Follow-up Report on Child and Family Services in Nunavut—Department of Family Services
Opening Statement to the Standing Committee on Oversight of Government Operations and Public Accounts
Follow-up Report on Child and Family Services in Nunavut—Department of Family Services
16 September 2014
Ronnie Campbell
Assistant Auditor General
Unnusakkut. Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you, Mr. Chair, for this opportunity to discuss our Follow-up Report on Child and Family Services in Nunavut—Department of Family Services. Joining me at the table is Michelle Salvail, Principal, who was responsible for this audit.
In this audit, we looked at whether the Department of Family Services had made satisfactory progress in acting on key recommendations from our 2011 Report on Children, Youth and Family Programs and Services in Nunavut.
More specifically, we looked at whether the Department had taken steps to strengthen and improve its ability to deliver services to children and their families.
I would like to provide you with a brief overview of the report findings.
Following the tabling of our 2011 report, what was then the Department of Health and Social Services put in place a number of measures to address our recommendations.
For example, we found that the Department made satisfactory progress in developing and providing training for community social service workers.
Also, the Department’s efforts to fill vacant positions have contributed to positive results. We found that the occupancy rates for community social service workers and supervisors increased from 63% reported in 2011 to 83% as of July 2013. A significant proportion of the positions were filled by casual staff.
In this report, we recommended that the Department of Family Services continue to work with the Department of Finance and the regions to ensure that community social service workers’ positions are filled with permanent staff in all communities.
Mr. Chair, as presented in Exhibit 6 of our report, we found that serious gaps remain in the Department’s compliance with key child protection standards of the Child and Family Services Act.
For example, less than one third of children in care received visits from a community social worker at the frequency required under the standards. In addition, once foster homes had been approved, the Department performed annual reviews of those homes in only 4 of the 32 files that we reviewed.
Compliance with the requirements of the Child and Family Services Act is essential to ensure that children are protected from abuse, harm, and neglect, and to help prevent future problems.
We also found unsatisfactory progress in the collection of basic information on children in care. This information includes data such as date of birth, care status, and foster placement. For example, we found that the Department was still unable to produce about one quarter of the monthly reports that the community social service workers should have submitted during our audit period.
The information is needed to allow the Department to adequately plan for the needs of children in care. It is also necessary for meeting the reporting requirements under the Child and Family Services Act.
Parents are primarily responsible for a child’s well-being; communities contribute to the child’s protection. In 2011, we recommended that the Department should engage parents and communities in a dialogue focused on keeping children safe. We found that the Department had made little progress in this area. In this report, we are reiterating the need for engaging parents and communities.
Mr. Chair, I am concerned that children are not getting the level of protection and care set out in the Child and Family Services Act. Addressing these recommendations will require the Department’s sustained effort and attention, as well as collaboration with other departments.
The Department of Family Services has agreed with our recommendations and has made several commitments in its response. Your Committee might want to seek details from officials about some of these actions. In particular, your Committee may wish to ask how the Department is addressing compliance with the standards.
Mr. Chair, this concludes my opening remarks. We would be pleased to answer any questions the Committee may have. Thank you.