Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. There is currently, in fact, an evaluation underway of that program, and if we can, we will endeavour to provide the deadline of when to expect that back; if not imminently, then I would commit to providing details as to when we are expected to have that report back. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you to the Minister for providing that information and for committing to giving us detail on timing. My second question has to do with the A New Day program. Can the Minister give us an idea of current uptake in that program? Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. In 2019-2020, there were 16 registrations completed and then two individuals who went through the entire curriculum. I would just want to note, Mr. Chair, that, although registrations over the last few years have formally gone down in terms of sheer numbers, the registration process has become somewhat more rigorous. If the Member is comparing year over year, there will be some significant appearance of a drop, but it's not simply a lack of uptake; it may be due to other factors. Similarly, I would note then that, as far as completions, although the ratio of individuals registered to completed is seemingly quite low, there can be individuals who go quite a ways through or who do different parts and simply decide not to complete, who may nevertheless have stilled received quite a benefit from the program. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. As a Member of the 18th Assembly, I spent many hours talking about the A New Day program in this Chamber. I recognize that it was reformatted a while ago to be what it is today and it's difficult to look at a long-term comparison, but how about the 2018-2019 year? How many people registered and how many people finished? Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. In 2018-2019, there were 39 registrations and eight individuals shown as having completed. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Yes, thank you. Does the Minister have any insight into why there has been a drop-off in both registrations and completions year over year? I realize it's a very small sample, but are there any thoughts to why the program has less uptake than it used to, even a year ago? Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I had indicated earlier, I am aware that there has been some change in terms of the registration process and that, whereas before anyone who may have dropped in could have simply written their name down and been noted as having registered, now there is a more rigorous expectation that someone who wishes to take the program does need to formally register themselves. As such, that may account for some of the drop in numbers. I'm certainly hesitant to entirely ascribe that to the drop in numbers, since it is, as the Member has noted, a small sample and a short period of time over which to observe the change; but there is some explanation for that.
As for completions, Mr. Chair, that is more difficult to say. I don't have a specific answer. The numbers have never been high in terms of the completions; indeed, I don't have a ratio, or a calculator in front of me to do it, but the ratio of showing completions to registrations has always been low. For example, looking back at 2016-2017, we had one of the higher numbers of what then were considered registrations at 48, but still only 10 completions, so the formal completion rate has always been fairly low. While I think that is something that the department will have to consider, that is not the entire picture of the benefit that this program is providing to the people who go through it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm wondering what efforts are made to promote this program to the potential client group, or whether the registrations now come through mandated appearances via the courts. Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Mr. Chair, I will commit to looking back with our partner, the John Howard Society, who is delivering the program to confirm exactly what efforts they might be making. I can also confirm for the Member that there is a new group now at the North Slave Correctional Facility that is offering this program, and so, to that extent, it would be offered within the program and be part of the package of available programming for individuals who are completing their sentence at that facility. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Nothing further. Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Any further questions? Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I do have some questions on Integrated Case Management and Victim Services. There are increases in the budget, as the Minister mentioned in her opening statement, and I agree with that. I have heard about the value of these programs, but we need to see the evaluations. I know this is something the Minister keeps promising, but when are we finally going to see the evaluations of these two programs? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Sorry, Mr. Chair; I will get that right before the next two hours. Mr. Chair, the evaluation is now complete, and I can at least so far confirm for the Member that it is in my hands, and it's a question now of turning that around through the right processes so that it can be shared properly; I would think, I'm hesitant to say that it will be before the end of the current sitting of the Assembly, but that's at least my target date. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Mr. Chair, and thanks to the Minister for that. I asked about two evaluations. Since one is ready, can you just identify which one it is and what the schedule is, then, for the other one? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Sorry, Mr. Chair. Yes, I was entirely focused on the most recent evaluation that was done, of the Integrated Case Management; that's the social return on investment and that is the one that has not been shared. As I have said, my target date is to have it, while it's not quite a commitment, it's at least a target, to have it by the end of the current sitting of the Assembly. The older one, from roughly 2017, Mr. Chair, ought to have been previously shared, and if it wasn't a tabled document, then I will confirm and we can make sure that it is. I will look into whether there was any restriction on its being shared. Sometimes, Integrated Case Management evaluations do contain identifying information, and if that's the case, then we'll just have to ensure that that is taken out before it can be shared. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Now I've got the schedule for the Integrated Case Management evaluation. What about the evaluation of the Victim Services program? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We're just confirming. My recollection is that I should have that back this month. Ah, April 2020. I was a little bit ambitious. By end of April 2020 we'll have that back. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. In the Minister's opening remarks, she indicated that there is an extra $240,000 for Victim Services. Can the Minister tell us how that money is actually allocated or split out? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, I do have a breakdown by community that we can provide to the Member. Money that flows through the Victim Services does go direct to the individual communities via community partners, whether it's community governments or organizations such as the Native Women's Association. Subject to what the Member might say, I would suggest a commitment to providing the allocation by community after, as part of our response, but I certainly can read the numbers out if that's preferred. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I don't need the Minister to read it out, but I want the information made public. If the Minister would like to table that as a return to oral question, that would be great. It sounds like the money is kind of being spread out amongst maybe around eight or 10 communities. Will there be consideration of additional increases to Victim Services once the department has had a chance to review the evaluation? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, I certainly can table that as a response, in terms of the specific funding to communities. We will do that. There are currently eight communities that are receiving funding for in-person services. Other communities in their respective regions can access them by telephone. I can certainly commit to considering whether or not Victim Services can and should be expanded to other in-person services in other communities; what I can't do is commit to, in fact, having that happen. It would have to look at what the report says and conduct some degree of cost benefit analysis, or consider what other alternatives we can use to help support individuals in other communities. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, I'm sure the Minister can talk to her twin sister, the Minister of Finance, about the value of Victim services. Anyway, I've been asking about this, and the previous Minister did commit to do the work, so that's great. I'm really anxious to see the results of this and to make sure that we get the support needed, and that we complete this network across the NWT. You know, I made a Member's statement and asked questions about this already once in this sitting and raised it in the House a couple of times. I think that's all I've got on this section of the budget. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Nothing, thank you.
Thank you. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm wondering if the Minister can speak to the significant increase in travel for the Department of Justice under the community justice and policing section? Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. A significant amount of the travel is the result, in community justice, we often wind up either bringing community justice committee chairs into their regional centres, and often sometimes into Yellowknife, and that is a significant reason for the increase in funding, increases to travel budgets. The other significant contributing factor is the Northwest Territories guns and gangs strategy involves researchers going into communities in Behchoko, Inuvik, Fort Smith, and Hay River, so there are costs, of course, associated with that travel. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm wondering if the increase to contract services is also in relation to the guns and gangs contract, or are there other contracts involved in that increase as well? Thank you.
