Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services following up on my statement.
So child and family services has a category called neglect which is one basis for reporting mistreatment to CFS and sometimes results in apprehension of children from their homes. Is there a clear definition of neglect either in legislation or policy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'll have to follow up with the Member. Thank you.
Fair enough. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do look forward to the answer on that, actually.
And with regard to plan of care agreements, they're listed as a preventative measure and yet they're increasingly used to remove children temporarily from their homes, but that can be for up to two years. So what is the Minister doing to ensure that there is proper oversight and proper legal protections for children and their families who are subject to plan of care agreements? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, plan of care agreements are not necessarily agreements that remove children from their home. Plan of care agreements within the child and family services are where the family agrees that child and family services will support the family. Depending on their situation, you know, I can't speak to when it's deemed necessary to remove that child from the home. If they're -- you know, but the reason that a lot of the plan of cares have gone up is because more people are accessing support which, in my eyes, is what I've been trying to say, even as a Regular Member, is that this program should be more supportive and the way to access services within this is to meet with a child and family services worker, to be assessed, to get the support, and work with a family preservation worker. Sometimes there are, you know, situations where, you know, family members may want to better themselves and they go away, and those children stay with family members. So thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I look forward to following up with the Minister about that one too. Will the Minister commit to having her department look at implementing the UN convention on the rights of the child so that all decisions to remove a child from their parents are reviewed by a court -- that's in Article 9 -- and a child's right to be heard is applied. That's Article 12. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am glad to take that information back to discuss with the department. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
