Public Reporting Recommendations
Through our public reports we often make recommendations to public bodies that are aimed at improving services and supports for young people. We follow up and review progress on these recommendations at the end of each fiscal year (April 1 to March 31). Public bodies are asked to provide updates on progress made by April 30 annually.
This work is guided by
Two Frameworks
Recommendation Evaluation Framework
Investigative Review Framework
Annual progress on recommendations, as determined by the Child and Youth Advocate, is posted below.
For further information on a public body’s response to a recommendation, please contact the respective public body.
OCYA Recommendations as of March 31, 2024
| Report Name | Report Type | Recommendation Name | Report Release Date | Progress Reported by | Recommendation | Expected Outcomes | Further Comments | Evaluation | Date of Last Evaluation | Progress As of Last Reporting Period |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calling for Change 2023-2024: Investigative Reviews Consolidated Report | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Nov-24 | Ministry of Education and Childcare | The Ministries of Education, Health, Justice, Children and Family Services, Mental Health and Addiction, Public Safety and Emergency Services, and Seniors, Community and Social Services should each conduct an annual assessment to identify the supports they fund that are provided at a community level. | Supports provided at a community level are those that build resiliency. These include, but are not limited to: – arts and recreation activities; – mentorship, afterschool programs, and school clubs; – activities that support cultural connection; – youth workers and support workers; and, – programs that promote overall well-being Factors to consider in the assessment should include, but are not limited to: – what supports currently exist and their locations; – what services they offer; and, – whether the service delivery data they collect is being used to evaluate current services and inform future services. -Each ministry should update their assessment annually. -Each ministry should share the findings of their assessment with the other ministries identified in this recommendation. -Each ministry’s progress will be evaluated individually through the OCYA’s recommendation evaluation process. | New Recommendation – Not Applicable | Mar-25 | This recommendation was made within the past six months. | |
| Calling for Change 2023-2024: Investigative Reviews Consolidated Report | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Nov-24 | Ministry of Primary and Preventative Health Services | The Ministries of Education, Health, Justice, Children and Family Services, Mental Health and Addiction, Public Safety and Emergency Services, and Seniors, Community and Social Services should each conduct an annual assessment to identify the supports they fund that are provided at a community level. | Supports provided at a community level are those that build resiliency. These include, but are not limited to: – arts and recreation activities; – mentorship, afterschool programs, and school clubs; – activities that support cultural connection; – youth workers and support workers; and, – programs that promote overall well-being Factors to consider in the assessment should include, but are not limited to: – what supports currently exist and their locations; – what services they offer; and, – whether the service delivery data they collect is being used to evaluate current services and inform future services. -Each ministry should update their assessment annually. -Each ministry should share the findings of their assessment with the other ministries identified in this recommendation. -Each ministry’s progress will be evaluated individually through the OCYA’s recommendation evaluation process. | New Recommendation – Not Applicable | Mar-25 | This recommendation was made within the past six months. | |
| Calling for Change 2023-2024: Investigative Reviews Consolidated Report | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Nov-24 | Ministry of Justice | The Ministries of Education, Health, Justice, Children and Family Services, Mental Health and Addiction, Public Safety and Emergency Services, and Seniors, Community and Social Services should each conduct an annual assessment to identify the supports they fund that are provided at a community level. | Supports provided at a community level are those that build resiliency. These include, but are not limited to: – arts and recreation activities; – mentorship, afterschool programs, and school clubs; – activities that support cultural connection; – youth workers and support workers; and, – programs that promote overall well-being Factors to consider in the assessment should include, but are not limited to: – what supports currently exist and their locations; – what services they offer; and, – whether the service delivery data they collect is being used to evaluate current services and inform future services. -Each ministry should update their assessment annually. -Each ministry should share the findings of their assessment with the other ministries identified in this recommendation. -Each ministry’s progress will be evaluated individually through the OCYA’s recommendation evaluation process. | New Recommendation – Not Applicable | Mar-25 | This recommendation was made within the past six months. | |
| Calling for Change 2023-2024: Investigative Reviews Consolidated Report | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Nov-24 | Ministry of Children and Family Services | The Ministries of Education, Health, Justice, Children and Family Services, Mental Health and Addiction, Public Safety and Emergency Services, and Seniors, Community and Social Services should each conduct an annual assessment to identify the supports they fund that are provided at a community level. | Supports provided at a community level are those that build resiliency. These include, but are not limited to: – arts and recreation activities; – mentorship, afterschool programs, and school clubs; – activities that support cultural connection; – youth workers and support workers; and, – programs that promote overall well-being Factors to consider in the assessment should include, but are not limited to: – what supports currently exist and their locations; – what services they offer; and, – whether the service delivery data they collect is being used to evaluate current services and inform future services. -Each ministry should update their assessment annually. -Each ministry should share the findings of their assessment with the other ministries identified in this recommendation. -Each ministry’s progress will be evaluated individually through the OCYA’s recommendation evaluation process. | New Recommendation – Not Applicable | Mar-25 | This recommendation was made within the past six months. | |
| Calling for Change 2023-2024: Investigative Reviews Consolidated Report | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Nov-24 | Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction | The Ministries of Education, Health, Justice, Children and Family Services, Mental Health and Addiction, Public Safety and Emergency Services, and Seniors, Community and Social Services should each conduct an annual assessment to identify the supports they fund that are provided at a community level. | Supports provided at a community level are those that build resiliency. These include, but are not limited to: – arts and recreation activities; – mentorship, afterschool programs, and school clubs; – activities that support cultural connection; – youth workers and support workers; and, – programs that promote overall well-being Factors to consider in the assessment should include, but are not limited to: – what supports currently exist and their locations; – what services they offer; and, – whether the service delivery data they collect is being used to evaluate current services and inform future services. -Each ministry should update their assessment annually. -Each ministry should share the findings of their assessment with the other ministries identified in this recommendation. -Each ministry’s progress will be evaluated individually through the OCYA’s recommendation evaluation process. | New Recommendation – Not Applicable | Mar-25 | This recommendation was made within the past six months. | |
| Calling for Change 2023-2024: Investigative Reviews Consolidated Report | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Nov-24 | Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services | The Ministries of Education, Health, Justice, Children and Family Services, Mental Health and Addiction, Public Safety and Emergency Services, and Seniors, Community and Social Services should each conduct an annual assessment to identify the supports they fund that are provided at a community level. | Supports provided at a community level are those that build resiliency. These include, but are not limited to: – arts and recreation activities; – mentorship, afterschool programs, and school clubs; – activities that support cultural connection; – youth workers and support workers; and, – programs that promote overall well-being Factors to consider in the assessment should include, but are not limited to: – what supports currently exist and their locations; – what services they offer; and, – whether the service delivery data they collect is being used to evaluate current services and inform future services. -Each ministry should update their assessment annually. -Each ministry should share the findings of their assessment with the other ministries identified in this recommendation. -Each ministry’s progress will be evaluated individually through the OCYA’s recommendation evaluation process. | New Recommendation – Not Applicable | Mar-25 | This recommendation was made within the past six months. | |
| Calling for Change 2023-2024: Investigative Reviews Consolidated Report | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Nov-24 | Ministry of Assisted Living and Social Services | The Ministries of Education, Health, Justice, Children and Family Services, Mental Health and Addiction, Public Safety and Emergency Services, and Seniors, Community and Social Services should each conduct an annual assessment to identify the supports they fund that are provided at a community level. | Supports provided at a community level are those that build resiliency. These include, but are not limited to: – arts and recreation activities; – mentorship, afterschool programs, and school clubs; – activities that support cultural connection; – youth workers and support workers; and, – programs that promote overall well-being Factors to consider in the assessment should include, but are not limited to: – what supports currently exist and their locations; – what services they offer; and, – whether the service delivery data they collect is being used to evaluate current services and inform future services. -Each ministry should update their assessment annually. -Each ministry should share the findings of their assessment with the other ministries identified in this recommendation. -Each ministry’s progress will be evaluated individually through the OCYA’s recommendation evaluation process. | New Recommendation – Not Applicable | Mar-25 | This recommendation was made within the past six months. | |
| Calling for Change 2023-2024: Investigative Reviews Consolidated Report | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Nov-24 | Ministry of Education and Childcare | The Ministries of Education, Health, Justice, Children and Family Services, Mental Health and Addiction, Public Safety and Emergency Services, and Seniors, Community and Social Services should each strengthen coordination between funded services that are provided at a community level both within their respective ministry and between ministries. | – Coordination will improve the sharing of program information and expertise. – Coordination will identify services that exist, whether they are over/under utilized and service gaps. – Each ministry’s progress will be evaluated individually through the OCYA’s recommendation evaluation process. | New Recommendation – Not Applicable | Mar-25 | This recommendation was made within the past six months. | |
| Calling for Change 2023-2024: Investigative Reviews Consolidated Report | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Nov-24 | Ministry of Primary and Preventative Health Services | The Ministries of Education, Health, Justice, Children and Family Services, Mental Health and Addiction, Public Safety and Emergency Services, and Seniors, Community and Social Services should each strengthen coordination between funded services that are provided at a community level both within their respective ministry and between ministries. | – Coordination will improve the sharing of program information and expertise. – Coordination will identify services that exist, whether they are over/under utilized and service gaps. – Each ministry’s progress will be evaluated individually through the OCYA’s recommendation evaluation process. | New Recommendation – Not Applicable | Mar-25 | This recommendation was made within the past six months. | |
| Calling for Change 2023-2024: Investigative Reviews Consolidated Report | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Nov-24 | Ministry of Justice | The Ministries of Education, Health, Justice, Children and Family Services, Mental Health and Addiction, Public Safety and Emergency Services, and Seniors, Community and Social Services should each strengthen coordination between funded services that are provided at a community level both within their respective ministry and between ministries. | – Coordination will improve the sharing of program information and expertise. – Coordination will identify services that exist, whether they are over/under utilized and service gaps. – Each ministry’s progress will be evaluated individually through the OCYA’s recommendation evaluation process. | New Recommendation – Not Applicable | Mar-25 | This recommendation was made within the past six months. | |
| Calling for Change 2023-2024: Investigative Reviews Consolidated Report | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Nov-24 | Ministry of Children and Family Services | The Ministries of Education, Health, Justice, Children and Family Services, Mental Health and Addiction, Public Safety and Emergency Services, and Seniors, Community and Social Services should each strengthen coordination between funded services that are provided at a community level both within their respective ministry and between ministries. | – Coordination will improve the sharing of program information and expertise. – Coordination will identify services that exist, whether they are over/under utilized and service gaps. – Each ministry’s progress will be evaluated individually through the OCYA’s recommendation evaluation process. | New Recommendation – Not Applicable | Mar-25 | This recommendation was made within the past six months. | |
| Calling for Change 2023-2024: Investigative Reviews Consolidated Report | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Nov-24 | Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction | The Ministries of Education, Health, Justice, Children and Family Services, Mental Health and Addiction, Public Safety and Emergency Services, and Seniors, Community and Social Services should each strengthen coordination between funded services that are provided at a community level both within their respective ministry and between ministries. | – Coordination will improve the sharing of program information and expertise. – Coordination will identify services that exist, whether they are over/under utilized and service gaps. – Each ministry’s progress will be evaluated individually through the OCYA’s recommendation evaluation process. | New Recommendation – Not Applicable | Mar-25 | This recommendation was made within the past six months. | |
| Calling for Change 2023-2024: Investigative Reviews Consolidated Report | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Nov-24 | Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services | The Ministries of Education, Health, Justice, Children and Family Services, Mental Health and Addiction, Public Safety and Emergency Services, and Seniors, Community and Social Services should each strengthen coordination between funded services that are provided at a community level both within their respective ministry and between ministries. | – Coordination will improve the sharing of program information and expertise. – Coordination will identify services that exist, whether they are over/under utilized and service gaps. – Each ministry’s progress will be evaluated individually through the OCYA’s recommendation evaluation process. | New Recommendation – Not Applicable | Mar-25 | This recommendation was made within the past six months. | |
| Calling for Change 2023-2024: Investigative Reviews Consolidated Report | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Nov-24 | Ministry of Assisted Living and Social Services | The Ministries of Education, Health, Justice, Children and Family Services, Mental Health and Addiction, Public Safety and Emergency Services, and Seniors, Community and Social Services should each strengthen coordination between funded services that are provided at a community level both within their respective ministry and between ministries. | – Coordination will improve the sharing of program information and expertise. – Coordination will identify services that exist, whether they are over/under utilized and service gaps. – Each ministry’s progress will be evaluated individually through the OCYA’s recommendation evaluation process. | New Recommendation – Not Applicable | Mar-25 | This recommendation was made within the past six months. | |
| Calling for Change 2023-2024: Investigative Reviews Consolidated Report | Investigative Review | Recommendation 3 | Nov-24 | Ministry of Education and Childcare | The Ministries of Education, Health, Justice, Children and Family Services, Mental Health and Addiction, Public Safety and Emergency Services, and Seniors, Community and Social Services should each strengthen navigation between funded services that are provided at a community level both within their respective ministry and between ministries. | – There will be increased capacity to provide seamless transition between services so that children, youth and families do not experience service disruptions. – Navigation supports will facilitate a warm handoff between service providers to connect families with the appropriate services when needed. – Each ministry’s progress will be evaluated individually through the OCYA’s recommendation evaluation process. | New Recommendation – Not Applicable | Mar-25 | This recommendation was made within the past six months. | |
| Calling for Change 2023-2024: Investigative Reviews Consolidated Report | Investigative Review | Recommendation 3 | Nov-24 | Ministry of Primary and Preventative Health Services | The Ministries of Education, Health, Justice, Children and Family Services, Mental Health and Addiction, Public Safety and Emergency Services, and Seniors, Community and Social Services should each strengthen navigation between funded services that are provided at a community level both within their respective ministry and between ministries. | – There will be increased capacity to provide seamless transition between services so that children, youth and families do not experience service disruptions. – Navigation supports will facilitate a warm handoff between service providers to connect families with the appropriate services when needed. – Each ministry’s progress will be evaluated individually through the OCYA’s recommendation evaluation process. | New Recommendation – Not Applicable | Mar-25 | This recommendation was made within the past six months. | |
| Calling for Change 2023-2024: Investigative Reviews Consolidated Report | Investigative Review | Recommendation 3 | Nov-24 | Ministry of Justice | The Ministries of Education, Health, Justice, Children and Family Services, Mental Health and Addiction, Public Safety and Emergency Services, and Seniors, Community and Social Services should each strengthen navigation between funded services that are provided at a community level both within their respective ministry and between ministries. | – There will be increased capacity to provide seamless transition between services so that children, youth and families do not experience service disruptions. – Navigation supports will facilitate a warm handoff between service providers to connect families with the appropriate services when needed. – Each ministry’s progress will be evaluated individually through the OCYA’s recommendation evaluation process. | New Recommendation – Not Applicable | Mar-25 | This recommendation was made within the past six months. | |
