Start integrating Indigenous peoples and principles into community-controlled delivery of child and family services in the NWT, says Dehcho Grand Chief Gladys Norwegian.

SA国际影视传媒淔or years we, First Nations, have been saying we want control of our own programs and services and trying to make it based on our values and principles,SA国际影视传媒� said Norwegian.

Norwegian penned a letter to Premier Bob McLeod and Health and Social Services Minister Glen Abernethy because she felt that after the Auditor General of Canada's report on child and family services, it seemed that SA国际影视传媒渒nuckles were rapped and life goes on,SA国际影视传媒� she said.

SA国际影视传媒淭he majority of the children taken away were Indigenous and they were put at risk. I wanted to tell them there seem to be serious deficiencies in the Department of Health and Social Services,SA国际影视传媒� she said.

As the Dehcho leads itself into self-government, Norwegian expects the community will take on a greater share of service provision with an emphasis on preventative supports for families.

Dene Nation Chief Norman Yakeleya supports greater Indigenous self-determination and authority over the safety of children, he said.

SA国际影视传媒淲hen you see more than 95 per cent of children in care are Indigenous, thatSA国际影视传媒檚 an emergency situation. Give communities the means to support families and children, rather than putting a child on a plane and sending them out,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

After the health minister survived a vote of non-confidence over the state of child care in the territory, he vowed to fast track improvements to services, staff recruitment and retention.

The department is looking to increase positions in some of the communities where the number of children in care is the highest, said Abernethy.

Despite the departmentSA国际影视传媒檚 struggle to retain staff and a typical 20 per cent vacancy rate, in-territory professional programs to enter social work are increasingly scant. Training Northern social workers is just one possible solution to ending high turnover, she said.

The Aurora College social work program offers a diploma but year one will not be offered in 2018 and 2019. The GNWT decided in February 2017 to cut $1.9-million from the program, citing low enrollment, which contradicted a sweeping review of the college that said the program should be expanded.

SA国际影视传媒淲e need Northern experience,SA国际影视传媒� said Norwegian. SA国际影视传媒淭heySA国际影视传媒檙e looking for people with degrees. Efforts should be made to make the diploma program encouraging for people to move on and get their degree.SA国际影视传媒�

Cutting the program was SA国际影视传媒渋ronic,SA国际影视传媒� said Norwegian, adding that some Northern and Indigenous applicants havenSA国际影视传媒檛 been hired to provide services despite taking the social work program.

SA国际影视传媒淎t the end we just want healthy people SA国际影视传媒� happy people feeling good about themselves and knowing their identity and not being embarrassed about who they are,SA国际影视传媒� she said.

SA国际影视传媒淐an you imagine being a child yourself and being exposed to a lot of loud arguments in your household, then someone comes around to rescue you from that environment and finding out the home youSA国际影视传媒檙e being put in is not that safe?SA国际影视传媒� said Norwegian.

Dene Nation Chief Norman Yakeleya agrees that family services provision should be reclaimed by and for Indigenous people, who make up the majority of apprehensions in the territory.

Communities have SA国际影视传媒減erfectly educated, well-suited, skilled people that can look after children. They may not have university degrees or college diplomas. However, thatSA国际影视传媒檚 the issue. We are trying to measure up to another societySA国际影视传媒檚 credentials,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淗ow come governments donSA国际影视传媒檛 measure up to our level of adequacy?SA国际影视传媒�

Once a child enters the child and family services bureaucracy, it is difficult to take them back out and communities need a greater say in their own childrenSA国际影视传媒檚 lives, he said.

SA国际影视传媒淩esidential schools are alive in well in child welfare agencies. There is family separation, the disconnect from their culture, language, their traditions, their food and the events. Everything is a separation from their culture and who they are as an Indigenous person,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

In Alberta, the provincial government is working alongside Indigenous governments to reform its child welfare system, said Yakeleya.

In October, the province announced Bill 22 would overhaul child welfare, requiring the province notify an Indigenous childSA国际影视传媒檚 band if there is an application for private guardianship, implementing mandatory home inspections and strengthening requirements for reporting injuries and death.

The NWT's child and family services workers are supposed to conduct home inspections and follow up with youth in care, but the compliance rates for that policy are deficient, the Auditor General's report found.

Health authorities placed 63 per cent of children without performing basic checks and conducted even fewer required screenings on foster homes this year (66 per cent) than in 2014 (69 per cent). It only conducted annual reviews on 11 per cent of homes, the report states.

Indigenous governments need a say in child welfare and will not want to inherit the territorySA国际影视传媒檚 broken systems, said Yakeleya.

SA国际影视传媒淲e want to work with the territorial government but theySA国际影视传媒檝e got to be willing to sit down and say, SA国际影视传媒榣etSA国际影视传媒檚 do something creative. LetSA国际影视传媒檚 look at our own regional child welfare agencies,SA国际影视传媒橲A国际影视传媒� said Yakeleya.

The GNWT should initiate discussions with regional chiefs including the prospect of more direct nation-to-nation funding from the federal government, he said.

SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 not working, so we need to make some radical changes.SA国际影视传媒