Filling social worker positions a tough slog, Nunavut minister says

Family Services Minister Jeannie Ugyuk says the Government of Nunavut is still working on implementing the Auditor General of Canada’s recommendations on fixing Nunavut’s child protection system. (FILE PHOTO)

The Government of Nunavut promises to provide two social workers for each community as it continues to work towards improving its much-criticized child protection services across the territory, but finding people to fill those jobs has been a tough challenge, Family Services Minister Jeannie Ugyuk said in the Nunavut legislature Nov. 3.

Iqaluit-Tasiluk MLA George Hickes has asked Ugyuk to provide MLAs with a comprehensive update of her department’s work on implementation of recommendations set down by the Auditor General of Canada in 2011.

“There have been a number of vacancies that haven’t been filled yet in the communities, but we always support the efforts to fill them,” Ugyuk said.

“We want to get many social workers working, and looking to the future our plan is to have two social workers for each community.”

In 2011, Nunavut was given a failing grade by the Auditor General of Canada for its child protection efforts, in a report that highlighted dangerous lapses by the territory in the administration of child protection services and the oversight of children in foster care.

In its 2014 follow-up report, the Auditor General’s office said the GN still needs to do more work on the issue, but did acknowledge some improvement.

Many of the Auditor General’s recommendations focused on improving the Department of Family Services’ inadequate training and hiring of qualified childcare workers.

Ugyuk said her department had fulfilled recommendations to track workers who received or required mandatory training, as well as on establishing regular training for childcare workers.

“If family services are going to be hiring workers they have to be qualified… we will be working with Nunavut Arctic College to design a course for social workers on Inuit societal values and it will be completed by February 2016,” said Ugyuk.

She said the department is now aware of all staffing vacancies within family services as of March 2015 — and compliant with the Auditor General’s recommendations to gather that data.

Ugyuk did not address revelations from a Standing Committee on Oversight of Operations on Public Accounts in Sept. 2014, which discovered many child protection staff employed by the Department of Family Services did not posses the required qualifications for their jobs.

The committee found half of all child protection staff were hired under letters of authority, which are written for applicants who do not meet the normal requirements for social work.

Hickes pressed Ugyuk to release a formal update to the assembly.

“There are deadlines for those documents, then at the winter session I can provide an update on which recommendations have been completed,” said Ugyuk.

You can read the 2011 Auditor General’s report here.

Here’s the follow-up report, published in 2014.

The fall sitting of Nunavut’s Legislative Assembly is scheduled to continue until Nov. 9.