This action item was achieved through the establishment of the Accountability Framework and CFS Approval Process. These documents were implemented and communicated in January 2019.

The Department is examining the feasibility of implementing a differential response to completing intakes and investigations. The investigation section is currently under review and it is anticipated that all updates to this section will be completed by October 2021. 

The HSS system has completed and received accreditation through Accreditation Canada. Child and Family Services was included as part of the accreditation process.

The 2020-2021 NWT System Wide Audits will be completed in the 2021-22 fiscal year. The audit plan and tools are under development and the actual audit will occur September-December 2021.

Reviews continue on a quarterly basis.

Reviews continue on a quarterly basis.

Reviews continue on a monthly basis. The NTHSSA actively reviews the regional and territorial barriers and solutions in complying with child and family service investigation standards.

An oversight mechanism was created for the new standard on the practice of transferring guardianship in April 2019.

CFS prevention services have been updated in response to both the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the implementation of the Federal Legislation, An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit, and Metis children, youth and families.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Brief Service Agreements providing financial support were and continue to be offered to families experiencing financial hardship. The Ministerial Directive extending support services to youth and young adults was also extended to be in effect up to 90 days after the end of the public health emergency to support their transition to independence.

Since the implementation of the Federal Act, all CFS standards related to prevention services were revised to align with the principles of the Act, including the addition of providing prevention services to expectant parents.

In June 2020, each region in the NWT was allocated one funded family preservation worker position. The training pathway for family preservation workers was finalized and training of staff began in March 2021.

The next phase of the family preservation program is to establish an evaluation framework of the program. This is currently underway.

The project plan was developed by July 2019. Other jurisdictions are also actively working on similar projects. As described in the project plan itself, the NWT will continue to engage with other jurisdictions to inform and further refine the work completed to date in the NWT. This information will help to continue to evolve the approach to assessing workload and caseload.

The written protocol for quality assurance checks of the SDM tools was completed in February 2019.

The Child and Family Services Training and Supported Development Framework for 2019-2020 has been developed and is currently being implemented. The enhanced Child Protection Worker Statutory Core training, which currently using a hybrid approach with both virtual and in-person training sessions, has been integrated into the Framework. Additionally, an accelerated Child Protection Worker training has been developed in response to COVID-19 and provides a fast-track training option for child and family services staff who require technical training to carry out specific child and family services duties.

Between October and December, mandatory CFS practice “refresher” training for staff covering 12 training topics for staff was provided. Additionally, CFS has established an online learning platform which supports the accessibility of all training materials to staff throughout the NWT.

In collaboration with the Foster Family Coalition of the NWT and the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, a youth in care network will be piloted virtually through the GLOW (“Gaining Life Skills OUR Way”) program for the second year. This program will be available to youth living in care who are aged 12 – 23. This network will give youth opportunities to speak out on important issues about their experience in care and their transition to young adulthood. Youth will also have opportunities to develop important life skills and make lasting friendships with other youth who have similar life experiences.

To encourage feedback and support ongoing improvements to service delivery, Child and Family Services is currently developing a complaint process for individuals to share their experience of their interactions with the CFS system.

Participant questionnaires are regularly collected after training events.

This working group will be reprofiled under the duties of the new position of Cultural Safety Specialist at the Department.

Discussion towards these community agreements will be integrated into engagement meetings with Indigenous governments. As of April 2021, Child and Family Services has met with 4 Indigenous governments to discuss CFS provision to their community members.

One Indigenous government has committed to working with CFS to develop a terms of reference and protocol in efforts to identify the best way to engage and collaborate on the planning for children/youth receiving services.

CFS will continue to explore options with Indigenous governments on community agreements or other types of protocols/processes for supporting families involved in the CFS system.

All Supervisors and Managers were trained by December 2018. The model was implemented in January 2019. The NTHSSA also launched online learning modules in June 2019.

The revised accountability framework was implemented in January 2019. Communication about the revised accountability framework occurred at different meetings and events, such as the All Child and Family Services Staff Meeting, Manager and Supervisor Forum, and Statutory Director’s Forum.

