack of reporting for the many years that had occurred, trying to follow the financial implications, but more importantly, the human resource requirements in delivering the much needed care for the most vulnerable was definitely a daunting task for the review and the audit. Again, this motion basically speaks to the fact that both financial and human resource requirements should be determinants in terms of being visited and revisited periodically to identify need on a more regular basis.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. To the motion. Minister Abernethy.
Thank you, Madam Chair. These discussions are actually underway with the Child Welfare League of Canada to determine whether the league would be in a position to initiate this assessment and help us in the fall of this year, so we agree this information is necessary and important.
Thank you, Minister Abernethy. To the motion.
Question.
Question is being called. The motion is carried.
---Carried
Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I’ve got one final motion and then I’ll be passing this over to Mr. Moses. I move that the Department of Health and Social Services, in consultation with the health and social services authorities, update and clarify the Child and Family Services Standards and Procedures Manual and identify additional tools and guidance to better assist child protection workers in meeting key requirements of the Child and Family Services Act.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Again, just to recap very briefly what was found during the audit and why the committee felt compelled to include this motion. The procedures manual currently being used is fairly dated. It is a fairly large document. I believe it was over 600-and-some pages. We have recently been given an update that they are looking at certain chapters, that they will be performing or at least the department will be looking at. We encourage and hope for the facilitation of the completion and modernization of this procedures manual in the short order rather than the long order. Again, we feel that this really is the essence of activity and requirement for the proper standards that will adhere to the act and the statutory requirements of the act.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. To the motion. Minister Abernethy.
Thank you, Madam Chair. We agree with recommendation 18, and this work is currently in progress. The manual will be completed by October and further tools will be completed by December, so the manual is intended to be released in October.
Thank you, Minister Abernethy. To the motion.
Question.
Question is being called. The motion is carried.
---Carried
Mr. Moses.
Madam Chair, I move that the Department of Health and Social Services complete revisions to the Child and Family Services Standards and Procedures Manual by December 2014.