| Calling for Change 2023-2024: Investigative Reviews Consolidated Report | Investigative Review | Recommendation 3 | Nov-24 | Ministry of Children and Family Services | The Ministries of Education, Health, Justice, Children and Family Services, Mental Health and Addiction, Public Safety and Emergency Services, and Seniors, Community and Social Services should each strengthen navigation between funded services that are provided at a community level both within their respective ministry and between ministries. | – There will be increased capacity to provide seamless transition between services so that children, youth and families do not experience service disruptions. – Navigation supports will facilitate a warm handoff between service providers to connect families with the appropriate services when needed. – Each ministry’s progress will be evaluated individually through the OCYA’s recommendation evaluation process. | New Recommendation – Not Applicable | Mar-25 | This recommendation was made within the past six months. | |
| Calling for Change 2023-2024: Investigative Reviews Consolidated Report | Investigative Review | Recommendation 3 | Nov-24 | Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction | The Ministries of Education, Health, Justice, Children and Family Services, Mental Health and Addiction, Public Safety and Emergency Services, and Seniors, Community and Social Services should each strengthen navigation between funded services that are provided at a community level both within their respective ministry and between ministries. | – There will be increased capacity to provide seamless transition between services so that children, youth and families do not experience service disruptions. – Navigation supports will facilitate a warm handoff between service providers to connect families with the appropriate services when needed. – Each ministry’s progress will be evaluated individually through the OCYA’s recommendation evaluation process. | New Recommendation – Not Applicable | Mar-25 | This recommendation was made within the past six months. | |
| Calling for Change 2023-2024: Investigative Reviews Consolidated Report | Investigative Review | Recommendation 3 | Nov-24 | Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services | The Ministries of Education, Health, Justice, Children and Family Services, Mental Health and Addiction, Public Safety and Emergency Services, and Seniors, Community and Social Services should each strengthen navigation between funded services that are provided at a community level both within their respective ministry and between ministries. | – There will be increased capacity to provide seamless transition between services so that children, youth and families do not experience service disruptions. – Navigation supports will facilitate a warm handoff between service providers to connect families with the appropriate services when needed. – Each ministry’s progress will be evaluated individually through the OCYA’s recommendation evaluation process. | New Recommendation – Not Applicable | Mar-25 | This recommendation was made within the past six months. | |
| Calling for Change 2023-2024: Investigative Reviews Consolidated Report | Investigative Review | Recommendation 3 | Nov-24 | Ministry of Assisted Living and Social Services | The Ministries of Education, Health, Justice, Children and Family Services, Mental Health and Addiction, Public Safety and Emergency Services, and Seniors, Community and Social Services should each strengthen navigation between funded services that are provided at a community level both within their respective ministry and between ministries. | – There will be increased capacity to provide seamless transition between services so that children, youth and families do not experience service disruptions. – Navigation supports will facilitate a warm handoff between service providers to connect families with the appropriate services when needed. – Each ministry’s progress will be evaluated individually through the OCYA’s recommendation evaluation process. | New Recommendation – Not Applicable | Mar-25 | This recommendation was made within the past six months. | |
| Calling for Change 2023-2024: Investigative Reviews Consolidated Report | Investigative Review | Recommendation 4 | Nov-24 | Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction | The Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction should publicly post mental health and addiction service options available to children and youth along with their wait times. | – Children and youth are those young people up to 24 years old. – This includes availability of spaces and wait times for specific programs across the province. – Wait times should be updated and available in real time. | New Recommendation – Not Applicable | Mar-25 | This recommendation was made within the past six months. | |
| Calling for Change 2023-2024: Investigative Reviews Consolidated Report | Investigative Review | Recommendation 5 | Nov-24 | Ministry of Children and Family Services | The Ministry of Children and Family Services should review and revise the supports provided under the Transition to Adulthood Program (TAP). | – Young people who experience significant trauma, grief and loss and have limited natural supports will likely experience several setbacks navigating life challenges. As they may have limited natural supports to help them during this time, this population requires a different type and duration of supports. Factors to consider in the review should include, but are not limited to: – increasing the age of eligibility of both financial and non-financial supports; – reviewing the responsibility being put on the young person to seek TAP support; and, – revising the process of accessing TAP services to ensure continuity of relationship with their TAP practitioner. This would include when they move between the four areas of TAP or re-enter the program. | New Recommendation – Not Applicable | Mar-25 | This recommendation was made within the past six months. | |
| Beyond Barriers: Young People with Disabilities in the Child Intervention and Youth Justice Systems | Special Report | Recommendation 1 | Jan-24 | Ministry of Assisted Living and Social Services | The Ministry of Seniors, Community and Social Services should publicly release their plan to address the challenges that were identified by families in the 2021 report on the Family Support for Children with Disabilities program review engagement. | – The ministry will release a public action plan outlining how they will address the concerns identified so that families are aware of the actions being taken. – The ministry will provide regular public updates on the implementation of the plan. – Young people with disabilities and their families will have fewer barriers to receiving the support they need. | Ongoing – Some Progress | Mar-25 | The Advocate appreciates that the Ministry has taken some action to address the challenges that were identified by families in the 2021 report on the Family Support for Children with Disabilities. The Advocate is looking forward to seeing a public action plan outlining how they will address the concerns identified so that families are aware of the actions being taken. The recommendation has been assessed as some progress. |
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| Beyond Barriers: Young People with Disabilities in the Child Intervention and Youth Justice Systems | Special Report | Recommendation 2 | Jan-24 | Ministry of Assisted Living and Social Services | The Ministry of Seniors, Community and Social Services should provide families involved with the Family Support for Children with Disabilities program direct services when they require urgent supports, including access to a continuum of services from in-home support to emergency out-of-home living arrangements. | – The ministry will provide immediate support for young people and their families when they need it. – The ministry will increase the availability of emergency out-of-home living arrangements tailored to the needs of young people with disabilities who are not able to live at home with their families. – Young people with disabilities will have their needs met while their parents retain their decision-making ability and guardianship. – Young people and their families will receive a continuum of immediate supports services from the ministry best equipped to support young people with disabilities. | Ongoing – No Progress | Mar-25 | The Advocate looks forward to seeing how the Ministry addresses urgent supports including direct services as required for families involved with the Family Support for Children with Disabilities program. The recommendation has been assessed as no progress. |
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| Beyond Barriers: Young People with Disabilities in the Child Intervention and Youth Justice Systems | Special Report | Recommendation 3 | Jan-24 | Ministry of Assisted Living and Social Services | The Ministry of Seniors, Community and Social Services should increase the availability of out-of-home living arrangements provided by the Family Support for Children with Disabilities program. | – Families will have fewer barriers to accessing alternative living arrangements for young people with disabilities when they are not able to live at home. – Young people with disabilities will have living arrangements tailored to meet their needs. – Young people with disabilities will have their needs met while their parents retain their decision-making ability and guardianship. – Young people and their families will receive out-of-home living arrangements from the ministry best equipped to support young people with disabilities. | Ongoing – No Progress | Mar-25 | The Advocate looks forward to seeing how the Ministry will increase availability, reducing barriers, for out-of-home living arrangements, for families in urgent need. This recommendation has been assessed as no progress. |
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| Beyond Barriers: Young People with Disabilities in the Child Intervention and Youth Justice Systems | Special Report | Recommendation 4 | Jan-24 | Ministry of Assisted Living and Social Services | The Ministry of Seniors, Community and Social Services should accept and action the Persons with Developmental Disabilities steering committee’s 2021 recommendation about increasing eligibility. | – Young adults with IQs between 70 and 85, who need support, are eligible for PDD services (recommendation A2). See appendix 1. – Young adults with disabilities will receive the support they need. | Ongoing – No Progress | Mar-25 | The Advocate is disappointed that the Ministry is not taking action on the Persons with Developmental Disabilities Steering Committee’s 2021 report recommendation to increase the eligibility for young people with disabilities. This recommendation has been assessed as no progress. |
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| Beyond Barriers: Young People with Disabilities in the Child Intervention and Youth Justice Systems | Special Report | Recommendation 5 | Jan-24 | Ministry of Assisted Living and Social Services | The Ministry of Seniors, Community and Social Services should accept and action the Persons with Developmental Disabilities steering committee’s 2021 recommendations about alternative home living supports | – The alternative home living support recommendations are implemented (recommendations B1-8). See appendix 1 for full details. – Young people with developmental disabilities transitioning to adulthood will have access to supportive housing. – Fewer young adults with disabilities will be unhoused. | Ongoing – Some Progress | Mar-25 | The Advocate appreciates that some actions have been taken and looks forward to further updates from the Ministry. It is important to understand how the actions will directly meet the Persons with Developmental Disabilities steering committee’s 2021 recommendations about alternative home living supports. This recommendation has been assessed as some progress. |
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| Beyond Barriers: Young People with Disabilities in the Child Intervention and Youth Justice Systems | Special Report | Recommendation 6 | Jan-24 | Ministry of Children and Family Services | The Ministry of Children and Family Services should partner with external disability experts and young people to review and identify actions to meet the needs of young people with disabilities in placements. | – The review will consider all types of placement options from family-based care to specialized placements. – The review will include consideration of how disabilities are identified, and how information is documented, shared, and used to inform planning. – Young people’s experiences will help inform the outcome of the review. – The outcome of the review will be made public and will identify actions to improve supports for young people with disabilities. – Young people with disabilities will live in placements that meet their individual needs. | Ongoing – Some Progress | Mar-25 | The Advocate appreciates that there is some work being done regarding out-of-home placements for young people, however it is not clear how disability experts and young people were involved in this work, and as such whether it will meet the needs of young people with disabilities. This recommendation has been assessed as some progress. |
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| Beyond Barriers: Young People with Disabilities in the Child Intervention and Youth Justice Systems | Special Report | Recommendation 7 | Jan-24 | Ministry of Children and Family Services | The Ministry of Children and Family Services should partner with external disability experts and young people to complete a review and identify actions to meet the needs of young people with disabilities involved with the Support for Permanency program. | – The review will include consultation with young people with disabilities and their families who have received services from SFP, including those who have had disruptions in permanency. – The review will identify barriers and challenges to maintaining permanency and connection for young people with disabilities. – Young people’s experiences will help inform the outcome of the review. – The outcome of the review will be made public and identify actions to improve supports for young people with disabilities who are involved with SFP. – Young people with disabilities will remain connected to their families. | Ongoing – No Progress | Mar-25 | The Advocate would like to see the Ministry’s collaboration with disability experts and young people in the completion of a review that identifies actions to meet the needs of young people with disabilities involved with the Support for Permanency program. This recommendation has been assessed as no progress. |
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| Beyond Barriers: Young People with Disabilities in the Child Intervention and Youth Justice Systems | Special Report | Recommendation 8 | Jan-24 | Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services | The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services should partner with external disability experts and young people to complete a review and identify actions to improve supports for young people with disabilities involved in the youth justice system. | – The review will consider the continuum of services, including, but not limited to, legal representation, court processes, probation, community orders, and custody. – The outcome of the review will be made public and identify actions to improve supports for young people with disabilities who are involved with the youth justice system. – Young people’s experiences will help inform the outcome of the review. – Young people with disabilities will receive the support they need when they are involved with youth justice. | Ongoing – Some Progress | Mar-25 | The Advocate is pleased with the preliminary steps taken to set up the review and the collaborative approach; and looks forward to the completion of the review and the identification of actions. This recommendation has been assessed as some progress. |
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| Mandatory Reviews into Child Deaths: April 1, 2022 – September 30, 2022 | Mandatory Review | Recommendation 1 | Mar-23 | Ministry of Children and Family Services | The Ministry of Children’s Services should examine the connections for each Indigenous child in the care of the Director, and identify tailored actions that build and strengthen connections with their family, community, and culture. | – Indigenous children and youth will have lifelong, meaningful connections with their families, communities, and cultures. – Indigenous young people will say that they have a strong identity and that they feel a sense of belonging. | – Indigenous young people should be meaningfully and specifically connected to their communities and supported to engage in their cultures. Young people may require additional supports to strengthen connections and relationships in a healthy manner. – Connections must include, and should not be limited to, parents, siblings, relatives and/or others who are significant to the child, and key contacts with their First Nation, Inuit, Métis Settlement or community. – Action planning should be done in partnership with the child or youth and their First Nation, Inuit, Métis Settlement or community; including Elders, Knowledge Keepers and those significant to the young person. | Ongoing – Some Progress | Mar-25 | The Advocate is concerned that there was not more attention paid to including young people and Indigenous communities in the review, given the continued high number of Indigenous young people in care. This recommendation remains at some progress. |
| Mandatory Reviews into Child Deaths: April 1, 2022 – September 30, 2022 | Mandatory Review | Recommendation 2 | Mar-23 | Ministry of Children and Family Services | The Ministry of Children’s Services should publicly report on summary findings from their examination of all Indigenous children and their unique connections to their families, communities, and cultures within 12 months and provide ongoing annual updates. | – Public updates will provide transparency so that Indigenous peoples can determine if their children are meaningfully connected with their families, communities, and cultures. – Collaboration with Indigenous communities for cultural planning will be strengthened and meaningful actions will be taken to uphold young people’s rights and to make certain each Indigenous child has connection with their family, community, and culture. – An annual update will ensure these practices are ongoing for Indigenous young people. | – An update should be publicly reported in 12 months, and then annually as part of the ministry’s accountability. – Results should be shared with each Indigenous community. | Ongoing – Some Progress | Mar-25 | The Advocate appreciates that the Ministry is exploring ways to publicly share results and findings from the review of Indigenous young people and their connection to culture and looking at ongoing annual reporting. This recommendation remains at some progress. |
| Mandatory Reviews into Child Deaths: October 1, 2021 – March 31, 2022 | Mandatory Review | Recommendation 1 | Sep-22 | Ministry of Education, Ministry of Children and Family Services, Ministry of Seniors, Community and Social Services, Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services | The Ministries of Health, Education, Children’s Services, Community and Social Services and Justice and Solicitor General should develop and publicly report on a coordinated action plan to address service gaps for young people with complex needs while longer-term initiatives are under development. This plan should include targeted activities and milestones that meet the immediate needs of these young people. | – Young people with complex needs will have access to supports while initiatives are under development. Supports should be readily available and accessible by young people and their families. – The coordinated action plan should be completed and publicly available within six months of this recommendation. – The coordinated action plan should include access to appropriate housing, mental health and substance use supports from adolescence to early adulthood | Child-serving ministries have acknowledged that service provision for young people with complex needs requires a coordinated approach to be effective. They have identified several cross-ministry initiatives, that when implemented, may adequately support these children and youth. However, these young people require immediate services to ensure their survival and well-being. | Closed – Unmet – No Progress | Mar-24 | The Advocate is extremely concerned that a coordinated and clear plan has not been made publicly available. The availability of this short-term plan would help these young people, their families and caregivers know where and how to access the services they need. There are longer term plans in progress, however these young people and those who care about them, need support while these plans are in progress. This recommendation has been closed as unmet no progress. |
