The Minister of Health and Social Services tabled the 2022-2023 Annual Report of the Director of Child and Family Services in the Legislative Assembly.
The Annual Report provides a summary of services delivered in the NWT between April 1, 2022, and March 31, 2023. Services include adoption services, family preservation, prevention supports, and protection services, which are available and provided to each of the 33 communities in the NWT.
The Annual Report provides an opportunity for residents of the NWT to see the types of support and services delivered through Child and Family Services (CFS) and understand why they are offered. The report identifies trends, including how the CFS system can improve and where there has been a positive impact on the people served.
Regular foster placements continued to decrease, while extended family placements increased. For the first time, extended family placements outnumbered regular ones, benefitting Indigenous children and youth, as 62% of them received support from Indigenous caregivers, promoting cultural and familial ties.
Disparities in income and housing security are still two of the most common reasons why families and youth request voluntary services. Furthermore, the continued overrepresentation of Indigenous children and youth within the NWT CFS system is evidence the CFS system needs to shift the structure and delivery of services.
Earlier this week, the Child, Youth and Family Services Strategic Direction and Action Plan was released, and it will guide the system forward with confidence that the CFS system will continue to move towards system transformation. The Strategic Direction and Action Plan envisions a broader and deeper change to fundamentally shift the CFS system towards the goals of a culturally safe health and social services system and providing better supports to children and youth in ways that promote their overall safety and wellbeing.
