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.

A jurisdictional scan of leading practices has been completed. The SDM® Manual and forensic interviewing techniques are currently being reviewed.

The HSS system is currently going through the system-wide accreditation in partnership with Accreditation Canada. Child and Family Services have completed their components of the accreditation process.

The 2018-2019 NWT System-Wide Audit of key legislative and standard requirements is currently underway, with an expected completion date of March 2020.

Reviews were initiated in July 2019. This action will continue on a quarterly basis.

Based on learning from the minimum contact quality review, this expanded quality review was fully implemented in July 2019. This action will continue on a quarterly basis. (Same as 7.1) 

Reviews were initiated in October 2018. This action will continue on a quarterly basis.

The human resources recruitment and retention plan was completed on May 28, 2019. Implementation is underway.  The centralized hiring process has been ongoing for almost one year, which has resulted in a more streamlined and efficient hiring of community social services workers.  Job descriptions and salaries for some key positions have been standardized across the NWT to support the consistent delivery of services.

The training leads have taken on the role of ‘expert’ SDM® trainer and are delivering all SDM® training components within the Child Protection Worker Statutory Core Training and have provided regional refresher training on SDM®.

Between February and May 2019, refresher trainings were delivered on current SDM® Assessment Tools for Managers and Supervisors, and some frontline staff. Refresher webinars on specific SDM® Assessment Tools were delivered in September and November 2019.

The monitoring plan was finalized in March 2019.

The Department will be leveraging indicators developed through the Pan-Northern Data Project.  The Territorial Governments are leading the country in joint reporting on Child and Family Services through the Pan-Northern Data Project. The Pan-Northern Project is a five-year project (February 2018 to March 2023) that involves the Public Health Agency of Canada, Government of Yukon, Government of Northwest Territories, and Government of Nunavut. The purpose of the project is to collaboratively develop relevant and meaningful child and family services indicators derived from administrative data.

In collaboration with the Foster Family Coalition of the NWT, a foster care recruitment campaign was launched with a video, posters, and an all NWT mail out (March – April 2019). In October 2019, the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority completed a Foster Care Recruitment and Retention Strategy. The strategy was informed by a foster care survey that was sent to all foster caregivers throughout the NWT to assess their satisfaction with the support, services and training provided by the Department, NTHSSA, Regions and Foster Family Coalition of the NWT. The implementation of this plan is underway.

The communication plan was approved in April 2019. Implementation is ongoing.

Staff are being engaged in a number of ways, such as all staff meetings and quality review process. Through the quality review process, regional staff from all levels are participating in quarterly strategic action planning with a focus on quality improvement.

The Quality Committee and Working Groups were established in January 2019 and meetings are ongoing.

The Working Group was established in January 2019, with the first meeting occurring in February 2019. The meetings will be held on an ongoing basis.

The review process was finalized on February 8, 2019.

The NTHSSA has updated the foster care and adoption worker job descriptions to ensure consistency of program delivery across the NWT. There are dedicated positions in all regions of the NWT.

The anonymous Suggestion Box was initiated in September 2018. The Suggestion Box continues to be monitored and responded to.

There are specific strategies in the human resources recruitment and retention plan aimed at increasing the Northern Child and Family Services workforce. For example, position in the Child and Family Services system are being re-leveled to ensure that there are several entry points into working for CFS, with a variety of educational and experience requirements assigned accordingly.

The Department entered into a renewed contract in October 2018, which includes the development and implementation of the remaining SDM® Assessment Tools. Work is underway to customize the tools for the NWT.

In April 2019, a new $3.3 million investment was approved to add 21 new positions to support Child and Family Services. 

Between October and December 2019, information was gathered from Assistant Directors to identify their individual training needs. This will continue on an ongoing basis and will inform the training framework.

In April 2019, a directive was sent to all staff to clarify the requirement of sending contact information of foster caregivers to the FFC-NWT. The Foster Home Agreement includes a section for approving the provision of foster caregiver contact information to the FFC-NWT. With consent, contact information of foster caregivers is being provided regularly to the FFC-NWT. The list of foster caregivers was shared with FFC-NWT in July and November 2019.  Reporting will be ongoing to the FFC-NWT.

Research on various competency-based training avenues is underway. In July 2019, the Department sent a questionnaire to all foster caregivers to assess their level of satisfaction with support, services and training. The FFC-NWT is also reaching out to foster caregivers to better understand their needs.

Managers and Supervisors, and some other CFS Staff participated in the HSS system cultural competency pilot training (January 2019).

As part of the enhanced Child and Protection Worker Statutory Core Training,  a full day of on-the-land learning experiences was delivered in partnership with the Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation (June 2019).

Supported is provided to the Assistant Directors through the Statutory Director’s Forum and on an as-needed basis.

Incoming and current Assistant Directors participated in a two-day specialized training event in November 2019. The Child Protection Worker Statutory Core Training was also offered to all Assistant Directors.

The Assistant Directors have consistently met with the Statutory Director and Deputy Directors since May 2018.

The review was completed in April 2019.

The permanency and cultural planning standard, tool and form were implemented in March 2019.

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

Based on the completed jurisdictional scan of leading practices, the incident report standard, tool and form are currently in development.