Thank you, Minister. Member.
No further questions. Thank you.
Ms. Nokleby.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just wanted to start by saying I'm glad to see the increase in funding to the seniors fund. I think that's always worthwhile and just hope that there's also a mandate for a push alongside of that to ensure that the services are expanding out into the communities and are not just Yellowknife-focused, especially with additional money. I did notice that the respite fund -- maybe I could just first ask: there's a bit of a bounce around in numbers there, and perhaps, maybe the Minister of the department can speak to why the actuals were so low in 2019-2020 versus the revised estimates for last year and then, of course, the proposed estimates? Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'd like to refer this question to the director of finance. Thank you.
Director.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. On the respite fund, the increase that we see there in 2020-2021 reflects a supplementary appropriation to reflect the First Nations and Inuit homecare, community care funding that we've received. That funding is not there in the budget in 2021-2022. It is distributed elsewhere for other purposes. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Member.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm really glad to hear it's not disappeared for the upcoming year. When I look at the disabilities fund and then the respite fund, as well, just being a little less and such, I'm just wondering, as we see a change in how long-term care facilities are looked at as a result of COVID and then, as well, our mandate and priority to age in place, I'm just wondering if the department is tracking potential trends in keeping seniors at home or people with disabilities at home as opposed to group home situations and whether or not we're going to have to increase funding in these areas to support organizations doing that? Thank you.
Minister.
Yes. Thank you. We recently completed a long-term care bed study, and for that, we used 10 years of data that tracked what age people were when they went into long-term care and what level of acuity they were at in terms of service need. We have a pretty good idea of when people need to move out of their independent living. We also, of course, provide homecare throughout the NWT, so there are metrics about how many people require homecare and what kinds of services they need. For more detail, though, I'll ask, Mr. Chair, if I can refer this question onto the deputy minister.
Deputy Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. This has been one of the primary areas of policy development within the seniors area, so we are very much looking at the future demand that is going to be with us for the continuum of care for elders and persons with disabilities. When it comes to carrying for people in their own homes, we did the home and community care review. We've got some projections in terms of the growth that's coming there. We are testing out some new methods even within this budget to teach us new elements of the continuum we may need to grow in the future to meet that demand.
When it comes to long-term care, the Minister has spoken to the primary work that we're doing there, the beginnings of that work. When it comes to persons without disabilities, we're embarking upon a review now, a supported living review. It's gone to market now, and we expect to have a proponent selected in April. We will be looking more fully at this question about how we need to improve the network of community services and the options that are available here so that people can be cared for with dignity in their own communities and also identifying the possibility for being able to repatriate individuals who may be being cared for elsewhere. There's the full continuum of care for the full population of people who are dependent on others for care that we are examining and projecting and working o n from a policy perspective. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Member.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm really glad to hear all of that and would welcome, at any point, more information on that and to have feedback, et cetera, as well. One of the things that I remember discussing when I was campaigning was the idea or trying to come up with ways of increasing Indigenous businesses in small communities. Also, I was thinking around the lines of keeping elders at home, as well. Is there a potential or has the department considered creating small businesses in communities where there is like a small boarding home or such that the development corporation takes on and runs and then the department contracts the services for the care for the elders to that group? There's a business creation program. Then there could also be a training component for local youth and young adults that, then, they can learn to take care of their elders, which is a skillset that can then be transferred throughout Canada if they do decide they don't want to stay in the North. I just think this is an area where we really are going to have to think outside the box, and it's always been a story that, when I've travelled through the North and into communities, that's really heartbreaking because you hear it time and again. A good friend just recently lost his father who spent the last few years in Norman Wells when the family was in Tulita. I just wonder if that's an area, perhaps, maybe the department is interested in looking at, is sort of an Indigenous-run, small boarding home for supportive care? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister.
Yes. Thank you. The reason that the long-term care is offered in regional centres is that we need some efficiencies in the number of beds and the number of staff for the 24/7 responsibility, so it's turned out that, in the smaller communities, we just can't get to that economy of scale to provide for full supportive living, which would include nursing care as well as care aides. In terms of whether there has been any discussion to create a business or training component to situate in small communities, I am not aware of that, but I will ask the deputy minister if he is. Thank you.
