Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The most vulnerable people in our communities are children. They have little control over their circumstances and often are affected by the poor decisions of others. It often falls to the elders, the grandparents, to assume care of the wee ones in the hopes that the parents will return to good health.
Keeping families together this way is something we can all get behind. When grandparents take over care of their children before the kids are apprehended, they get no financial support because they are family. If children are apprehended and then grandparents are allowed to foster them, they are eligible for remuneration at foster parent rates. Yet formal involvement of child and family services is scary, adversarial, traumatic, expensive to everyone, and leads to a high rate of apprehensions. This forces grandparents to seek support through income assistance, a stigmatized program known for its red tape and poor treatment of clients despite their noble efforts and intent. It penalizes grandparents who are taking proactive steps to prevent apprehension of the children and makes no provision for grandparents whose earnings disqualify them from income support. Nor does it recognize the housing issues when the addition of children increases family size beyond the suitability of the grandparents’ home. Often, being retirees on fixed incomes, these are huge and frequently insurmountable burdens for the grandparents. While they desperately want to keep their families together, they often suffer from shortages or are unable to manage it financially.
A new approach is needed if we want to keep families together. The department needs to engage in non-adversarial outreach so that grandparents feel safe approaching child and family services for help. Such a process may increase the number of grandparents eligible for help and will also improve outcomes. Collaboration between families and the system reduces trauma for all and exemplifies the Child and Family Services Act’s principle of least intrusive measures. Revising the policy on voluntary agreements and assisted fostering so that struggling grandparents can more easily qualify for aid as foster parents would be steps in the right direction.
We know it’s better for all concerned if children whose parents are going through a rough patch could stay within their families, communities and cultures. Grandparents are frequently willing and capable to provide the care needed, but they need support to do it. Let’s meet them halfway with a policy that this situation demands and make it happen. I will have questions. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
