Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Sorry, I'm not operating off of paper today.
My first question for the Minister, Mr. Speaker, is what type of data about the prevalence of FASD in the NWT and people parenting with FASD does Health and Social Services collect? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the Member's question. FASD is a common concern in the NWT, unfortunately.
We have the statistics that she quoted about people who have been to the diagnostic clinics. But for the population as a whole, we don't have data that tells us what the incidence of FASD is per thousand population. It's been estimated by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health that it's eight per one thousand population. But it is more prevalent in some populations than others. So we don't really have a firm grip of the number of people who have FASD at any age. Much of the difficulty here has to do with diagnosis. Sometimes people choose not to be diagnosed, or the parents choose not to have their children diagnosed, and so this is really a selfreporting metric. And for reasons that have to do with shame and fear of intervention by child and family services, people may choose not to go that route. Thank you.
Yes, thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. The NWT is definitely not alone in that. When looking for data and research worldwide, it's definitely the stigma around FASD is definitely shared and by having these conversations, I think we can do our part to try and strip away that stigma.
I'm wondering if part of the adult FASD clinic identifies whether or not the person taking part in the clinic is a parent? Thank you.
Yes, thank you. That's a very interesting question, whether that is something that's acknowledged, and I don't have that information off the top of my head. I know that they they're concerned with the person himself or herself, but I'm not sure if they take their family circumstances into consideration but, of course, it would be useful to know that. So I appreciate the question. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. One of the things that the Minister said is absolutely true, is that it's a selfreporting mechanism. But part of being able to have the opportunity to selfreport is having access to that clinic. And so I'm wondering how many communities will the adult diagnostic clinic travel to in 2022 and how many NWT residents do they plan to assess? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the difficulty here is that the FASD the adult FASD clinic was launched in 2020 which was not a year in which there was a lot of travelling around. That said, last year the program was able to visit Behchoko and Fort Providence, and I think that generally they committed to travelling to four different locations a year.
So based on what's happened to date, 25 people have been to the adult FASD diagnostic clinic, and 133 children and youth went to the FASD diagnostic and support program. So we would want to see those numbers as good or better in the year to come if the COVID restrictions remain the way they are; that is to say, it's much easier to travel. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Final short supplementary, Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm wondering if Health and Social Services will commit to establishing navigator or case worker positions within the adult diagnostic clinic to provide that individualized personal and centered supports that their clients need? Thank you.
Yes, thank you. I was under the impression that that was in fact being done now by people who work at the FASD clinic, who provide services to people who have a confirmed diagnosis, that there was some pathway navigation going on in that situation. But I can certainly confirm that and provide the Member with that detail. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
