What steps will the Standing Committee on Social Programs take to review the Child and Family Services Act?

The Standing Committee is very interested in public input throughout the review of the Child and Family Services Act.

The Standing Committee would like to hear from you especially if:

You or someone in your family has had experiences with the Child and Family Services Act or a Child Protection worker.

You are a professional, doing work related to the implementation of the Child and Family Services Act.

You are from any other organization or group with an interest in children and families.

The Standing Committee provides many different opportunities for consultations with individuals, communities and stakeholders. A list of opportunities for the public to participate is provided at the beginning of this document.

Consultants who are independent from the Legislative Assembly will facilitate meetings between stakeholder groups and MLAs in Yellowknife including NGOs, Aboriginal organizations, social workers, lawyers and their clients and members. These meetings will take place in Yellowknife during the month of February.

Public meetings will take place in communities throughout the NWT after the Easter weekend in April 2010. At this time, the Committee intends to visit Paulatuk, Inuvik, Fort McPherson, Norman Wells, Tulita, Fort Simpson, Wrigley, Hay River Reserve, Hay River, Fort Smith, Lutselk’e, Whati, Behchoko, Yellowknife and Detah. A detailed schedule for community meetings will be made public later in the spring.

Community meetings will be conducted as panel discussions with national experts covering three main areas of expertise:

First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada; Cindy Blackstock, Executive Director

Centre of Excellence for Child Welfare or Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse

Child Protection Mediation, Sharon Sutherland, Assistant Professor UBC

The Standing Committee will also:

• Do research to compare laws, programs and services in other Canadian jurisdictions

• Review literature about best practices used in child protection and child welfare including models that exist to support and involve families and communities

• Consider all input and feedback it receives when deciding on recommendations for its final report.

The Standing Committee plans to table its final report on the Review of the Child and Family Services Act during the 2010 fall session of the 16th Assembly.