Child and Family Services in the Northwest Territories—Infographic

Child and Family Services in the Northwest Territories

The Department of Health and Social Services and the Health and Social Services Authorities did not meet key responsibilities for the protection and well-being of children, youth, and their families.

“We found that many of the services provided to children and families were worse than when we examined them in 2014.”

An average of 1,000 children per year have received protection or prevention services over the past 10 years.

Key Findings

Protection services for children living with their families

Reports of children potentially in need of protection

We found that regional authorities did not respond to child protection concerns in 19% of files.

Child protection investigations

In more than 1/3 of investigations we reviewed, required interviews with the parents and the children were not conducted.

Children remaining with their families

In 88% of plan of care agreements, regional authorities did not maintain the minimum level of contact with children and parents.

Protection services for children in temporary and permanent care

Regional authorities

• had maintained regular contact with only 12% of children
• conducted timely case reviews for only 19% of children
• did not systematically conduct background checks on potential guardians

Protection services for children in foster care

We found serious deficiencies in the screening and ongoing monitoring of foster homes.

In about 2/3 of files, the required initial screening of the home was not completed.

“We are deeply concerned by the findings in this audit. The Department and the Authorities must start working on how they will achieve their common objective of providing better services and achieving better outcomes for children, youth, and families.”