Auditor General: Fundamental Weaknesses Remain in Nunavut Foster Care, Monthly Contact Missing in Over 90 Per Cent of Files
A report from the Office of the Auditor General of Canada, presented on November 3 in the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut in Iqaluit, concluded that the territory's Department of Family Services did not provide timely and effective foster care services to protect and support the safety and well-being of children. The audit found many fundamental weaknesses identified in previous audits remained, including failures to maintain regular contact with children in care, weaknesses in the screening and monitoring of foster homes, and unreliable information on children and their placements.
The department could not consistently demonstrate that required monthly in-person contact with children and foster caregivers was followed: in more than 90 per cent of the files examined there was no evidence the contact had been maintained, and in five cases there was no documented contact with a child for more than a year, including one gap of over 17 months. The department completed only 52 per cent of required home studies before children were placed, annual home reviews were missing or incomplete in 62 per cent of cases examined, and in 32 of 44 children's files caregivers were not given important information such as health, family or trauma history. Some new caregivers waited 37 to 415 days before regular payments began.
Deputy Auditor General Andrew Hayes said the department has taken some initial actions, but after years of persistent problems what matters now is sustained improvement in frontline services. The audit also found the department still relies on manually compiled lists because its electronic records are unreliable, leaving it without a single reliable source on how many children are in care or where they are placed.
(Source: Office of the Auditor General of Canada)
Source: Office of the Auditor General of Canada
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Nunavut 地区首府 Iqaluit（Wikimedia Commons 开放授权） / Photo: Iqaluit, Nunavut (Wikimedia Commons, open licence)