| Mandatory Reviews into Child Deaths: April 1, 2021 – September 30, 2021 | Mandatory Review | Recommendation 1 | Mar-22 | Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction, Ministry of Education and Childcare, Ministry of Assisted Living and Social Services | The Ministries of Health, Education, and Community and Social Services should develop a process to coordinate seamless service delivery for young people with intellectual and behavioural challenges and their families. | – Services for young people and their families should be accessible regardless of ministerial responsibility. – Families and caregivers of young people with intellectual and behavioural challenges will be aware of services, able to access them, and, if necessary, will be supported to access them. | – When young people with intellectual and behavioural challenges lose connection to the education system, they often experience a lack of coordinated services. – The OCYA recognizes that collaborative policies and practices exist but need to be consistently applied to adequately serve these young people. – Services provided should continue to be centred on the young person and meet the needs of the parents/caregivers. – Services should adapt to young people’s evolving needs. | Ongoing – Significant Progress | Mar-25 | The Advocate is pleased to see the continued expansion of services, understanding that it takes time to implement across the province; and is hopeful this continues so all young people have access. This recommendation remains at significant progress. |
| Mandatory Reviews into Child Deaths: April 1, 2021 – September 30, 2021 | Mandatory Review | Recommendation 2 | Mar-22 | Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction | The Ministry of Health should report their progress to a Committee of the Legislature on recommendations made to them by the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate. | – The Ministries of Health, Education, Children’s Services, Justice and Solicitor General, and Community and Social Services will have a process established whereby they provide an annual public update on the progress of recommendations to a Committee of the Legislature. – Public responses to recommendations will identify how ministries are meeting the evolving needs of young people. – Ministry processes will be transparent, and the public will be aware of the actions taken to address young people’s needs. | – The Ministries of Health, Education, Children’s Services, Justice and Solicitor General, and Community and Social Services will establish a process to publicly report on progress made on recommendations to a Committee of the Legislature. – The Committee of the Legislature will review the progress made on recommendations and request additional information as required to ensure that Alberta’s young people receive the appropriate services and supports. – Public accountability for the responses to recommendations would demonstrate commitment to the actions being taken to improve the lives of young people and would uphold their rights. – The Office of the Child and Youth Advocate makes recommendations to ensure all young people, regardless of their circumstances, succeed in their lives and communities. We recognize that the ministries responsible for responding to and implementing these recommendations share this goal. | Closed – Some Progress | Mar-24 | The Advocate appreciates the ongoing commitment of the ministries to provide progress updates on recommendations. The Advocate would also like to acknowledge that individual ministries are limited in their ability to enact this recommendation. Our Evaluation Framework increases our transparency and outlines our commitment to working collaboratively with ministries. The Framework also shifted the progress evaluation timeline to an annual occurrence to align with public reporting in the Advocate’s annual report, while providing ministries a greater opportunity to demonstrate progress. The Advocate looks forward to continuing to have a collaborative relationship with the ministries to enact recommendations that benefit children and families. The recommendation has been closed at some progress. |
| Mandatory Reviews into Child Deaths: April 1, 2021 – September 30, 2021 | Mandatory Review | Recommendation 2 | Mar-22 | Ministry of Education | The Ministry of Education should report their progress to a Committee of the Legislature on recommendations made to them by the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate. | – The Ministries of Health, Education, Children’s Services, Justice and Solicitor General, and Community and Social Services will have a process established whereby they provide an annual public update on the progress of recommendations to a Committee of the Legislature. – Public responses to recommendations will identify how ministries are meeting the evolving needs of young people. – Ministry processes will be transparent, and the public will be aware of the actions taken to address young people’s needs. | – The Ministries of Health, Education, Children’s Services, Justice and Solicitor General, and Community and Social Services will establish a process to publicly report on progress made on recommendations to a Committee of the Legislature. – The Committee of the Legislature will review the progress made on recommendations and request additional information as required to ensure that Alberta’s young people receive the appropriate services and supports. – Public accountability for the responses to recommendations would demonstrate commitment to the actions being taken to improve the lives of young people and would uphold their rights. – The Office of the Child and Youth Advocate makes recommendations to ensure all young people, regardless of their circumstances, succeed in their lives and communities. We recognize that the ministries responsible for responding to and implementing these recommendations share this goal. | Closed – Some Progress | Mar-24 | The Advocate appreciates the ongoing commitment of the ministries to provide progress updates on recommendations. The Advocate would also like to acknowledge that individual ministries are limited in their ability to enact this recommendation. Our Evaluation Framework increases our transparency and outlines our commitment to working collaboratively with ministries. The Framework also shifted the progress evaluation timeline to an annual occurrence to align with public reporting in the Advocate’s annual report, while providing ministries a greater opportunity to demonstrate progress. The Advocate looks forward to continuing to have a collaborative relationship with the ministries to enact recommendations that benefit children and families. The recommendation has been closed at some progress. |
| Mandatory Reviews into Child Deaths: April 1, 2021 – September 30, 2021 | Mandatory Review | Recommendation 2 | Mar-22 | Ministry of Seniors, Community and Social Services | The Ministry of Community and Social Services should report their progress to a Committee of the Legislature on recommendations made to them by the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate. | – The Ministries of Health, Education, Children’s Services, Justice and Solicitor General, and Community and Social Services will have a process established whereby they provide an annual public update on the progress of recommendations to a Committee of the Legislature. – Public responses to recommendations will identify how ministries are meeting the evolving needs of young people. – Ministry processes will be transparent, and the public will be aware of the actions taken to address young people’s needs. | – The Ministries of Health, Education, Children’s Services, Justice and Solicitor General, and Community and Social Services will establish a process to publicly report on progress made on recommendations to a Committee of the Legislature. – The Committee of the Legislature will review the progress made on recommendations and request additional information as required to ensure that Alberta’s young people receive the appropriate services and supports. – Public accountability for the responses to recommendations would demonstrate commitment to the actions being taken to improve the lives of young people and would uphold their rights. – The Office of the Child and Youth Advocate makes recommendations to ensure all young people, regardless of their circumstances, succeed in their lives and communities. We recognize that the ministries responsible for responding to and implementing these recommendations share this goal. | Closed – Some Progress | Mar-24 | The Advocate appreciates the ongoing commitment of the ministries to provide progress updates on recommendations. The Advocate would also like to acknowledge that individual ministries are limited in their ability to enact this recommendation. Our Evaluation Framework increases our transparency and outlines our commitment to working collaboratively with ministries. The Framework also shifted the progress evaluation timeline to an annual occurrence to align with public reporting in the Advocate’s annual report, while providing ministries a greater opportunity to demonstrate progress. The Advocate looks forward to continuing to have a collaborative relationship with the ministries to enact recommendations that benefit children and families. The recommendation has been closed at some progress. |
| Mandatory Reviews into Child Deaths: April 1, 2021 – September 30, 2021 | Mandatory Review | Recommendation 2 | Mar-22 | Ministry of Children and Family Services | The Ministry of Children’s Services should report their progress to a Committee of the Legislature on recommendations made to them by the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate. | – The Ministries of Health, Education, Children’s Services, Justice and Solicitor General, and Community and Social Services will have a process established whereby they provide an annual public update on the progress of recommendations to a Committee of the Legislature. – Public responses to recommendations will identify how ministries are meeting the evolving needs of young people. – Ministry processes will be transparent, and the public will be aware of the actions taken to address young people’s needs. | – The Ministries of Health, Education, Children’s Services, Justice and Solicitor General, and Community and Social Services will establish a process to publicly report on progress made on recommendations to a Committee of the Legislature. – The Committee of the Legislature will review the progress made on recommendations and request additional information as required to ensure that Alberta’s young people receive the appropriate services and supports. – Public accountability for the responses to recommendations would demonstrate commitment to the actions being taken to improve the lives of young people and would uphold their rights. – The Office of the Child and Youth Advocate makes recommendations to ensure all young people, regardless of their circumstances, succeed in their lives and communities. We recognize that the ministries responsible for responding to and implementing these recommendations share this goal. | Closed – Some Progress | Mar-24 | The Advocate appreciates the ongoing commitment of the ministries to provide progress updates on recommendations. The Advocate would also like to acknowledge that individual ministries are limited in their ability to enact this recommendation. Our Evaluation Framework increases our transparency and outlines our commitment to working collaboratively with ministries. The Framework also shifted the progress evaluation timeline to an annual occurrence to align with public reporting in the Advocate’s annual report, while providing ministries a greater opportunity to demonstrate progress. The Advocate looks forward to continuing to have a collaborative relationship with the ministries to enact recommendations that benefit children and families. The recommendation has been closed at some progress. |
| Mandatory Reviews into Child Deaths: April 1, 2021 – September 30, 2021 | Mandatory Review | Recommendation 2 | Mar-22 | Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services | The Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General should report their progress to a Committee of the Legislature on recommendations made to them by the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate. | – The Ministries of Health, Education, Children’s Services, Justice and Solicitor General, and Community and Social Services will have a process established whereby they provide an annual public update on the progress of recommendations to a Committee of the Legislature. – Public responses to recommendations will identify how ministries are meeting the evolving needs of young people. – Ministry processes will be transparent, and the public will be aware of the actions taken to address young people’s needs. | – The Ministries of Health, Education, Children’s Services, Justice and Solicitor General, and Community and Social Services will establish a process to publicly report on progress made on recommendations to a Committee of the Legislature. – The Committee of the Legislature will review the progress made on recommendations and request additional information as required to ensure that Alberta’s young people receive the appropriate services and supports. – Public accountability for the responses to recommendations would demonstrate commitment to the actions being taken to improve the lives of young people and would uphold their rights. – The Office of the Child and Youth Advocate makes recommendations to ensure all young people, regardless of their circumstances, succeed in their lives and communities. We recognize that the ministries responsible for responding to and implementing these recommendations share this goal. | Closed – Some Progress | Mar-24 | The Advocate appreciates the ongoing commitment of the ministries to provide progress updates on recommendations. The Advocate would also like to acknowledge that individual ministries are limited in their ability to enact this recommendation. Our Evaluation Framework increases our transparency and outlines our commitment to working collaboratively with ministries. The Framework also shifted the progress evaluation timeline to an annual occurrence to align with public reporting in the Advocate’s annual report, while providing ministries a greater opportunity to demonstrate progress. The Advocate looks forward to continuing to have a collaborative relationship with the ministries to enact recommendations that benefit children and families. The recommendation has been closed at some progress. |
| Mandatory Reviews into Child Deaths: October 1, 2020 – March 31, 2021 | Mandatory Review | Kelsie: Recommendation 1 | Sep-21 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Children’s Services should strengthen policy and practice supports related to the role and involvement of First Nation designates to include accountability provisions when designates provide guidance on family and cultural connections. | – Indigenous young people receiving child intervention services will have greater protection of and respect for their cultural identities. | – First Nation designates, community leaders, and young people should be meaningfully involved in a process for updating these policy and practice supports. – Policy and practice supports should give young people and First Nation designates opportunity to have their views and preferences reflected in their cultural priorities. | Closed – Met | Sep-22 | Based on the policy changes implemented, we consider this recommendation “met.” |
| Mandatory Reviews into Child Deaths: October 1, 2020 – March 31, 2021 | Mandatory Review | Brooklyn & Cindi: Recommendation 1 | Sep-21 | Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services, Ministry of Children and Family Services | The Ministries of Children’s Services and of Justice and Solicitor General should develop a protocol that requires Child Intervention Services be informed prior to the release of an individual who has been incarcerated for family violence where the family was involved with Child Intervention Services. | – Child Intervention Services staff will be aware and able to adjust safety plans for families who are potentially at risk when a violent offender is released. | – The information shared should include date of release and the current risk an offender may pose so that caseworkers are better equipped to assess the needs of children and families. – While both ministries currently have policies regarding information sharing, a protocol will require the mandatory notification. | Ongoing – Significant Progress | Mar-25 | The Advocate appreciates that collaborative work has occurred and looks forward to the implementation of a notification process to support the safety of young people and their families when a family violence offender is being released. Once the policy manual update has been received and reflects the notification process this recommendation will be met. This recommendation is assessed at significant progress. |
| Mandatory Reviews into Child Deaths: October 1, 2020 – March 31, 2021 | Mandatory Review | Brooklyn & Cindi: Recommendation 2 | Sep-21 | Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services | The Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General should reassess the risk offenders pose and offer to safety plan with victims of family violence when offenders are released from incarceration. | – Victims of family violence will have immediate support in creating or adjusting safety plans when their risk increases. Those who support a family will be aware of the increased risk and know how to intervene. | – Processes must be in place to ensure that corrections staff share information in a timely manner to allow for safety planning. – Safety planning must be completed by staff who have knowledge of family violence and must be done in collaboration with the family’s established support network. When natural supports are not present, work must be completed to identify appropriate supports. – Children’s needs must be considered and, when appropriate, they should be actively involved in safety planning. | Ongoing – Some Progress | Mar-25 | The Advocate acknowledges the work that has been done to support children and families impacted by family violence. Young people and those who care about them need to be aware of the risk posed by the offender (who is being released) and have the supports necessary to effectively plan for their safety. Unfortunately, the intent of this recommendation has not been addressed. This recommendation remains at some progress. |
| Strengthening Foundations: Assessment, Information-Sharing, and Collaboration | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Sep-21 | Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services | The Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General should review and adjust their quality assurance processes to include both qualitative and quantitative measures that regularly evaluate service delivery within their systems. | – Child-serving ministries will have balanced quality assurance processes that evaluate both qualitative and quantitative measures, which will indicate if knowledge, critical thinking, analysis, and intervention used in service delivery for young people is improving. – Child-serving ministries will utilize evaluation results to inform program improvements, staff training, and development strategies so services are being provided to children and families as intended. | The quality assurance measures should: – be based on the organization’s principles and be culturally inclusive so evaluation tools and measures are meaningful and appropriate to meet the needs of Alberta’s diverse populations – evaluate the quality of interactions and inform how services are being delivered – result in improved decision-making, as well as overall improvement in the lives of young people and their families Each ministry is responsible for reporting its own public accountability activities and outcomes, which should: – be publicly available at regular intervals – be reported in clear, simple language – include thorough input and feedback from service delivery staff and clients who received services | Ongoing – Some Progress | Mar-25 | While the Advocate appreciates the actions taken, more information is required about which programs/initiatives related to young people the Ministry is assessing, how young people’s feedback is being incorporated into their evaluation activities, as well as whether results related to service delivery to young people will be publicly reported. This recommendation remains at some progress. |