Thank you. Deputy Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. In a way, we are testing a proof of concept about being able to partner with local community through the paid caregiver pilot program. That is actually in this budget. We do have, I think, five agreements in place; I may have that number wrong. We are certainly very interested in working in partnership with local community groups, anybody who is interested to try new approaches to care. We are going to be entering the evaluation phase in the next year for that, and I know that we are looking forward to taking lessons learned and innovating forward. Thank you.
Thank you. Member.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am glad to hear that, too. I get that there is a certain degree of technical expertise that is required for certain types of facilities. However, even if it's a matter of a senior who has a dilapidated home and, therefore, now they are getting moved out of it into a long-term care facility, if they don't need a large degree of care, I don't see why we can't have a lesser, sort of, care worker or lesser-educated care worker there to help them. That's great, and I look forward to learning more about the paid caregiver pilot program. It never made sense to me that we make people go out to work so that their family member can then have someone else come in that the government then pays for to look after them. Glad to hear that. My last questions are just around the active positions. I noted that we have gone up four positions, and I am reading it right today if I wasn't yesterday. It's all-in headquarters. My question would be: are these all administrative functions for the department or administrative roles that do need to be in one place, as we've said, or are some of these employees actual care and support workers for patients or long-term people? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. These four positions are funded under the First Nations and Inuit Home and Community Care funding. The first is a senior nursing consultant. The second is a project manager. There are two health planners in continuing care. All of these positions are located at headquarters where the rest of our policy functions are located. Thank you.
Thank you. Member.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will just get in one last plug to always try to put some of those positions out in the communities if we can and work on our mandate priority. Thank you.
Thank you. Member.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. The Minister spoke about a report on the network of community services available to individuals in communities, a report that's being worked on this spring. I am wondering if the Minister can give a little bit more detail about what that report is going to be about or the project that the RFP just recently went out for. Thank you.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to refer the question to the deputy minister. Thank you.
Deputy Minister.
Thank you. I believe what is being referenced is the supported living review, and that has just gone out to market. The outcome of that particular review will be advice regarding options that are available for caring for persons with disabilities or who need intensive support in the community.
Thank you. Ms. Cleveland.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Thank you. I just wanted that clarification. My next question is in regards to the First Nations and Inuit Home and Community Care agreement. I understand that some of that is found within the respites one, but under the revenue stream, it shows that there is almost $8.5 million coming in with that agreement. I am wondering if the Minister can speak to where else within the budget that money falls. Thank you.
Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to refer the question to the director of finance.
Ms. Mathison.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Most of the money, yes, you're right, is under this long-term care. There would also be some additional funding up under admin and support services where some of the staff for the department are supporting the efforts related to activities supporting homecare, for example, the rollout of the interRAI information system that is going to help support some of the work that we are doing to understand homecare delivery. There is funding in admin and support services related to that, as well. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Ms. Cleveland.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. The money that falls under the long-term care, is it just given to long-term care facilities? Is it given out based on application? Is it automatically given out based on size of the long-term care facility? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. There is only one non-government long-term care facility in the NWT, and it is Avens. There is a small portion of a supplementary appropriation that was included in the current fiscal year to assist them. Otherwise, to the best of my knowledge, this money goes to the long-term care that is operated by the GNWT throughout the NWT. Thank you.
Thank you. Ms. Cleveland.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. As the number of seniors within the territory increases, especially over the next decade, we might see more people, similar to staff at Avens, interested in participating in long-term care throughout the Northwest Territories. Is the Department of Health and Social Services reviewing the amount of financial assistance that it provides to non-government supportive living for seniors? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you. There is only one service provider in that area, and that is Avens. Avens, I know, is reviewing its own set of services as it moves forward with its independent living offering at the pavilion. We are also, of course, looking at additional long-term care beds in the Stanton legacy hospital. This is an area where there is some churn going on at the moment, and we continue to collaborate and try to figure out how to support one another to provide the best service to seniors. Thank you.
Thank you. Ms. Cleveland.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Given that we are in a pandemic and that the costs associated with the pandemic are much higher, is there talk right now about providing further financial support to places like Avens to account for the increase in cost to care for seniors at this moment in time? Thank you.
Minister.
Thank you. It's my understanding that the Department of Finance is leading the negotiations, or perhaps it's the Premier, or maybe it's both, who are leading the collection of information and negotiations with the federal government for additional pandemic response money. Those negotiations are not complete, so that money is not included in this budget at this time. We did provide for pandemic-related spending to Avens during the course of the last year. Thank you.
