Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My questions this morning to start off are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Does Health and Social Services plan to expand the FASD clinic to adequately support children and NWT adults with FASD and cognitive disabilities, including hiring caseworkers and occupational therapists? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for the question. There are a number of supports in place now if a youth is provided with an FAS diagnosis. The youth FAS coordinator will work with that person and his or her family to ensure collaboration and coordination of the response. That could include things that the family already has in place, that will remain in place. It also may include connecting the person with Inclusion NWT or the Northwest Territories Disabilities Council or the Foster Family Coalition, depending on the circumstances. So there is a robust system of supports that clients are referred to, and so we don't have any plans at this point to hire more health staff to support this program. Thank you.
How many people currently living out of territory in residential care are there because they have FASD or cognitive disabilities, and how many would be able to brought home if we had appropriately resourced FASD support services?
The answer is to question 136, and the answer to question 2 is this area is under review by the supported living review.
I am wondering if NWT residents are funded by medical travel to participate in the FASD diagnostic clinics. If yes, how many participated in 2019 and 2020 and, if not, why not?
The FASD clinic provides for the costs of travel to people to attend the clinic in the NWT. They have also taken the youth diagnostic clinic out to the communities of Behchoko and Fort Providence so that people can directly participate there. The youth FASD clinic completed 16 assessments in 2019, and 17 in 2020. The adult clinic provided for six individual assessments since it opened in January of 2020.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. We all know that travel can eat up a budget pretty quickly and that, having fewer than 40 people having gone through the assessment, I think we could stand to maybe add some more resources to that. However, will the Minister commit to developing a comprehensive plan for the treatment and support of FASD and complex developmental behavioural conditions in the NWT? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. This program is relatively new. The youth clinic has been in place for nearly two years, the adult clinic for just over one year, so we are still getting a feel for what the needs are. I feel confident that we are providing good service to the people of the NWT. Of course, we could certainly do more and do better, but we have a lot of pressures on the Department of Health and Social Services for spending, so we are doing the best we can for FAS at this point, and I am sure that an evaluation will be forthcoming, as it is with every new program. However, it's too early to begin evaluations at this point. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member Yellowknife North.