| Strengthening Foundations: Assessment, Information-Sharing, and Collaboration | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Sep-21 | Ministry of Children and Family Services | The Ministry of Children’s Services should review and adjust their quality assurance processes to include both qualitative and quantitative measures that regularly evaluate service delivery within their systems. | – Child-serving ministries will have balanced quality assurance processes that evaluate both qualitative and quantitative measures, which will indicate if knowledge, critical thinking, analysis, and intervention used in service delivery for young people is improving. – Child-serving ministries will utilize evaluation results to inform program improvements, staff training, and development strategies so services are being provided to children and families as intended. | The quality assurance measures should: – be based on the organization’s principles and be culturally inclusive so evaluation tools and measures are meaningful and appropriate to meet the needs of Alberta’s diverse populations – evaluate the quality of interactions and inform how services are being delivered – result in improved decision-making, as well as overall improvement in the lives of young people and their families Each ministry is responsible for reporting its own public accountability activities and outcomes, which should: – be publicly available at regular intervals – be reported in clear, simple language – include thorough input and feedback from service delivery staff and clients who received services | Ongoing – Some Progress | Mar-25 | The Advocate is concerned that there was no new information provided by the Ministry in this update and no plan for the ongoing use of qualitative and quantitative information, including feedback from young people. This recommendation remains at some progress. |
| Strengthening Foundations: Assessment, Information-Sharing, and Collaboration | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Sep-21 | Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction | The Ministry of Health should review and adjust their quality assurance processes to include both qualitative and quantitative measures that regularly evaluate service delivery within their systems. | – Child-serving ministries will have balanced quality assurance processes that evaluate both qualitative and quantitative measures, which will indicate if knowledge, critical thinking, analysis, and intervention used in service delivery for young people is improving. – Child-serving ministries will utilize evaluation results to inform program improvements, staff training, and development strategies so services are being provided to children and families as intended. | The quality assurance measures should: – be based on the organization’s principles and be culturally inclusive so evaluation tools and measures are meaningful and appropriate to meet the needs of Alberta’s diverse populations – evaluate the quality of interactions and inform how services are being delivered – result in improved decision-making, as well as overall improvement in the lives of young people and their families Each ministry is responsible for reporting its own public accountability activities and outcomes, which should: – be publicly available at regular intervals – be reported in clear, simple language – include thorough input and feedback from service delivery staff and clients who received services | Closed – Met | Mar-24 | The Advocate appreciates the continuous actions taken by the Ministry to ensure inter-ministerial coordination and ensure that there is an evaluation process of their qualitative and quantitative measures, which is also publicly available. This recommendation is considered met. |
| Strengthening Foundations: Assessment, Information-Sharing, and Collaboration | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Sep-21 | Ministry of Seniors, Community and Social Services | The Ministry of Community and Social Services should review and adjust their quality assurance processes to include both qualitative and quantitative measures that regularly evaluate service delivery within their systems. | – Child-serving ministries will have balanced quality assurance processes that evaluate both qualitative and quantitative measures, which will indicate if knowledge, critical thinking, analysis, and intervention used in service delivery for young people is improving. – Child-serving ministries will utilize evaluation results to inform program improvements, staff training, and development strategies so services are being provided to children and families as intended. | The quality assurance measures should: – be based on the organization’s principles and be culturally inclusive so evaluation tools and measures are meaningful and appropriate to meet the needs of Alberta’s diverse populations – evaluate the quality of interactions and inform how services are being delivered – result in improved decision-making, as well as overall improvement in the lives of young people and their families Each ministry is responsible for reporting its own public accountability activities and outcomes, which should: – be publicly available at regular intervals – be reported in clear, simple language – include thorough input and feedback from service delivery staff and clients who received services | Closed – Met | Mar-24 | The Advocate appreciates the actions taken on the quality assurance processes and the information provided publicly in the annual report. This recommendation is considered met. |
| Strengthening Foundations: Assessment, Information-Sharing, and Collaboration | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Sep-21 | Ministry of Education | The Ministry of Education should review and adjust their quality assurance processes to include both qualitative and quantitative measures that regularly evaluate service delivery within their systems. | – Child-serving ministries will have balanced quality assurance processes that evaluate both qualitative and quantitative measures, which will indicate if knowledge, critical thinking, analysis, and intervention used in service delivery for young people is improving. – Child-serving ministries will utilize evaluation results to inform program improvements, staff training, and development strategies so services are being provided to children and families as intended. | The quality assurance measures should: – be based on the organization’s principles and be culturally inclusive so evaluation tools and measures are meaningful and appropriate to meet the needs of Alberta’s diverse populations – evaluate the quality of interactions and inform how services are being delivered – result in improved decision-making, as well as overall improvement in the lives of young people and their families Each ministry is responsible for reporting its own public accountability activities and outcomes, which should: – be publicly available at regular intervals – be reported in clear, simple language – include thorough input and feedback from service delivery staff and clients who received services | Closed – Met | Mar-23 | This recommendation was made to multiple ministries but requires individual action from each. Starting with this evaluation each ministry’s progress will be reported individually and be considered separate recommendations. The evaluation was delayed due to the provincial election. The Advocate is pleased to see and thanks the Ministry of Education for their work done on this recommendation. This recommendation is met. |
| Strengthening Foundations: Assessment, Information-Sharing, and Collaboration | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Sep-21 | Ministry of Education and Childcare | The Ministry of Education should collaborate and coordinate with Service Alberta to regularly communicate where to access reference and training materials to those responsible for providing services under the Children First Act. Furthermore, these ministries should offer service providers opportunities for ongoing, interactive, cross-systems training on the act. | – Children and families will receive holistic services resulting from cross-ministry information-sharing and collaboration among frontline practitioners, which will improve outcomes for Alberta’s families. | Communication about the Children First Act should: – be targeted towards service providers who promote well-being, safety and security of children and families – occur at regular intervals – be relayed using various platforms, such as public awareness campaigns, emails, hard copy marketing materials, and so on The training should: – be specific to information-sharing – provide professionals who deliver services to children and families an understanding of the Children First Act (CFA) and how it fits within their ministry’s legislation, policies, procedures and practice frameworks – provide all participants with resource materials to refer to when applying the CFA – be ongoing, so service providers’ knowledge and resources are current – address service providers’ concerns about what information they are able to share, and when, with cross-ministry partners – provide a dispute resolution process that can be accessed by service providers when there is disagreement about information-sharing The language in the Children First Act related to “best interests of the child” should: – be clearly defined to help reduce confusion and improve consistency when applying the legislation Each ministry is responsible for reporting its own public accountability activities and outcomes, which should: – be publicly available and updated at regular intervals – be reported in clear, simple language | Ongoing – Significant Progress | Mar-25 | While the Advocate appreciates that access to training and reference materials on the Children’s First Act have been provided, an expectation that all staff complete the training on an ongoing basis is also needed. This recommendation remains at significant progress. |
| Strengthening Foundations: Assessment, Information-Sharing, and Collaboration | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Sep-21 | Ministry of Children and Family Services | The Ministry of Community and Social Services should collaborate and coordinate with Service Alberta to regularly communicate where to access reference and training materials to those responsible for providing services under the Children First Act. Furthermore, these ministries should offer service providers opportunities for ongoing, interactive, cross-systems training on the act. | – Children and families will receive holistic services resulting from cross-ministry information-sharing and collaboration among frontline practitioners, which will improve outcomes for Alberta’s families. | Communication about the Children First Act should: – be targeted towards service providers who promote well-being, safety and security of children and families – occur at regular intervals – be relayed using various platforms, such as public awareness campaigns, emails, hard copy marketing materials, and so on The training should: – be specific to information-sharing – provide professionals who deliver services to children and families an understanding of the Children First Act (CFA) and how it fits within their ministry’s legislation, policies, procedures and practice frameworks – provide all participants with resource materials to refer to when applying the CFA – be ongoing, so service providers’ knowledge and resources are current – address service providers’ concerns about what information they are able to share, and when, with cross-ministry partners – provide a dispute resolution process that can be accessed by service providers when there is disagreement about information-sharing The language in the Children First Act related to “best interests of the child” should: – be clearly defined to help reduce confusion and improve consistency when applying the legislation Each ministry is responsible for reporting its own public accountability activities and outcomes, which should: – be publicly available and updated at regular intervals – be reported in clear, simple language | Ongoing – Some Progress | Mar-25 | The Advocate is concerned that there was no plan or new information provided by the Ministry for the ongoing training for service providers, both Children and Family Services and agency staff. This recommendation remains at some progress. |
| Strengthening Foundations: Assessment, Information-Sharing, and Collaboration | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Sep-21 | Ministry of Assisted Living and Social Services | The Ministry of Community and Social Services should collaborate and coordinate with Service Alberta to regularly communicate where to access reference and training materials to those responsible for providing services under the Children First Act. Furthermore, these ministries should offer service providers opportunities for ongoing, interactive, cross-systems training on the act. | – Children and families will receive holistic services resulting from cross-ministry information-sharing and collaboration among frontline practitioners, which will improve outcomes for Alberta’s families. | Communication about the Children First Act should: – be targeted towards service providers who promote well-being, safety and security of children and families – occur at regular intervals – be relayed using various platforms, such as public awareness campaigns, emails, hard copy marketing materials, and so on The training should: – be specific to information-sharing – provide professionals who deliver services to children and families an understanding of the Children First Act (CFA) and how it fits within their ministry’s legislation, policies, procedures and practice frameworks – provide all participants with resource materials to refer to when applying the CFA – be ongoing, so service providers’ knowledge and resources are current – address service providers’ concerns about what information they are able to share, and when, with cross-ministry partners – provide a dispute resolution process that can be accessed by service providers when there is disagreement about information-sharing The language in the Children First Act related to “best interests of the child” should: – be clearly defined to help reduce confusion and improve consistency when applying the legislation Each ministry is responsible for reporting its own public accountability activities and outcomes, which should: – be publicly available and updated at regular intervals – be reported in clear, simple language | Ongoing – Some Progress | Mar-25 | The Advocate appreciates the actions taken and once a plan for the ongoing training for service providers, both for Assisted Living and Social Services and agency staff, is shared this recommendation will be met. This recommendation remains at some progress. |
| Strengthening Foundations: Assessment, Information-Sharing, and Collaboration | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Sep-21 | Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services | The Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General should collaborate and coordinate with Service Alberta to regularly communicate where to access reference and training materials to those responsible for providing services under the Children First Act. Furthermore, these ministries should offer service providers opportunities for ongoing, interactive, cross-systems training on the act. | – Child-serving ministries will have balanced quality assurance processes that evaluate both qualitative and quantitative measures, which will indicate if knowledge, critical thinking, analysis, and intervention used in service delivery for young people is improving. – Child-serving ministries will utilize evaluation results to inform program improvements, staff training, and development strategies so services are being provided to children and families as intended. | The quality assurance measures should: – be based on the organization’s principles and be culturally inclusive so evaluation tools and measures are meaningful and appropriate to meet the needs of Alberta’s diverse populations – evaluate the quality of interactions and inform how services are being delivered – result in improved decision-making, as well as overall improvement in the lives of young people and their families Each ministry is responsible for reporting its own public accountability activities and outcomes, which should: – be publicly available at regular intervals – be reported in clear, simple language – include thorough input and feedback from service delivery staff and clients who received services | Closed – Met | Mar-24 | The Advocate appreciates the commitment to ensure that staff are aware of the Children’s First Act to ensure that information is shared surrounding young people. This recommendation has been met. |
| Strengthening Foundations: Assessment, Information-Sharing, and Collaboration | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Sep-21 | Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction | The Ministry of Health should collaborate and coordinate with Service Alberta to regularly communicate where to access reference and training materials to those responsible for providing services under the Children First Act. Furthermore, these ministries should offer service providers opportunities for ongoing, interactive, cross-systems training on the act. | – Child-serving ministries will have balanced quality assurance processes that evaluate both qualitative and quantitative measures, which will indicate if knowledge, critical thinking, analysis, and intervention used in service delivery for young people is improving. – Child-serving ministries will utilize evaluation results to inform program improvements, staff training, and development strategies so services are being provided to children and families as intended. | The quality assurance measures should: – be based on the organization’s principles and be culturally inclusive so evaluation tools and measures are meaningful and appropriate to meet the needs of Alberta’s diverse populations – evaluate the quality of interactions and inform how services are being delivered – result in improved decision-making, as well as overall improvement in the lives of young people and their families Each ministry is responsible for reporting its own public accountability activities and outcomes, which should: – be publicly available at regular intervals – be reported in clear, simple language – include thorough input and feedback from service delivery staff and clients who received services | Closed – Met | Mar-24 | The Advocate appreciates the commitment to ensure that staff are aware of the Children’s First Act to ensure that information is shared surrounding young people. This recommendation has been met. |
| Renewed Focus: A follow-up report on youth opioid use in Alberta | Special Report | Recommendation 1 | Jun-21 | Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction | The Government of Alberta, with leadership from the Ministry of Health, should establish a dedicated body such as a panel, committee, or commission to develop and support implementation of a youth opioid and substance use strategy. | – A public body such as a panel, committee or commission is formed of diverse stakeholders, including young people. – A youth opioid and substance use strategy is developed. – Agreements/memorandums of understanding are established. – Youth receive a more comprehensive and coordinated range of services to address opioid and substance use. | Ongoing – Significant Progress | Mar-25 | The Advocate appreciates that much action has been taken to address opioid and substance use, including cross ministry collaboration. Once this is articulated in a strategy specific to the developmental stage of young people, this recommendation will be met. This recommendation is assessed at significant progress. |
