Child, Youth and Family Services Action Plan Progress Tracker
26 total action items
Action
Work collaboratively with Indigenous governments in guiding or providing CFS delivery to their communities.
Deliverables
Active participation alongside Indigenous governments in collaboration tables, coordination agreement tables, and/or ongoing discussions about CFS service delivery in communities.
Pathways to invite Indigenous governments into existing service delivery processes will be identified.
Action
Continue to engage with Indigenous governments to share information and discuss overall CFS service delivery in communities.
Deliverables
Offer opportunities for continued engagement with Indigenous governments.
Continue to share information and data on an ongoing basis with interested Indigenous governments.
Action
Provide information to applicable NWT Indigenous governments and organizations on:
- the purpose of providing notice of court documents; and
- how this information can be used to support children, youth, and families.
Deliverables
Provide letters to applicable NWT Indigenous governments and organizations, with an invitation for further dialogue.
Action
Pending available resources, implement a family, community, and culture connection project for children/youth in the permanent custody of the Director of Child and Family Services.
- Phase 1: Develop model(s) and related standards.
- Phase 2: Pilot Family, Community, and Culture Connection Worker Position.
- Phase 3: Determine pathways to sustain project.
Deliverables
Development and implementation of the family, community, and culture connection project.
Action
Pending available resources, examine and re-design care model(s) for families receiving prevention and protection services. Care includes “respite” and “foster care.”
- Phase 1: Care Model(s) Scoping.
- Phase 2: Service Design and Standard Development.
- Phase 3: Implementation Plan Development.
- Phase 4: Complete business case, if required.
Deliverables
Development and implementation of the family, community, and culture connection project.
Action
Review and examine opportunities to better support families through custom adoption.
Deliverables
Options paper is developed that outlines how more supports could be made available to families and extended families who are caring for children and youth.
Action
Work with Indigenous communities to communicate important Indigenous practices that contribute to keeping children and youth safe, with a focus on:
- Increasing awareness and education about the impact of custom adoption practices on child and family wellbeing; and
- Increasing the number of Indigenous caregivers.
Deliverables
Creation of public-facing mediums that showcase Indigenous systems of care.
Action
Adjust the foster care daily rate.
Deliverables
Increased foster care daily rate.
Action
Adapt and implement the HEART and SPIRIT Training to meet the needs of foster caregivers and First Nation, Métis, and Inuit children/youth in the NWT.
Deliverables
Culturally safe and trauma-informed training is provided to foster caregivers.
Action
Participate in the Child Welfare League of Canada’s pilot project on the Equitable Standards for Transitions to Adulthood for Youth in Care.
Deliverables
A completed baseline assessment of services for youth in care using the CWLC evaluation tool.
Establish a Youth In/From Care Steering Committee.
Action plan is developed to support youth in care as they transition to adulthood.
Action
Develop a framework to guide the continuum of specialized services necessary to support the diverse needs of children, youth, families.
Deliverables
A pathway is established to provide services to children, youth and families for short-term supports and longer term, specialized services to address complex needs.
Action
Implement a pilot project for a land-based healing youth program to provide immediate services.
Deliverables
An in-territory land-based healing program rooted in Indigenous practices is available to youth.
Action
Hiring managers in CFS to review and revise job descriptions and hiring tools (e.g., assignments, interview questions) to address systemic hiring barriers experienced by Indigenous candidates interested in working in CFS.
Deliverables
All CFS job descriptions and interview questions are reviewed.
Action
Establish a Community of Practice for Indigenous employees, to provide a supportive peer network, raise issues, and share innovations to address anti-Indigenous racism.
Deliverables
Community of practice is established.
Action
Introduce surveys to better understand the attraction, recruitment, and retention experiences of Indigenous employees.
Deliverables
Analysis of survey results.
Action
Promote the use of transfer assignments and cross training to encourage mobility and development for Indigenous employees.
Deliverables
Number of Indigenous employees:
- On transfer assignments or secondments.
- Within middle and senior management roles.
Action
Ensure all CFS Staff complete:
- Equitable Workplace: Cultivating Attitudes of Anti-Racism and Allyship Training; and
- Living Well Together: Indigenous Cultural Awareness and Sensitivity Training.
Deliverables
Percentage of CFS staff who have completed the required training.
Action
Offer the CFS-Specific HSS Cultural Safety and Anti-Racism Training.
Deliverables
Annual delivery of training to CFS Staff.
Action
Provide training on anti-oppressive practices to be used when mentoring of frontline managers, supervisors, and staff.
Deliverables
Development of training to guide mentorship with frontline managers, supervisors, and staff.
Ongoing mentorship with frontline managers, supervisors, and staff.
Action
Pending available resources, pilot specialized positions to better support children, youth and families and optimize the scope of current positions. Types of positions being considered are, but not limited to:
- Youth Transition and Navigation Worker
- Family, Community, and Culture Connection Worker
- Legal Assistant
- Mobile/Float Positions
Deliverables
A diversified mix of skills in the CFS workforce is available to better support children, youth, and families.
Action
Modernize the approach to standards development and accessibility of the Adoptions Standards and Procedure Manual.
Deliverables
Standards and procedure manual is clear, concise, and accessible.
Action
Phased approach to modernize standards development and accessibility of the Child and Family Services Standards and Procedure Manual.
Deliverables
Standards and procedure manual is clear, concise, and accessible.
Action
Further examine the Structured Decision Making® (SDM) Model for its capacity to effectively support Indigenous individuals and families.
Deliverables
Decision on if/how to proceed with the implementation of the remaining two SDM® tools that aid decision-making in risk assessments and family reunification assessments.
Action
Single Electronic File System
- Building off the work completed in 2022-23, complete an analysis on the feasibility, considerations, and barriers of a Single Electronic File System.
- Depending on the outcome of the analysis, complete an implementation plan and business case.
Deliverables
Business, human, financial, and technology requirements and considerations are outlined.
Action
Centralized Intake Model for CFS
- Complete an analysis on the feasibility, considerations, and constraints of a centralized intake model.
- Depending on the outcome of the analysis, complete an implementation plan and business case.
Deliverables
Business, human, financial, and technology requirements and considerations are outlined.
Action
Comprehensive review of the foster care funding structure.
Deliverables
Areas of improvement are identified and integrated into the business planning process.