Thank you, Mr. Chair. So in the event that, in order to address this backlog of referrals, there's a need for additional resources either in the form of additional assessors and/or additional staff to review the caseload, where will those resources come from? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. There are resources in this area already. What we need to do is make sure that we're utilizing those resources to maximum benefit. Certainly as we move forward and we look at these recommendations and we try to address the backlog, we'll get a better sense of what the continual demand will be and we'll certainly be in a position to have some discussions based on information, probably during the next business planning cycle. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.
Mr. Chair, the next business plan cycle is approximately nine months away, so I'm wondering if in the interim there is still this backlog, which the Minister referred to in June of last year as unacceptable in all ways, I'm looking for some assurance that there are the resources in place now to deal with this backlog? We're talking about services to very vulnerable people. That is the basis of a Public Guardian application. It's not for the likes of you and me. So I'd like to think that people are not continuing to wait months and months for service in this area. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I appreciate the Member's position. I will say that we have taken her position a number of months ago when this first came up, we have made changes within, we have got the report done, but waiting for the report we didn't stop and do no work. We did increase the number of assessors and we have moved forward to increase the number of assessments. We have been able to fund from within to this point, which we're prepared to keep doing as we move forward to get rid of some of the backlog.
What I'm indicating to the Member, and I hope I'm clear, is that as we've done this work we've been able to get to a point where we can start quantifying what we think future demand will be, and that's what we'll need to discuss the next business planning cycle. What we've done and what we'll do till then is cover from within in order to meet the needs. Once we get the numbers stabilized so we have a general sense of what's coming in without increased backlog, we'll have far better information to make some decisions on what we will need moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green, anything further?
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.
Thank you, Ms. Green. You can just continue speaking.
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.
Thank you, Ms. Green. The Minister has indicated that Ms. DeLancey will answer this question. Ms. 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.
Thank you, Ms. DeLancey. Ms. Green.
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?
Thank you, Ms. Green. Ms. 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.
Thank you, Ms. DeLancey. Ms. Green.
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.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Ms. 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.
Thank you, Ms. DeLancey. Ms. Green.
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.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Ms. 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.
Thank you, Ms. DeLancey. Ms. Green, 47 seconds.
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.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Time has expired. Next on my list is Mr. Blake.
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.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. Minister.
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.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, I was referring to a safe house. You know, I recall a number of years back almost every community that I could recall had one, and that's something that the community is looking at, to have a place in the community that is open to anyone who finds themselves in this situation. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Without committing any financial dollars at this point, we're certainly open to an outline of what the community is proposing. We could see how it might work in that community and other communities across the Northwest Territories, recognizing, of course, you know, we have to spend our money wisely, but I'd be certainly interested in seeing what the community is proposing and see where we can go from there.
Thank you, Minister. Next on my list I have Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Our colleague from Hay River North was talking about a list of projects, and the deputy minister provided some of them. Is the Minister able to commit to giving us the list to see what these projects all are? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, it's my intention that that would be included in the reconciliation I've already committed to provided committee on how the dollars in that area are spent.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for his commitment there. I look forward to that.
I guess I'm still trying to understand how the family violence shelters work. We don’t have any in our region right now. How is the department willing to work with the authority, I would assume, the wellness committee, on trying to establish one in the region? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister. The Minister has indicated that Ms. DeLancey will be fielding this one. Ms. DeLancey
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So in the Dehcho region where there isn't a family violence shelter we have actually funded what was previously the authority and through the Dehcho region to conduct a pilot project that began in 2014-15 to develop community-specific protocols. So in the absence of a family violence shelter is there a safe house, who do people call, who does staff contact to get someone out of town if need be? That was seen as a pilot that could then be applied in other regions like the Sahtu that don't have family violence shelters. So that work is ongoing.
This year they're focusing on training events, looking at building community capacity to respond to emergency situations. I don't have a lot more detail, but we can certainly provide a more detailed report. We had hoped to have this work roll out in the other regions without family violence shelters in the last fiscal year. That work was slow to get going, but it is under way this year. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Ms. DeLancey. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the deputy minister for that answer. Actually, it is encouraging. I guess my next question would be: how are we promoting this information out there in the communities? Because I haven't heard of a lot of it, so I would like to know how it is promoted and maybe how we can work together to get that message out there. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am going to go to the deputy for detail, but I think the important thing here is that obviously there is an opportunity for us to work with MLAs in those regions to get that information out. We will certainly have further discussions on how we can get that information out. For some more specific detail, I will go to the deputy.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. DeLancey.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. So it is certainly being, as protocols are developed, the information is being made available through frontline staff, being shared with other agencies like the RCMP. In terms of public awareness, there hasn't been a lot other than some of the work we have invested in, for example, the family violence rants and the What Will It Take training sessions, which, of course, do provide people with numbers and advice that, if they are dealing with issues of family violence, it tells them who they can contact in these agencies so then would have the information on these protocols. We certainly can provide more information about what has been done to date and what we hope to do when the protocols are completed. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Ms. DeLancey. Mr. Thompson.