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| Mandatory Reviews into Child Deaths: April 1, 2020 – September 30, 2020 | Mandatory Review | Libby: Recommendation 1 | Mar-21 | Ministry of Children and Family Services, Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction | The Ministries of Health and Children’s Services should host a forum or other event that engages relevant stakeholders to highlight the actions taken and results achieved in the first two years of the province’s five-year youth suicide prevention plan (Building Strength, Inspiring Hope: A Provincial Action Plan for Youth Suicide Prevention 2019–2024), as well as steps for action to be taken in the coming two years. The ministries responsible should include a written summary of proceedings so there is a document for future public reference. | – A marked reduction in youth suicide in Alberta, including youth who are at greater risk of suicide (those who have experienced adverse childhood experiences, and who are Indigenous, LGBTQ2S+, newcomers and refugees). – When young people receiving government services lose a family member or significant person to suicide, they receive the supports and services they need to address their heightened risk factors. – Strengthening of protective factors in young people’s lives, with an emphasis on the importance of relationships, connection and continuity of care for young people who are at risk of suicide. | Closed – Unmet – Some Progress | Mar-25 | The Advocate continues to be concerned with the number of youth suicides. While it is appreciated there have been steps taken to address youth suicide, Building Strength, Inspiring Hope: A Provincial Action Plan for Youth Suicide Prevention 2019–2024 is now concluded. It is troubling that there hasn’t been interim or final publicly accessible information highlighting the actions taken and results achieved through this plan. This recommendation has been closed as unmet with some progress. |
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| Mandatory Reviews into Child Deaths: April 1, 2020 – September 30, 2020 | Mandatory Review | Teddy: Recommendation 1 | Mar-21 | Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services | The Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General should ensure that when no-contact conditions are imposed, information about the timely revision/ removal of the conditions is provided and explained to young people and their caregivers in simple language. | – Information related to the revision/removal of no-contact conditions will be readily available and easily understood so young people and their caregivers are aware of how to amend them in a timely manner. – Young people will be able to have contact with their caregivers when it is safe to do so. | Information regarding processes to revise/remove no-contact conditions in a timely manner should be publicly available in simple language and easily accessible. This will ensure that young people and their caregivers are aware of their options and will help them navigate court processes. This is especially important in circumstances where the conditions impact a young person’s ability to live with their caregivers. | Closed – Met | Mar-23 | The evaluation was delayed due to the provincial election. The Advocate is pleased to see the actions taken and thanks the Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency services for their work done on this recommendation. This recommendation is met. |
| Mandatory Reviews into Child Deaths: October 1, 2019 – March 31, 2020 | Mandatory Review | Cooper: Recommendation 1 | Sep-20 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Children’s Services should re-evaluate and revise policies and practice guidelines regarding file transfers to ensure they are being consistently interpreted and applied across the province. There should be a clear escalation process in place to resolve any difficulties with file transfers. | – When young people and their families move within Alberta, they will receive consistent supports and services from the Ministry of Children’s Services. – Child Intervention Services’ staff across Alberta will know the file transfer policy and practice guidelines and apply them consistently. – Child Intervention Services will have a process that evaluates the application of the file transfer policy and practice guidelines. | The Ministry of Children’s Services has adequate policies that state young people and their families should continue to receive supports and services when they move to another jurisdiction. Policy requires that a young person’s safety and best interests be the focus of the file transfer.56 When transferring a young person’s child intervention file to another region, policy must be followed so that there are no gaps in services and the young person is not at risk. | Closed – Unmet – No Progress | Sep-21 | As the response from the Ministry of Children’s Services has indicated that they do not agree with this recommendation, the Advocate is deeming this recommendation as not having been met. |
| Mandatory Reviews into Child Deaths: October 1, 2019 – March 31, 2020 | Mandatory Review | Roy: Recommendation 1 | Sep-20 | Ministry of Community and Social Services | The Ministry of Community and Social Services should review and revise the Family Support for Children with Disabilities (FSCD) policy to align with its legislation. FSCD policy should clearly indicate that children and families are able to utilize out-of-home placements up to the age of 18 years old, if needed. | – FSCD policy will have clear language that promotes consistency in interpretation and application of policy provincewide. – Families will be able to access out-of-home services for their children while maintaining guardianship and decision-making rights. – Children’s connection to their families will be strengthened through the preservation of the role of parents. | Closed – Met | Sep-21 | The intent of this recommendation has been met. The review committee ensures that policy aligns with legislation to meet the needs of the child. | |
| Mandatory Reviews into Child Deaths: October 1, 2019 – March 31, 2020 | Mandatory Review | Cora & Elliot: Recommendation 1 | Sep-20 | Ministry of Assisted Living and Social Services | The Ministry of Community and Social Services should strengthen its capacity to promote collaborative practice between community-based agencies to address the needs of vulnerable young people in the context of their families and communities. | – There will be an increase in collaboration between community-based service providers that is initiated and supported by the Ministry of Community and Social Services. – Children and families will receive coordinated community-based supports to help address the underlying causes of long-standing patterns of abuse and neglect. | Ongoing – Some Progress | Mar-25 | While some progress has been made at a higher level to promote connection between agencies, the Advocate would like to see the development of policy and directives to encourage collaboration between agencies at the client level to address the needs of vulnerable young people in the context of their families and communities. This recommendation remains at some progress. |
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| Mandatory Reviews into Child Deaths: April 1, 2019 – September 30, 2019 | Mandatory Review | Allie: Recommendation 1 | Mar-20 | Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General | The Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General should have a process that ensures police agencies are using a defined case management system in all child sexual abuse investigations. | – Police agencies will establish and adhere to defined case management systems that monitor the progress of an investigation to ensure support for, and regular communication with, victims and their families. – Police agencies will use the evaluation results to inform program improvements, staff training and development strategies to support timely communication with victims and their families, and timely completion of investigations. | Closed – Met | Sep-21 | This recommendation has been met. The Advocate is pleased to see the thorough response from the Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General. | |
| Mandatory Reviews into Child Deaths: October 1, 2019 – March 31, 2020 | Mandatory Review | Lucas: Recommendation 1 | Mar-20 | Ministry of Children’s Services | Child Intervention Services should increase the availability of whole family residential treatment programs, within the province, for young people and their families. | – Whole family treatment programs within Alberta will increase availability and be less costly than out-of-province programs. – Young people and their families will have options for a residential milieu approach for a sufficient duration to address the underlying causes of their involvement with Child Intervention Services. – Young people will have stronger protective factors linked to family wellbeing. | Closed – Unmet – No Progress | Sep-21 | As the Ministry of Children’s Services has indicated that they will not accept this recommendation, the Advocate is deeming this recommendation as not having been met. | |
| Mandatory Reviews into Child Deaths: April 1, 2019 – September 30, 2019 | Mandatory Review | Rose: Recommendation 1 | Mar-20 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Children’s Services should ensure that the level of intervention, services and supports provided to a young person is reassessed following a life-threatening experience. | – Caseworkers will accurately determine young people’s needs and appropriateness of safety plans. – The level of intervention provided will match the level of risk to the young person. – Young people will have immediate and ongoing supports to keep them safe. – Family members and community partners will be involved on an ongoing basis to enhance the child-focused assessment. | All opioid overdoses by young people require an elevated response by the professionals involved. It is important to look beyond the immediate crisis and assess the trauma history of the young person and its relationship to their current functioning.42 Assessment and safety planning for young people who have overdosed on opioids should be immediate, robust and include appropriate support services. | Closed – Some Progress | Mar-22 | As the Ministry of Children’s Services has indicated they will not longer provide further updates, this recommendation will be closed and remain at the last evaluated status. While there have been actions taken to address young people who had concerns related to substance use, the Advocate is concerned that there have not been actions taken to address other life-threatening circumstances. The Advocate will continue to monitor this issue, which may result in a future recommendation. |
| Mandatory Reviews into Child Deaths: April 1, 2019 – September 30, 2019 | Mandatory Review | Penny: Recommendation 1 | Mar-20 | Ministry of Assisted Living and Social Services | The Ministry of Community and Social Services should ensure that the Family Support for Children with Disabilities (FSCD) program pays for services upfront and provides key workers, who help with accessing resources and supports, to families facing financial and social barriers. | – The FSCD program has flexibility to accommodate a range of service delivery options for families facing barriers. – Families will have earlier support to access services. – Families will experience less emotional and financial stress. | Ongoing – Some Progress | Mar-25 | While the Advocate acknowledges that some changes have been made, having to pay for services up front is still negatively impacting families and services to young people. The Advocate is extremely worried about this and is again asking to see policy that provides families with ease of access to the resources they require. This recommendation remains at some progress. |
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| A Critical Time: Emerging Adults Leaving Children’s Services Care | Special Report | Recommendation 1 | Nov-19 | Ministry of Children’s Services | Children’s Services should improve policy and practice guidelines and provide training and time for staff to support young people 18 to 24 years old as they move through emerging adulthood. | – Children Services professionals will understand and be responsive to the needs of Emerging adults. – Young adults will receive the necessary supports and Services required to become successful adults. – supports and Services will be tailored to recognize the significance of this developmental stage. | Closed – Some Progress | Mar-22 | The recent progress update indicated that the Ministry of Children’s Services considered this recommendation met with the implementation of the Transition to Adulthood Program (TAP). The Advocate has not been provided access to policy-specific information about this program and is unable to make a determination about whether TAP meets this recommendation. The Advocate is very concerned about young people transitioning out of Children’s Services and will continue to monitor this recommendations and the implementation of TAP, based on publicly available information and advocacy involvement. Since the Advocate deems this recommendation as not met, it will be closed and remain at the last evaluated status. | |
| A Critical Time: Emerging Adults Leaving Children’s Services Care | Special Report | Recommendation 2 | Nov-19 | Ministry of Children’s Services | Children’s Services should clearly outline the supports and services young adults are entitled to receive under a Support and Financial Assistance Agreement (SFAA). Young people should be connected to adult services, as required, before their SFAAs terminate. | – There will be publicly accessible and clear information about the supports and services emerging adults receive under a SFAA. – Supports and services will be aligned with best practices in emerging adulthood theory. – Emerging adults will have sufficient guidance to transition to adult supports for health, mental health, substance use, training and education. | Closed – Some Progress | Mar-22 | The recent progress update indicated that the Ministry of Children’s Services considered this recommendation met with the implementation of the Transition to Adulthood Program (TAP). The Advocate has not been provided access to policy-specific information about this program and is unable to make a determination about whether TAP meets this recommendation. The Advocate is very concerned about young people transitioning out of Children’s Services and will continue to monitor this recommendations and the implementation of TAP, based on publicly available information and advocacy involvement. Since the Advocate deems this recommendation as not met, it will be closed and remain at the last evaluated status. | |
| A Critical Time: Emerging Adults Leaving Children’s Services Care | Special Report | Recommendation 3 | Nov-19 | Ministry of Children’s Services | Children’s Services should provide emerging adults with access to adequate and safe housing options. | – Emerging adults will have places to live that meet their developmental needs. – Emerging adults will be able to continue to reside in the homes they lived in prior to turning 18, if desired by both the young person and the caregiver. – Housing providers will have an understanding of the unique characteristics of the emerging adulthood stage of development. | Closed – Some Progress | Mar-22 | The recent progress update indicated that the Ministry of Children’s Services considered this recommendation met with the implementation of the Transition to Adulthood Program (TAP). The Advocate has not been provided access to policy-specific information about this program and is unable to make a determination about whether TAP meets this recommendation. The Advocate is very concerned about young people transitioning out of Children’s Services and will continue to monitor this recommendations and the implementation of TAP, based on publicly available information and advocacy involvement. Since the Advocate deems this recommendation as not met, it will be closed and remain at the last evaluated status. | |
| Care in Custody: A Special Report on OC Spray and Segregation in Alberta’s Young Offender Centres | Special Report | Recommendation 2 | Sep-19 | Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services | The Young Offender Branch should review and update their policies and standards to reduce the number of hours a young person can be segregated, ensure that they receive appropriate programming and supports, and improve conditions within segregation. | – Young people are segregated on fewer occasions and for shorter periods of time. – Young people remain connected to the programming and supports they require to successfully rehabilitate and reintegrate into their communities. – Young people experience improved conditions while in segregation. | Closed – Met | Mar-23 | The evaluation was delayed due to the provincial election. The Advocate is pleased to see the new Secure Separation policy and standards place limits on how long and for what reasons Secure Separation can be used, and thanks the Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services for their work on this recommendation. This recommendation is met. | |
| Care in Custody: A Special Report on OC Spray and Segregation in Alberta’s Young Offender Centres | Special Report | Recommendation 3 | Sep-19 | Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services | The Young Offender Branch should develop an impartial complaints and review process for young people. An impartial multi-disciplinary committee that includes external stakeholders should hear complaints and reviews, and young people should have access to a supportive adult. | – Young people feel that their voices are heard. – Young people have the support they require. – Decisions are reviewed to ensure fairness. – Decisions and appeal processes are transparent and fair. | Closed – Met | Mar-24 | The Advocate appreciates the steps taken to meet the intent of this recommendation and is looking forward to seeing the continuation of young people receiving the support that they need. This recommendation has been closed as met. | |
| Care in Custody: A Special Report on OC Spray and Segregation in Alberta’s Young Offender Centres | Special Report | Recommendation 4 | Sep-19 | Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services | The Young Offender Branch should monitor and publicly report all incidents of OC spray use and segregation annually. | – OC spray and segregation are used in a more standardized and consistent way, i.e., discrepancies in the application of these practices are reduced. – Increased accountability in the use of OC spray and segregation. – Increased public awareness of the use of OC spray and segregation. | Closed – Met | Mar-24 | The Advocate is pleased to see public reporting on the use of OC spray and administrative placements. The Advocate would also like to acknowledge the work of Public Safety and Emergency Services in replacing these types of placements with secure separation, with the focus on addressing both the safety and well-being of young people. This recommendation is considered met. | |
| Mandatory Reviews into Child Deaths: October 1, 2018 – March 31, 2019 | Mandatory Review | Aaron: Recommendation 1 | Sep-19 | Ministry of Children’ Services, Alberta Health Services | Child Intervention Services and Alberta Health Services should implement a plan to raise awareness among frontline staff about the Joint Protocol for Complex Decision-Making. The protocol should be easily accessible within each system. | – Frontline caseworkers and medical staff will be aware of the protocol. – Frontline staff in Alberta Health Services and Child Intervention Services will know where to access the protocol within their respective systems. – Knowledge of the protocol will help standardize and improve service delivery. | Closed – Met | Mar-20 | This recommendation has been met. | |
| Mandatory Reviews into Child Deaths: October 1, 2018 – March 31, 2019 | Mandatory Review | Whitebird: Recommendation 1 | Sep-19 | Ministry of Children’s Services | Children’s Services should ensure that there is a process for ongoing evaluation of how policy changes, assessment tools and practice frameworks are being integrated into day-to-day casework practice. | – Child Intervention Services will have a process that evaluates the capacity of frontline staff and measures whether their knowledge, critical-thinking, analysis and intervention with young people is improving. – Child Intervention Services will utilize evaluation results to inform program improvements, staff training and development strategies to ensure caseworkers are providing services to children and families as intended. | Closed – Some Progress | Sep-22 | Information provided by Children’s Services was inadequate to determine whether the actions taken meet the intent of the recommendation. Children’s Services last progress update stated that no further updates will be provided, therefore, this recommendation will be closed and remain at the current evaluation status of “some progress.” | |
