Nunavik children’s services get failing grade

KUUJJUAQ — Abused and neglected children do not get the help they need in Nunavik, says a report on the region’s youth protection services.

“The youth protection system is not currently functional,” states a report, which was circulated in April, but only recently obtained by Nunatsiaq News.

The report, prepared by investigators from Quebec’s youth rights commission, points out many serious shortcomings in a system that is plagued by isolation, lack of teamwork, and lack of supervision and training.

The report says the Youth Protection Act is not well-known or understood by the public and, “as it is poorly applied, it is considered to be poorly adapted to Inuit culture.”

The investigation into youth protection services was started in 2002 after two complaints were filed with Quebec’s human rights and children’s rights commission, the Commission des droits de la personne de des droits de la jeunesse.

The complaints were about 13 children who had not received adequate services from the region’s youth protection services and “certain other organizations.”

The investigation into these complaints looked at the entire range of youth protection services in Nunavik.

The 40-page report obtained by Nunatsiaq News deals only with the Ungava Bay youth protection services and the regional Rehabilitation Centre in Salluit, which are administered by the Tulattavik health board in Kuujjuaq.

For this report, investigators looked at a range of files, the Youth Protection Act and the Young Offenders Act.

“The situations examined by the Commission illustrate the amplitude and gravity of the problems experienced by children in Nunavik: mistreatment and neglect, mental health problems, sexual abuse, adjustment difficulties, family violence, alcohol and substance abuse, suicidal behaviour.”

The Director of the Rehabilitation Centre said “she regularly received children who had been raped at the age of three or four.”

The families of the 62 children whose situation was examined for the report included at least one member with an alcohol or drug problem. In some cases, their foster parents or babysitters also had drug and alcohol problems.

Many cases revealed problems linked to traditional adoption.

Despite the severity of problems faced by many children, investigators found a pattern of slow and sloppy response.

For example, it took more than six alerts to youth protection on average before any actions were taken to protect children in danger. The report says the lack of action by youth protection services was not based on the situation of the child.

“Many situations brought to the attention of the Director of Youth Protection were not retained for evaluation, whereas in the opinion of the investigators, action should have been taken.”

The report points out that youth protection workers are supposed to assess if a child is in danger.

“In several cases, no urgent measures were taken although the facts reported tended to show that the child was in imminent danger.”

The report also says many complaints were not even investigated and workers did not evaluate the child’s situation. When they did, they often carried out only quick assessments.

And they assumed sexual abuse would be linked to marks on body or would be based on medical proof. If there were no signs of abuse, children were often released to friends or the investigation was closed if “the family was friendly with the director of youth protection” or related to staff.

Sometimes files were closed because parents wouldn’t accept responsibility or intervention.

“The type of social services offered to the family often depended on the wishes, expressed by the child’s parents, who do not seem to have been asked to deal with their own difficulties or address their own lack of cooperation,” the report says.

According to the Youth Protection Act, the director of youth protection should take action if a child is in danger, with or without the agreement of the parents.

The report also cites problems with recruitment of foster families. Children experienced frequent changes in foster families. Foster families received little or “very superficial” follow-up from youth protection.

“Some children fell victim to abuse or neglect in their foster families. They did not have enough food or clothing. Some had no mattress or blanket.”

The report notes the lack of resources for children aged six to 12 in Ungava Bay communities, as well as a lack of school support and no drug addiction program “even though an organization receives federal government funding to offer a program.”

The report criticizes McGill’s social work certificate program for Inuit social workers, saying it is “insufficient,” requires no examinations and doesn’t develop assessment skills in the social workers it trains.