Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said in my Member's statement, yesterday a number of MLAs met with the Yukon's child and youth advocate, and I think it was eye-opening for a lot of us, but to see the important good work they do. One of the statistics that was shown to us was that 30 percent of the files dealt with at the Yukon child and youth advocate are from outside of territory. Many of those deal with Indigenous children in the Northwest Territories.
So I'd like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services, who is responsible in particular for children in care, which is the majority of the work of these offices, how are we tracking the concerns from parents, from foster families, from biological families, and from children themselves when concerns are brought forward? Can she demonstrate a similar volume of concern so we know that our system is, in fact, being responsive to the concerns of children in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.
Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when any family comes into contact or children come into contact with child and family services, the role is between the family -- the family protection worker or the family preservation worker to work with that family to bring forward their concerns. If there's protection issues, then the child protection worker works with the family to ensure that there's a safe place for the child. They'll work within the system, usually working with the families. If there's children that come forward which is, you know, more than likely, if the children are raising concerns, I do know that the social workers do meet individually with the children if they're able to do so. They would document and look towards a plan of care that supports the children and family to stay together. And then the other piece is with foster families. If there is no placement in the family or if there's no support -- immediate support that there could be for the safety of the child, they'll usually look towards family members or other members within the community and then foster families. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That was a good summary of how our system works, how our child and family services system works, but what I am asking about is when people are raising concerns about the well-being of children in the system that aren't in custody or that are in custody, who's looking after the system? So if the very system is the problem, where do Northerners go to get assistance? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the director of child and family services, which is not within the operations -- the director is within the department -- investigates any complaints coming forward, works with the families, works with whomever the complaint is coming forward and investigates that complaint thoroughly and always puts the best interest of the child first and foremost. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, once again, the director is part of the system. There needs to be independent oversight and an independent advocate as well. That's why MLAs have been calling for, to establish a child and youth advocate in the Northwest Territories. Will the Minister establish that? If she does, I can get rid of this motion I am going to give notice to later. But if she just says yes today, then we can all move forward and get a much-needed advocacy and support for children in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am only the Minister of Health and Social Services so if I established it within the housing of health and social services, that would defeat the Member's concern. So this is a conversation, I think, that is beyond my role, I think, so. You know, we've been having these conversations, and the Member is correct that, you know, we've heard from Members in the past government, and I was part of the other side of the House, where these concerns come up. But what we need to do is we need to identify is it the -- you know, where these concerns are coming, what is the actual concern, how is that going to be improved, and so I look forward to working with the Regular Members and my Cabinet colleagues to resolve this issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