| Care in Custody: A Special Report on OC Spray and Segregation in Alberta’s Young Offender Centres | Special Report | Recommendation 1 | Sep-19 | Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General | OC spray should only be used in exceptional circumstances, such as when there is an imminent risk of serious physical harm to a young person or others. | – The incident rate of OC spray use is significantly decreased in provincial young offender centres. – Corrections staff feel confident in using de-escalation techniques for managing young people’s behaviour. – Young people and corrections staff feel safe and secure in provincial young offender centres. | Closed – Met | Sep-21 | This recommendation has been met with the policy revisions. | |
| Mandatory Reviews into Child Deaths: April 1, 2018 – September 30, 2018 | Mandatory Review | Andy: Recommendation 1 | Jun-19 | Ministry of Children and Family Services | Child Intervention Services should include young people, who are living in a foster home, in the annual foster home assessment process. | – Young people will have a say in the care they receive. – Young people will receive high quality care when respite is provided in their home. – There will be a thorough assessment of caregiver capacity when caseworkers, foster parents and guardians are deciding where a young person will be placed for respite. -Each child will receive the individualized care that they need. -There will be less stress in the home, for both children and caregivers. The expected outcomes appear to refer to both recommendations 1, which is about assessment, and 2, which is about respite. | The involvement of young people in the annual assessment process may vary depending upon their age and/or ability. The 2019 amendments to the Enhancement Act addresses the need to include the viewpoints of children and youth in matters that impact them. Respite care is important to support both caregivers and young people to maintain positive parent-child relationships. There is benefit to knowing how many children are in one home at any given time so that young people continue to receive quality care while caregivers provide respite services. This should include the overall number of children living in the home. The further comments appear to refer to both recommendations 1, which is about assessment, and 2, which is about respite. | Ongoing – Significant Progress | Mar-25 | The Advocate is concerned that the new assessment and process has not yet been implemented as the recommendation was made in 2019. The voice of young people still isn’t included in annual caregiver assessments. The Advocate is hopeful that this will be implemented soon, and it will clearly describe how the voice of all young people in the home is incorporated. This recommendation remains at significant progress. |
| Mandatory Reviews into Child Deaths: April 1, 2018 – September 30, 2018 | Mandatory Review | Andy: Recommendation 2 | Jun-19 | Ministry of Children’ Services, Ministry of Community and Social Services | Child Intervention Services should coordinate with Family Support for Children with Disabilities (FSCD) to implement a system that monitors the numbers of children placed in respite at any given time in a foster home so that young people receive the care they need. Numbers of children should not exceed a caregiver’s capacity. | Young people will have a say in the care they receive. – Young people will receive high quality care when respite is provided in their home. – There will be a thorough assessment of caregiver capacity when caseworkers, foster parents and guardians are deciding where a young person will be placed for respite. – Each child will receive the individualized care that they need. – There will be less stress in the home, for both children and caregivers. The expected outcomes appear to refer to both recommendations 1, which is about assessment, and 2, which is about respite. | The involvement of young people in the annual assessment process may vary depending upon their age and/or ability. The 2019 amendments to the Enhancement Act addresses the need to include the viewpoints of children and youth in matters that impact them. Respite care is important to support both caregivers and young people to maintain positive parent-child relationships. There is benefit to knowing how many children are in one home at any given time so that young people continue to receive quality care while caregivers provide respite services. This should include the overall number of children living in the home. The further comments appear to refer to both recommendations 1, which is about assessment, and 2, which is about respite. | Closed – Unmet – No Progress | Sep-21 | As the Ministry of Children’s Services has indicated they will not provide further updates, this recommendation will be closed as unmet. The Advocate remains concerned about the lack of a system that monitors the numbers of children in a foster home at any one time. |
| Mandatory Reviews into Child Deaths: April 1, 2018 – September 30, 2018 | Mandatory Review | Faith: Recommendation 1 | Jun-19 | Ministry of Children’s Services | Child Intervention Services should amend their policy so that an Enhancement Agreement with Youth can be used, in exceptional circumstances, to support young people who live with their guardians. | – Caseworkers are able to provide youth (16 and 17 years old) with services tailored to their needs and distinct from the needs of their parents, guardians or siblings. | Youth who are 16 and 17 years old may benefit from child intervention supports and services even though they are still living with their parent or guardian. Current and historical child intervention involvement should be taken into consideration along with the guardian’s capacity to support their child. | Closed – Significant Progress | Mar-22 | As the Ministry of Children’s Service has indicated they will not provide further updates, this recommendation will be closed at the last evaluated status. The Advocate is looking for creative solutions to meet the needs of young people whose circumstances are extraordinary. The Advocate looks forward to this being included in a future legislative change. |
| Mandatory Reviews into Child Deaths: April 1, 2018 – September 30, 2018 | Mandatory Review | Jaxon: Recommendation 1 | Jun-19 | Ministry of Children’s Services | Child Intervention Services should provide financial and organizational supports for front-line staff to have immediate access to a variety of subject matter experts, as needed. | – Critical thinking will be supported with subject matter expertise, resulting in high-quality services for young people. – Caseworkers will have access to timely, reliable resources to support them in decision-making. – Caregivers, service providers and other professionals working with young people will have the tools they need to provide the necessary supports and services for young people. – Alternative perspectives (outside of child intervention practice) will broaden the knowledge and decision-making abilities of front-line staff. | This resource should be regionally tailored to reflect the young person’s community. Proactive, timely access to expert advice should be available to all service delivery regions and Delegated First Nation Agencies, without negatively impacting their finances. This might be accomplished through a standing list of identified subject matter experts who are readily available for consultation. Implementation of this resource should include an evaluation process to assess if the expected outcomes are being achieved. | Closed – Unmet – No Progress | Sep-21 | As the Ministry of Children’s Services has indicated they will not provide further updates, this recommendation will be closed as unmet. While 211 is a good general tool, it will not give case-specific advice to help caseworkers address the needs of young people and it does not meet either the intent or the goal of this recommendation. |
| Mandatory Reviews into Child Deaths: April 1, 2018 – September 30, 2018 | Mandatory Review | Sophia: Recommendation 1 | Jun-19 | Ministry of Children’s Services | Child Intervention Services should review and revise their policies so that the additional needs of substance-affected infants are identified and appropriate resources are provided. | – The needs of substance-affected infants are appropriately assessed. – Substance-affected infants receive timely and adequate supports tailored to their individual needs. – Substance-affected infants will have fewer placement breakdowns. | Caregivers require additional supports to meet the needs of substance affected infants. These babies are usually more difficult to care for than those who are not affected by prenatal substance use. Supports for their care should be reflective of their specific needs. The Foster Care Placement Scoring Chart is used to assess the needs of children placed in foster care. Expansion of this tool to include withdrawal symptoms will help to identify the unique needs and required supports for infants impacted by in-utero substance exposure. | Closed – Significant Progress | Mar-22 | As the Ministry of Children’s Services has indicated they will not provide further updates, this recommendation will be closed at the last evaluated status. More supports are needed for substance affected babies, and this need could be identified through the Foster Care Placement Scoring Chart. |
| 19-year-old Dakota: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Oct-18 | Ministry of Children’s Services | Child Intervention Services should expand their proposed policy regarding escalation of complex case consultation and decision-making to include the definition of complex needs. Young people with complex needs should have access to experts and intensive resources to meet their needs. | Increased accountability to identify and meet the needs of children and youth with complex needs. Caseworkers and service providers are supported to work with children and youth who have complex needs. | The policy should not be limited by age and should recognize that circumstances requiring a senior level review may be an ongoing activity. The policy should identify that significant decisions may also include children/youth who require supports that are outside of the scope of standardized services. There should be timely access to resources and expertise. A record of the review and the progress of the recommendations should be maintained on the child intervention electronic system. | Closed – Met | Sep-20 | This intent of this recommendation has been met with the implementation of the cross-ministry team for escalation. |
| Into Focus: Calling Attention to Youth Opioid Use in Alberta | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Jun-18 | Ministry of Education | Alberta Education and local school authorities should increase the level of health promotion and age appropriate substance use education in curriculum from Elementary through High School. | – Children and youth will have an increased understanding and knowledge of wellness and opportunities to develop social-emotional skills. – Children and youth will be taught skills to prevent substance use. | Health promotion is critical to supporting well-being and healthy outcomes for children and youth. Increasing social-emotional skills and understanding substance use is an effective strategy for reducing stigma and removing barriers for young people. | Closed – Significant Progress | Sep-22 | This recommendation was made in June 2018 and the new curriculum is in place for kindergarten to grade 6. We understand that implementation of the new curriculum may take some time and hope that age appropriate substance use education will be included for junior high and high school students. This recommendation will close at “significant progress.” |
| Into Focus: Calling Attention to Youth Opioid Use in Alberta | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Jun-18 | Ministry of Children’s Services, Ministry of Community and Social Service, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General | Child-serving ministries should have appropriate substance use intervention training to increase the capacity and knowledge among direct-service professionals to ensure young people get the right services at the right time. This should be part of the provincial youth strategy. | – Regardless of where a youth or their families seek help, they will be guided to appropriate supports. – All child-serving professionals will be able to identify when a young person needs help and can connect families to appropriate services. – Interventions will be implemented earlier and young people will experience positive results sooner. | The recommended youth strategy must increase knowledge and skills for all child-serving professionals to identify and respond when youth need help. Wherever youth or their families seek help, they will be guided to appropriate supports that are culturally relevant. There is a need to improve the information about what services are available. Referral processes should be updated and professionals should develop an interim plan for young people who are waiting for services. | Closed – Significant Progress | Mar-22 | There has been no further progress toward creating a provincial strategy on opioids for young people during this six-month evaluation period. The importance of having a coordinated approach to addressing substance use among young people is reiterated in our report, Renewed Focus. This recommendation is closed and will remain at the last evaluated status. |
| Into Focus: Calling Attention to Youth Opioid Use in Alberta | Investigative Review | Recommendation 3 | Jun-18 | Alberta Health Services | Alberta Health Services should strengthen their substance use related interventions for young people. Special attention needs to be given to interventions specific to youth opioid use and to services for young people with co-occurring issues of mental health problems and/or cognitive disabilities. | – Services will be easily accessible and available. – Youth will have a say in their substance use treatment. – Services will be adapted to meet the needs of youth. – Services will be culturally appropriate, holistic and integrated so that transitions are seamless. | Services need to be easy to access and available throughout Alberta. Services must be culturally appropriate, holistic and integrated so that transitions are seamless. Youth must have a say in determining their substance use treatment goals. Services need to be adapted to meet the needs of young people with mental health problems and/or cognitive disabilities. | Closed – Significant Progress | Mar-22 | There has been no further progress during this six-month evaluation period. The Advocate remains concerned that the needs of young people with mental health and cognitive disabilities have not been addressed in the response to this recommendation. This recommendation is closed and will remain at the last evaluated status. |
| Into Focus: Calling Attention to Youth Opioid Use in Alberta | Investigative Review | Recommendation 4 | Jun-18 | Alberta Health Services | Alberta Health Services’ Youth Addictions and Mental Health programs should have a more inclusive practice of involving families and significant individuals, with specific attention to substance use prevention and treatment for young people. | -Young people and their families will report improved family relationships, communication and understanding. | Research shows that youth have better outcomes when addictions and mental health interventions include those close to them. Inclusion of families and/or significant individuals enables them to provide and receive support necessary to improve concurrent services. It is important to consider the environments young people live in and whether these environments support the young person’s goals. Young people should have a say in identifying significant people who are important in their treatment. Further, it is essential to take into consideration the different cultural understanding of families | Closed – Some Progress | Mar-22 | There has been no further progress during this six-month evaluation period. The Advocate is concerned that families and significant individuals are not being meaningfully involved in substance use treatment for young people. This recommendation is closed and will remain at the last evaluated status. |
| Into Focus: Calling Attention to Youth Opioid Use in Alberta | Investigative Review | Recommendation 5 | Jun-18 | Ministry of Health | The Ministry of Health should undertake a review of the Protection of Children Abusing Drugs (PChAD) Act and its policies, so the related services better meet the needs of young people and their families. | – The legislation and its related policies are more reflective of the needs of the young people and families they are intended to serve. | The use of opioids has significantly changed the strategies needed to respond to substance use and the PChAD Act has not been updated. Some challenges include the complex court process, stigma experienced by young people and families and the impact on their relationships. Timelines and services are not meeting their needs. Attention needs to be given to effective and coordinated services after PChAD involvement ends. The review of the legislation should include consultation with young people and their families. | Closed – Met | Mar-21 | This recommendation has been met with the completion of the PChAD review. The Advocate looks forward to seeing how the implementation of these services better meets the needs of young people and their families. |
| Speaking OUT: Special Report on LGBTQ2S+ Young People | Special Report | Recommendation 1 | Nov-17 | Ministry of Children’s Services, Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General | The Ministry of Children’s Services and the Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General should make certain that LGBTQ2S+ specific training and education is required for all employees who work directly with young people or make decisions that affect them. | – Staff have the skills and knowledge to work effectively with LGBTQ2S+ young people. – LGBTQ2S+ young people feel safe and accepted when receiving services. | These training opportunities should build knowledge and skills in the following areas: personal biases and beliefs, accepting and affirming people’s identities, understanding safety concerns and risk factors for LGBTQ2S+ young people, creating safe environments, privacy and confidentiality requirements, and community awareness and resources including those online. | Closed – Met | Mar-19 | This recommendation has been met. |
| Speaking OUT: Special Report on LGBTQ2S+ Young People | Special Report | Recommendation 2 | Nov-17 | Ministry of Children’s Services, Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General | The Ministry of Children’s Services and the Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General create LGBTQ2S+ specific living options for young people. | – LGBTQ2S+ young people have safe and accepting places to live. – Young people are not be isolated due to their sexual or gender identities. | For Children’s Services this will mean working with local communities, including the LGBTQ2S+ community as advisors, in developing options such as: – supported residential living as provided by the YMCA Sprott House in Toronto – host parents and supportive roommates as provided by Aura Host Homes, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Calgary – trained foster parents – short-term emergency beds The living options will vary based on the community’s capacity and the need for such placements. Each service delivery region/authority needs to ensure options are available when needed or requested by a LGBTQ2S+ young person. For Youth Justice, each young person’s situation needs to be considered with the young person having a say in where they are placed. Only after other protective measures have been explored with the youth (for example, increased supervision), should LGBTQ2S+ youth be separated from other youth. When young people are separated from others or are not placed where they have asked to be placed because of safety reasons, LGBTQ2S+ trained mental health professionals should be involved to explore ways to protect the young person’s mental health and rights. | Closed – Significant Progress | Mar-21 | This recommendation is more than three years old. This recommendation is closed and will remain at the last evaluated status. The Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General met the expectations of this recommendation in September 2017. The Advocate remains concerned about the Ministry of Children’s Services’ placements specifically intended for LGBTQ2S+ young people. |
