Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow-up to my Member’s statement today, I have a couple of questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services.
The issue of child and family services is something that has been much discussed in this House. The previous Assembly did a very in-depth consultation in this topic and now the Auditor General’s report has been reported on. There is one area that I particularly wanted to zero in on today. We know that families do, from time to time, suffer from extreme challenges and from crisis, and where there are children involved, sometimes it requires an intervention or outside support.
It would be the natural thing for close family members to be aware of these situations and to step up to the plate. However, in reality this may put stress on that family that’s helping, those grandparents, aunts and uncles, may put financial stress on them.
I’d like to ask the Minister if the department has ever contemplated support for direct family members than is less invasive than having to apprehend children, putting children through the trauma of that, but finding a way to support those related family members who could, at a time of crises or challenge, step in and help family members. Has the department contemplated that being done on a collaborative basis and seeing some remuneration available to those family members? Thank you.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Health and Social Services does become involved with children at risk when they enter the system and access the Child and Family Services Act. When that occurs, whether it’s voluntary or through identification, we do try to keep children with families as much as possible. When a child needs to be placed, we obviously like to approach families to see if they’d be willing to foster. If they’re willing to foster, we’ll put them through the process. If that happens, they will receive remuneration that is consistent with all other foster families. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
My experience has been that sometimes when family members step in, there is a sense in the department or with the child welfare worker that the problem has now been alleviated, it has been solved and the inclination is to step away from the situation and say, okay, the children are no longer at risk and therefore they are safe.
I would like to know if there is a process that allows family to be involved in that transition for those children. Quite often, child protection workers are seen as the enemy coming in to apprehend children and take them out of their home. I know there are very many variables on what can happen in terms of why those interventions are required, and I have always been very reluctant to ever criticize child protection workers who have to do a very difficult job. But, is there a piece missing here?
Is there a collaborative way that family members could approach social services and realize the same end without having to intervene with an apprehension? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, just for clarity, raising children is, first and foremost, a responsibility of the family. Parents have the right to make decisions about where their children live, but the GNWT is not necessarily responsible for paying for those decisions. The only time the GNWT would actually become involved is if a family has some financial challenges, is living in poverty, and we would provide income support. Families can make the decision to have children stay with one group and then apply for income support.
When health and social services becomes involved, the only time we can actually engage with families and do the types of things the Member is talking about is when they actually become part of the system and we have a file on them. When they come in, whether it’s voluntary, which I think is part of what the Member is talking about, or whether it’s through an intervention, we will work with families and we will try to find ways to keep the children with the families. If that requires a foster placement, we have a process that is expedited or modified for family placements, which is less thorough – thorough is not the right word – less intense than the normal foster process. When they are placed with those people, whether it’s a shorter term placement or a longer term placement, they do get the same funding or financial support.
But as we move forward with child and family services, we’re talking about changing our philosophy. We’re talking about helping support and build stronger families, which means we want to work with families when they are struggling, so that they can continue to provide the loving care that they want to to their families, which will include the types of things that the Member is talking about. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I’ll keep this really short. Here’s a scenario: The grandparents already have the child in their care. The child is not apprehended. The grandparents intervened. They already have the child in their care. Who can they go to to talk about getting support for caring for that child, other than income support? Thank you.
It depends on the timing. If the family has made a choice to put their children with grandparents or another family member and the system is unaware and hasn’t been involved, we don’t have the ability to engage. If the family had indicated that they’re having problems and they’re struggling and they weren’t meeting the needs and they engage the system through a voluntary mechanism and then through a plan of care it was decided that the children would benefit from spending time with the grandparents while the parents work on their challenges, in that scenario we would be able to provide support. But if they do it without engaging the system, the system doesn’t know, doesn’t have a plan of care, doesn’t have a plan, hasn’t worked with the parents to see what the parents’ long-term plans are and how we can help those parents get to the point they need, in that scenario the family made decisions we weren’t aware of, we weren’t engaged. I would encourage them strongly to go to income support. If families are having problems, I would encourage them to engage the system. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.
So, Health and Social Services has not been involved from the outset. I am a grandmother. I’m looking after my grandchildren. Can I go to social services and explain the situation to them and work collaboratively with them to ensure that I can afford to financially care for my grandchildren? Thank you.
I would encourage the grandparents, obviously, to talk to social services to see how they can engage with the system, but it does come back to the parents who have the legal responsibility for those children. They would have to be involved as well. History would have to be determined; a file would have to be created. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