Routine quality assurance checks are being completed with Matrix NT. This work is ongoing.

The standard was implemented in November 2018.

In January, November, and December of 2020, the Minister of Health and Social Services wrote to all Indigenous governments in the NWT offering a briefing on An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families and an open, ongoing discussion on child and family services delivery in the NWT.

In December 2020, the Department developed information related to a new requirement under An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families that requires service providers to give notice to parent(s), care provider(s), and Indigenous governing bodies prior to taking a significant measure.  This “s.12 significant measure notice” invites Indigenous governments to participate in the planning for a child/youth and establishes a partnership in working in the best interests of a child/youth. 

This new requirement is being highlighted in Departmental briefings with Indigenous governments. Section 12 notice is currently being provided to one Indigenous government in the NWT, as of January 2021.

As of April 2021, the Department has met with 4 Indigenous governments to discuss the sharing of data and information related to child and family services in their community/region and to commit to providing this information on an ongoing basis.

The Department will be reaching out to more Indigenous governments regarding information sharing and engagement opportunities on an ongoing basis.

The NTHSSA implemented a supervisory on-call model in April 2019.

The new structure for NTHSSA regional staff to be transitioned under NTHSSA Child, Family and Community Wellness (CFCW) Division was approved in December 2020 and began February 1, 2021. 

The Department will continue to monitor this structure to make sure there is the appropriate oversight and accountability of the CFS system.

Training for Foster Care and Adoptions Workers is being delivered in two phases: the first phase focuses on Adoptions, and the second phase focuses on Foster Care.

The delivery of the Adoption Worker Statutory Training began in December 2020 and was completed by mid-February 2021.

The curriculum for the Foster Care Worker Training is currently under development. Training is scheduled to begin in September 2021.

The standard was finalized in March 2019 and Department is working towards implementation.

As part of our response to COVID-19, we have worked with the Foster Family Coalition to distribute information, resources, activity kits and child and teen COVID-19 booklets to help foster caregivers and children in their homes during these challenging times.

The enhanced Child Protection Worker Statutory Core Training continues to offer modules specific to interviewing and the investigation process.

Training videos for forensic interviewing have been developed and piloted in one region in the NWT. The effectiveness of this training will determine how the training is delivered to staff throughout the NWT.

Child and Family Services has developed an approach for outreach and engagement with Indigenous Governments for the purpose of providing an initial orientation to Child and Family Service Delivery and the implementation of the Federal Act. In January 2021, DHSS and NTHSSA met with the Indigenous Advisory Body to provide an overview of the Federal Act and the approach of family preservation and prevention.  

Beginning in December 2020, Child and Family Services met with 4 Indigenous Governments to discuss the implementation of the Federal Act and Child and Family Services practice with their community members. These engagement meetings are planned to occur on an ongoing basis, at the discretion of Indigenous governments. The next engagement meetings with Indigenous governments are scheduled for May 2021.

As part of our COVID-19 response, we have developed virtual Matrix NT learning demonstration sessions and handouts. Additionally, weekly emails are distributed to all CFS staff with information on how to navigate and effectively use the MatrixNT system.

New configurations to the MatrixNT system were implemented in March, 2021 at which point additional staff training was provided.

This was completed in April 2019.

The standard was implemented in March 2019.

The Department continues to implement the Child Youth Care Counselor (CYCC) initiative. Through this initiative, children, youth, and families have increased access to mental wellness support and services.  This action aligns with the Child and Youth Mental Wellness Action Plan, which identifies the development of seamless care pathways to support children and youth.  The Seamless Care Pathway model is a collaborative approach where a variety of mental health and wellness services are matched to the needs of the individual.  Child and Family Services staff have been trained and continue to provide referrals to the Strongest Families Institute.

Additionally, opportunities for capacity building with local youth organizations are being explored to further support youth experiencing mental health concerns.

The minimum contact standard, tool and form were introduced to the system on November 1, 2019.

The Serious Occurrence standard, tool and form were introduced to the system on March 3, 2020. The form was amended to include situations related COVID-19 so that we can track the impact of this pandemic on children and youth receiving services.