| Speaking OUT: Special Report on LGBTQ2S+ Young People | Special Report | Recommendation 3 | Nov-17 | Ministry of Children’s Services, Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General | The Ministry of Children’s Services and the Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General should review and revise their policies and practices in relation to identity, safety, appropriate places to live, and services and supports for LGBTQ2S+ children and youth. | – Children Services’ and Youth Justice’s policies respect the rights and support the needs of LBGTQ2S+ young people. – LGBTQ2S+ young people receive services that are welcoming and respectful of their rights. | Children’s Services and the Youth Justice Branch need to review and revise their policies, protocols and the requirements they have for in care/custody facilities to ensure they are meeting the needs of LGBTQ2S+ young people. The provincial government has directed school boards to do this and they have provided practical ideas of what to do such as providing non-gendered, single stall washrooms for use by any student and reducing gender-segregated courses and activities. The provincial government’s LGBTQ2S Youth Housing and Shelter Guidelines also provides practical direction to community organizations on the intake form/process, use of signage, and supporting and hosting LGBTQ2S+ events. Other organizations are consulting with the LGBTQ2S+ community to update their policies and practices. It is time for Children’s Services and Youth Justice to do the same. | Closed – Met | Sep-19 | This recommendation has been met. |
| Speaking OUT: Special Report on LGBTQ2S+ Young People | Special Report | Recommendation 4 | Nov-17 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Children’s Services should establish policy that guides decision-making for employees in their role as guardian, regarding consent for medical interventions and support services for transgender young people. | – Staff receive guidance for making decisions when working with transgender young people. – Transgender young people in care receive the support, services and resources that they need. | Alberta Health Services generally requires a guardian’s consent for a child to receive medical treatments such as hormone therapy. The Enhancement Act Policy Manual provides detailed guidance on consenting to medical/dental treatments for children, however, provides no guidance for decision-making related to medical intervention and supports for transgender young people, which could include a referral from a family doctor or psychologist to a gender specialist (psychiatrist), seeing an endocrinologist, and counselling. | Closed – Met | Mar-19 | This recommendation has been met. |
| Speaking OUT: Special Report on LGBTQ2S+ Young People | Special Report | Recommendation 5 | Nov-17 | Ministry of Children’s Services, Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General | The Ministry of Children’s Services and the Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General should ensure young people in their care receive appropriate and inclusive sexual health information. | – Young people feel they have the information needed to be healthy and safe. – Young people are better prepared for adulthood. | Parents, families and schools all play a role in educating young people about their sexual health. When children are in care, it is expected that the adults providing care will also play a role in educating children. However, Children’s Services has no policies or guidelines about educating children on sexual health. The sexual health curriculum in Alberta provides inclusive sexual health education to children in schools. For those caring for children in care, they too have a responsibility to provide or reinforce this education as parents or families would normally do. Youth Justice provides a life skills program to youth that is meant to teach skills “to improve their development, make responsible decisions, and successfully reintegrate into the community” (Alberta Justice and Solicitor Gender, n.d., para 5). Adding inclusive sexual health information on sexual orientation, gender identity, safe sex and healthy relationships in all forms would help achieve the goal of this program. | Closed – Met | Sep-19 | This recommendation has been met. |
| Beyond Trauma: Disrupting Cycles, Effecting Change | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Nov-17 | Government of Alberta | The Government of Alberta should create and implement cross-ministry training for all child-serving ministries specifically related to the impact of trauma at every stage of childhood development so that appropriate interventions can be provided. | Closed – Met | Sep-18 | This recommendation has been met with the various training being provided on childhood trauma. | ||
| Beyond Trauma: Disrupting Cycles, Effecting Change | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Nov-17 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Children’s Services should make certain that children and caregivers receive culturally appropriate, timely interventions that directly address the impact of trauma on the developing brain. | Closed – Met | Sep-18 | This recommendation has been met as noted by the information provided for Recommendation 1. | ||
| 16-year-old Dillon: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Nov-17 | Ministry of Children’s Services, Ministry of Community and Social Service, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education | The Ministries of Children’s Services, Health, Education and Community and Social Services should establish or strengthen policies and protocols so information is shared and used to coordinate service plans for young people with complex needs. | Closed – Met | Sep-19 | This recommendation has been met. The Advocate recognizes the significant collaboration amongst the ministries in addressing the complex needs of young people. | ||
| 16-year-old Dillon: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Nov-17 | Ministry of Children’s Services | Child Intervention Services should improve casework strategies that strengthen relationships and engagement to natural supports, with a focus on building long term networks for young people. | Closed – Met | Sep-18 | This recommendation has been met with “Family Finding”. | ||
| 15-year-old Jimmy: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Oct-17 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Children’s Services should create provincial policies that are reflective of the needs and vulnerabilities of at-risk adolescents who ask for help. Child intervention staff should have a comprehensive understanding of the ongoing impacts of early childhood trauma. | Closed – Some Progress | Mar-21 | This recommendation is more than three years old. This recommendation is closed and will remain at the last evaluated status. The Advocate remains concerned about the ongoing impacts of early childhood trauma. | ||
| 17-year-old Donovan: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Oct-17 | Ministry of Children’s Services, Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General | The Ministry of Children’s Services and the Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General should make certain that all frontline staff are aware of and use the existing protocol involving youth who have involvement with both Ministries. | Closed – Met | Sep-19 | This recommendation has been met. | ||
| 15-year-old Jimmy: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Oct-17 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Children’s Services should develop an appeal process designed specifically for adolescents who are denied child intervention services and supports. This process must be timely, fair and easily accessible. | Closed – Unmet – No Progress | Mar-21 | This recommendation is more than three years old. This recommendation is closed and will remain at the last evaluated status. The Advocate remains concerned about young people’s ability to access child intervention services and supports. | ||
| 17-year-old Donovan: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Oct-17 | Ministry of Children’s Services, Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General | The Ministry of Children’s Services and the Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General should work together so that contact and relationships for youth are maintained with family—particularly for youth in custody outside their home community. | Closed – Met | Sep-19 | This recommendation has been met. | ||
| 15-year-old Jimmy: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 3 | Oct-17 | Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General | The Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General should ensure that the Family Law Act guardianship application forms address how the applicant will fulfill the responsibilities outlined in Section 18 of the Family Law Act. | Closed – Some Progress | Mar-21 | This recommendation is more than three years old. This recommendation is closed and will remain at the last evaluated status. The Advocate remains concerned about the lack of clarity on how the guardianship application forms address the responsibilities outlined in Section 18 of the Family Law Act. | ||
| 15-year-old Jimmy: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 4 | Oct-17 | Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General | The Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General should ensure that the application process for guardianship under the Family Law Act is standardized across the province. | Closed – Some Progress | Mar-21 | This recommendation is more than three years old. This recommendation is closed and will remain at the last evaluated status. The Advocate remains concerned about standardization of the application process for guardianship under the Family Law Act across the province. | ||
| Three Young Children: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Jul-17 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Children’s Services and community partners should implement intensive, sustained plans to specifically support young children who are returned to family after being in care. Additional care should be taken with children who have disrupted attachments or developmental challenges. | Closed – Met | Mar-19 | This recommendation has been met. | ||
| Three Young Children: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Jul-17 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Children’s Services should implement a research based framework that guides casework through the reunification process with families including ongoing risk assessment and robust after-care plans that provide the level of supports the family requires. | Closed – Met | Mar-19 | This recommendation has been met. | ||
| Three Young Children: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 3 | Jul-17 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Children’s Services should ensure that children are returned to their families with a continuity of health, education and social supports comparable to what they received when they were in care. | Closed – Met | Sep-19 | This recommendation has been met. | ||
| 15-year-old Levi: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | May-17 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Children’s Services should establish formalized procedures for the engagement and active participation of children in decision-making. There must be a record of how a child’s views were considered and what influence they had on the decision-making process. | Closed – Met | Mar-19 | This recommendation has been met. | ||
| 15-year-old Levi: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | May-17 | Ministry of Children’s Services, Ministry of Education | The Ministries of Children’s Services and Education should develop processes for the early identification of children who may be at risk of homelessness. Community-specific strategies must be developed in partnership with all levels of government, to support and intervene with these children and their families. | Closed – Some Progress | Mar-21 | This recommendation is more than three years old. This recommendation is closed and will remain at the last evaluated status. | ||
| 18-year-old Peter: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Mar-17 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Children’s Services should ensure that policies regarding transitioning youth out of care are fully understood and implemented. The Ministry must provide information that demonstrates how these policies are implemented consistently across the province. | Closed – Significant Progress | Mar-21 | This recommendation is more than three years old. This recommendation is closed and will remain at the last evaluated status. The Advocate remains worried about the issue of young people transitioning out of care. | ||
| 19-year-old Ernie: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Feb-17 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Human Services should develop processes to ensure that consistent services and supports are in place when young people transition from Child Intervention Services to the adult disability system. | Closed – Met | Mar-19 | This recommendation has been met. | ||
| 19-year-old Ernie: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Feb-17 | Ministry of Community and Social Services | The Ministry of Human Services should ensure that the voice of the young person is included in case planning. If a young person is unable to voice an opinion, caseworkers need to access all avenues to ensure that the young person’s rights, interests and viewpoints are considered. | Closed – Significant Progress | Mar-21 | This recommendation is more than three years old. This recommendation is closed and will remain at the last evaluated status. | ||
| 9-month-old Sharon: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Nov-16 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Human Services should enhance child intervention policies and procedures to address the complexity involved with family reunification. Planning should be child-centered and address the need for a child’s support, safety and stability. These plans must be monitored and adjusted over a period of time. | Closed – Met | Mar-19 | This recommendation has been met. | ||
| 4-year-old Marie: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Nov-16 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Human Services should: a) Implement a home study tool specifically for kinship care that is culturally relevant and addresses the unique kinship circumstances. b) Require the collection of collateral information in the completion of the home study from community professionals, who are familiar with the applicant, regarding the demonstrated ability of the kinship applicant. | Closed – Significant Progress | Mar-21 | This recommendation is more than three years old. This recommendation is closed and will remain at the last evaluated status. | ||
| 9-month-old Sharon: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Nov-16 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Human Services should require that child intervention case plans include individual support plans for children that reflect an understanding of the impact of trauma on each stage of child development. | Closed – Met | Mar-19 | This recommendation has been met. | ||
| 4-year-old Marie: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Nov-16 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Human Services should: a) Require that policy be consistent with other information that indicates kinship orientation training is mandatory for kinship caregivers. b) Provide a continuum of culturally relevant, supportive services for kinship caregivers. | Closed – Met | Sep-19 | This recommendation has been met. | ||
| 4-year-old Marie: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 3 | Nov-16 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Human Services should: a) Require that caseworkers complete a child-specific assessment and resolution of risk factors prior to terminating guardianship. b) Implement policy that requires the same checks and balances when terminating guardianship as is currently required when bringing a child into care. | Closed – Met | Mar-19 | This recommendation has been met. | ||
| 17-year-old Onessa: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Nov-16 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Human Services should: a) Review the relevant legislation and policy to consider an enhanced definition of child sexual exploitation; and, b) Provide assessment and interventions that are specific to young people at risk of Internet sexual exploitation. | Closed – Significant Progress | Mar-21 | This recommendation is more than three years old. This recommendation is closed and will remain at the last evaluated status. | ||
| Voices for Change: Aboriginal Child Welfare in Alberta | Special Report | Recommendation 1 | Jul-16 | Government of Alberta | The Government of Alberta should establish a new relationship with Aboriginal communities based on increased levels of self-determination and support by: A) Establishing full and equal partnership between governments and Aboriginal communities in the development of authorities, resources, practices, and outcomes for Aboriginal child welfare; B) Ensuring Aboriginal communities are involved in the delivery of child welfare services to their children and families in both on reserve and urban communities. | Closed – Significant Progress | Mar-21 | This recommendation is more than three years old. This recommendation is closed and will remain at the last evaluated status. | ||
| Voices for Change: Aboriginal Child Welfare in Alberta | Special Report | Recommendation 2 | Jul-16 | Government of Alberta | The Government of Alberta should review the child welfare legislation for the Aboriginal context by: A) Respecting the right of Aboriginal families to their own approaches for raising children and recognizing these approaches for their inherent strengths; B) Ensuring the child welfare system is supported by excellence in preparation, practice, and research in Aboriginal child welfare, using inclusion and diversity, cultural and traditional methods, and ceremonies. | Closed – Significant Progress | Mar-21 | This recommendation is more than three years old. This recommendation is closed and will remain at the last evaluated status. | ||
| Voices for Change: Aboriginal Child Welfare in Alberta | Special Report | Recommendation 3 | Jul-16 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Human Services should provide the resources and support for Aboriginal communities to ensure delivery of child welfare services to their children and families by: A) Establishing a range of services from prevention, through intervention and aftercare for Aboriginal children and families who come into contact with the child welfare system; B) Completing band registration for First Nations children or Métis citizenship registration for Métis children as a priority for all Aboriginal children in government care so they receive the full range of supports and services to which they are entitled. | Closed – Significant Progress | Mar-21 | This recommendation is more than three years old. This recommendation is closed and will remain at the last evaluated status. | ||
| Voices for Change: Aboriginal Child Welfare in Alberta | Special Report | Recommendation 4 | Jul-16 | Government of Alberta | The Government of Alberta should vigorously adopt and observe Jordan’s Principle for Aboriginal children and families involved with the child welfare system. | Closed – Significant Progress | Mar-21 | This recommendation is more than three years old. This recommendation is closed and will remain at the last evaluated status. | ||
| Voices for Change: Aboriginal Child Welfare in Alberta | Special Report | Recommendation 5 | Jul-16 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Human Services should improve the effectiveness of child welfare service and program delivery by: A) Ensuring supports for Aboriginal children and families are delivered with a strength-based approach that reduces risks to child safety and well-being within an Aboriginal context; B) Establishing an Aboriginal authority for statutory services involving Aboriginal children and families; C) Identifying and adopting practice standards consistent with the interests of Aboriginal people. | Closed – Significant Progress | Mar-21 | This recommendation is more than three years old. This recommendation is closed and will remain at the last evaluated status. | ||
| Voices for Change: Aboriginal Child Welfare in Alberta | Special Report | Recommendation 6 | Jul-16 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Human Services should support greater continuity of relationships for Aboriginal children and families in child welfare by: A) Ensuring Aboriginal children in care maintain connections with important individuals in their lives, with special consideration for siblings wherever possible; B) Increasing the use of kinship care for Aboriginal children by improving support for kinship caregivers; C) Improving communication with Aboriginal children in the child welfare system by providing them with information about their background and circumstances, and by considering their views in matters that affect them. | Closed – Significant Progress | Mar-21 | This recommendation is more than three years old. This recommendation is closed and will remain at the last evaluated status. | ||
| Voices for Change: Aboriginal Child Welfare in Alberta | Special Report | Recommendation 7 | Jul-16 | Ministry of Children’s Services | In partnership with Aboriginal stakeholders, the Ministry of Human Services should develop a multi-year plan for addressing the overrepresentation of Aboriginal children in care, and report annually on progress achieved. | Closed – Some Progress | Mar-21 | This recommendation is more than three years old. This recommendation is closed and will remain at the last evaluated status. | ||
| Voices for Change: Aboriginal Child Welfare in Alberta | Special Report | Recommendation 8 | Jul-16 | Government of Alberta | The Government of Alberta should monitor, evaluate, and report regularly to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta on the state of Aboriginal children living in the province. | Closed – Some Progress | Mar-21 | This recommendation is more than three years old. This recommendation is closed and will remain at the last evaluated status. | ||
| Toward a Better Tomorrow: Addressing the Challenge of Aboriginal Youth Suicide | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Apr-16 | Government of Alberta | A) The Government of Alberta should have a provincially funded suicide prevention strategy that supports the development and implementation of community-led strategies across the province. The strategy needs the capacity to adjust to accommodate the interests and needs of particularly vulnerable groups at elevated risk for suicide. B) Strategies to prevent Aboriginal youth suicide must be developed within the context, and in recognition of, the traditional values and cultural practices relevant to Aboriginal youth in the community. | Closed – Met | Mar-19 | This recommendation has been met. | ||
| Toward a Better Tomorrow: Addressing the Challenge of Aboriginal Youth Suicide | Investigative Review | Recommendation 10 | Apr-16 | Ministry of Children’s Services, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education | The Ministries of Human Services, Education and Health, along with their service delivery partners, should require that professionals working with Aboriginal Peoples have adequate training regarding the pre and post-colonial history specific to Aboriginal Peoples so that they have a good understanding of the potential risks, strengths and needs within Aboriginal families. | Closed – Met | Sep-17 | This recommendation has been met with the training that is available. | ||
| Toward a Better Tomorrow: Addressing the Challenge of Aboriginal Youth Suicide | Investigative Review | Recommendation 11 | Apr-16 | Ministry of Children’s Services | Alberta Human Services should review the Delegation Training for Suicide Intervention Skills and ensure that it contains information about the need for culturally-relevant resources and how caseworkers can access them. | Closed – Met | Sep-17 | This recommendation has been met with the Child Intervention Learning and Development (ChILD) Pathways revisions. | ||
| Toward a Better Tomorrow: Addressing the Challenge of Aboriginal Youth Suicide | Investigative Review | Recommendation 12 | Apr-16 | Government of Alberta | The Government of Alberta should support increased levels of self-determination of First Nations in Alberta through reconciliation processes in partnership with First Nations, federal and provincial governments. Consideration should be given to greater levels of self-determination regarding child intervention balanced with support as a protective factor for suicide prevention. | Closed – Significant Progress | Mar-21 | This recommendation is more than three years old. This recommendation is closed and will remain at the last evaluated status. | ||
| Toward a Better Tomorrow: Addressing the Challenge of Aboriginal Youth Suicide | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Apr-16 | Government of Alberta | The Government of Alberta should act on ways to improve provincial services and systems to support holistic community-led strategies to address Aboriginal youth suicide. For example, the government should consider: – Can these services and systems be used or leveraged to help reduce risk factors among Aboriginal youth and their families? – Does the current operation of these services and systems present any barriers that make it difficult to access assistance for at-risk Aboriginal youth? – How might these services and systems be inadvertently contributing to risk factors among at-risk Aboriginal youth and their families? | Closed – Significant Progress | Mar-21 | This recommendation is more than three years old. This recommendation is closed and will remain at the last evaluated status. | ||
| Toward a Better Tomorrow: Addressing the Challenge of Aboriginal Youth Suicide | Investigative Review | Recommendation 3 | Apr-16 | Ministry of Children’s Services | Alberta Human Services, with its service delivery partners, should ensure that supports are available to Aboriginal young people who have lost someone significant to suicide and that those services are deliberate and proactive. | Closed – Met | Mar-18 | This recommendation has been met with the Enhancement Policy Manual Update (7.2.3). | ||
| Toward a Better Tomorrow: Addressing the Challenge of Aboriginal Youth Suicide | Investigative Review | Recommendation 4 | Apr-16 | Ministry of Children’s Services | Alberta Human Services should review child intervention case practice to ensure that intervention is focused on the child’s needs. The impact on a child exposed to domestic violence, parental substance abuse and other forms of child maltreatment must be addressed early in conjunction with their caregivers’ treatment plans. | Closed – Met | Mar-19 | This recommendation has been met. | ||
| Toward a Better Tomorrow: Addressing the Challenge of Aboriginal Youth Suicide | Investigative Review | Recommendation 5 | Apr-16 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Human Services, with its service delivery partners, should ensure that case practice reflects a strength-based approach that focuses on the attachment needs of children while ensuring that their risk for harm is addressed. | Closed – Met | Mar-19 | This recommendation has been met. | ||
| Toward a Better Tomorrow: Addressing the Challenge of Aboriginal Youth Suicide | Investigative Review | Recommendation 6 | Apr-16 | Ministry of Education | Alberta Education should develop and implement school-based suicide prevention programs. Consideration should be given to developing a peer support component. | Closed – Significant Progress | Mar-21 | This recommendation is more than three years old. This recommendation is closed and will remain at the last evaluated status. | ||
| Toward a Better Tomorrow: Addressing the Challenge of Aboriginal Youth Suicide | Investigative Review | Recommendation 7 | Apr-16 | Alberta Health Services | Alberta Mental Health Services should ensure that cultural components are incorporated in treatment strategies for young people. | Closed – Met | Mar-18 | This recommendation has been met with the various programs/initiatives noted in the AHS response. | ||
| Toward a Better Tomorrow: Addressing the Challenge of Aboriginal Youth Suicide | Investigative Review | Recommendation 8 | Apr-16 | Government of Alberta | The Government of Alberta should ensure that mental health programs are more accessible, holistic and readily available in First Nations communities. | Closed – Met | Mar-18 | This recommendation has been met with the various services and supports noted in the response. | ||
| Toward a Better Tomorrow: Addressing the Challenge of Aboriginal Youth Suicide | Investigative Review | Recommendation 9 | Apr-16 | Ministry of Children’s Services, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education | The Ministries of Human Services, Education and Health, along with their service delivery partners, should require that professionals working with Aboriginal young people have enhanced suicide intervention training. | Closed – Met | Mar-18 | This recommendation has been met with the suicide intervention training that is available to professionals. | ||
| 10-month-old Lily: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Mar-16 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Human Services should ensure that ongoing support and mentorship is provided to frontline workers to assist in the creation and planning of protective support networks for children living with parents who have addictions. | Closed – Met | Sep-17 | This recommendation has been met with the completed file review and the development of the consultation tool, both deemed to provide support and mentorship to frontline workers. | ||
| 10-month-old Lily: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Mar-16 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Human Services should ensure that those involved in support networks know what to do and who to notify when risk increases for a child. | Closed – Met | Sep-17 | This recommendation has been met with the SOS Safety plans as described in the Ministry’s recent response. | ||
| 17-year-old Makayla: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Dec-15 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Human Services and its service delivery partners should ensure that: a) Young people involved with Child Intervention Services are assessed to identify the impact traumatic events have had on them; b) Case plans should detail interventions to directly address the identified trauma including resources required and expected outcomes; and, c) Interventions are reviewed on a regular basis and progress documented. | Closed – Met | Mar-19 | This recommendation has been met. | ||
| 17-year-old Makayla: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Dec-15 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Human Services and its service delivery partners should ensure that placement moves for children and youth are planned. In situations where unplanned moves are unavoidable, mitigation strategies to address the impact of such moves are identified and documented. | Closed – Met | Mar-19 | This recommendation has been met. | ||
| 2-year-old Teanna: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Dec-15 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Human Services should ensure: a) Documented case planning for children that includes both immediate attachment and long-term relationship needs, in addition to the considerations identified in the Enhancement Act. b) Case planning reflects clear transition strategies that mitigate the impact of multiple placement moves for children. | Closed – Met | Mar-19 | This recommendation has been met. | ||
| 2-year-old Teanna: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Dec-15 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Human Services should ensure: a) That when a child has substantial medical and/or behavioural needs, the specific needs of the child are identified and documented, then matched to a care provider’s capacity and potential support requirements, which is also documented, before the child is placed. b) That there is regular and ongoing assessment of a care provider’s capacity to meet a child’s needs. If there are indicators that the child’s placement is in jeopardy, a timely re-assessment of the child’s needs and their care provider’s capacities must be completed and appropriate action taken. | Closed – Met | Mar-19 | This recommendation has been met. | ||
| 17-year-old Catherine: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Sep-15 | Alberta Health Services | Alberta Health Services should provide service coordinators for children with complex mental health needs and their families, who are accessing mental health services across multiple programs. | Closed – Met | Mar-18 | This recommendation has been met with the project plans to streamline the AHS intake processes. | ||
| 17-year-old Catherine: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Sep-15 | Ministry of Children’s Services, Alberta Health Services | A) The Ministry of Human Services should intervene and strengthen their response when parents request help to keep their child safe because the parent is unable to. B) The Ministry of Human Services and Alberta Health Services should enter into a formal provincial agreement identifying how they will work collaboratively to serve young people with complex mental health needs when their safety is in jeopardy. | Closed – Met | Mar-19 | This recommendation has been met. The signed expression of commitment meets the intent of the recommendation to have a formal provincial agreement. | ||
| 17-year-old Catherine: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 3 | Sep-15 | Alberta Health Services | Alberta Health Services should review how young people attending hospitals are assessed for suicide risk and standardize best practices across the province. | Closed – Met | Mar-16 | This recommendation has been met with the use of a new assessment tool in mental health units and emergency departments. | ||
| 6-week-old Nicole: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Aug-15 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Human Services should strengthen its capacity to provide relevant assessment, planning and intervention methods to effectively support parents with cognitive challenges. | Closed – Met | Mar-19 | This recommendation has been met. | ||
| 6-week-old Nicole: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Aug-15 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Human Services should ensure that the changing circumstances of children and families are continuously reassessed and reflected in child intervention case planning. Caseworkers need the support and training for reflective practice that shows clear assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation as a child and their family’s needs and circumstances change. | Closed – Met | Sep-17 | This recommendation has been met with the Practice File Review and the noted results on supervisory consultations. | ||
| 8-year-old Ella: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Aug-15 | Ministry of Human Services | A. The Ministry of Human Services should establish training for all frontline child intervention caseworkers, specifically related to understanding children with disabilities and/or complex needs. B. The Ministry of Human Services should ensure that child intervention and FSCD workers are aware of the existing Program Coordination Protocol between Child Intervention Services and Family Supports for Children with Disabilities. | Closed – Met | Mar-16 | This recommendation has been met with the training modules that are available to frontline staff on disabilities and with the Policy to Practice session on the Protocol. | ||
| 8-year-old Ella: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Aug-15 | Ministry of Human Services | The Ministry of Human Services should identify a continuum of placement options for children in care with disabilities and/or complex needs and ensure that adequate placement options and supports are available. | Closed – Met | Mar-18 | This recommendation has been met with the Campus-based Therapeutic Care and Personalized Community Placements noted in the Ministry of Children’s Services’ response. | ||
| 8-year-old Ella: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 3 | Aug-15 | Ministry of Human Services | The Ministry of Human Services should ensure that all caregivers are aware of and follow their policies, procedures and practices in the administration and monitoring of medications. | Closed – Met | Mar-16 | This recommendation has been met with the Ministry’s monitoring of how caregivers manage children’s medication. | ||
| 9-Year-Old Bonita: Serious Injury | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | May-15 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Human Services should provide clear support for child intervention workers to intervene earlier when neglect is identified as a protection concern. Practical concrete response is required to address the factors that contribute to the neglect of children. | Closed – Met | Mar-18 | The Ministry of Children’s Services provided a thorough response which outlines a number of initiatives to address neglect and poverty. This recommendation has been met. | ||
| 16-year-old Sam: Serious Injury | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | May-15 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Human Services needs greater early intentional focus on assessment and intervention that includes an equal emphasis on children, siblings and parents. | Closed – Met | Sep-17 | This recommendation has been met with the Standards File Review noted in the response. | ||
| 9-Year-Old Bonita: Serious Injury | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | May-15 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Human Services should engage stakeholders to identify issues and opportunities to address neglect in a manner consistent with best practice. Resources should be committed to help families living in poverty to alleviate child neglect concerns. | Closed – Met | Mar-18 | This recommendation has been met with the noted ways staff receive training and support in understanding neglect. | ||
| 16-year-old Sam: Serious Injury | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | May-15 | Ministry of Human Services | The Ministry of Human Services should find ways to teach children and youth about healthy relationships and attachment. Added supports should be provided to help young people when important relationships are disrupted by change. | Closed – Met | Sep-16 | The Ministry has provided further information on the Foundations of Caregiver Support which indicates that this initiative is intended to help young people with grief and loss issues and to assist young people to reconcile their relationships with family in a way that is safe and healthy for them. This recommendation has been met. | ||
| 9-Year-Old Bonita: Serious Injury | Investigative Review | Recommendation 3 | May-15 | Ministry of Children’s Services | A) The Ministry of Human Services, with its service delivery partners, should develop a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and/or protocol to work together so addictions expertise and consultation is provided to frontline child intervention workers who are working with families where addictions concerns are present. And, B) The Ministry of Human Services should dedicate resources to increase frontline workers’ knowledge of addictions and the impact parental addictions has on children. | Closed – Met | Sep-19 | This recommendation has been met. | ||
| 16-year-old Sam: Serious Injury | Investigative Review | Recommendation 3 | May-15 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Human Services should provide caregivers and caseworkers with the skills they require to engage with suicidal youth on an ongoing regular basis and encourage young people to develop, identify and practice positive coping skills. | Closed – Met | Sep-17 | This recommendation has been met with the information added to the foster and kinship care handbooks and the updated Policy for Suicidal Child. | ||
| Baby Sadie: Serious Injury | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Nov-14 | Ministry of Health | Alberta Health should build on past and current efforts to implement the consistent use of electronic records for children across Alberta to facilitate adequate information sharing among medical professionals. This would allow indicators of child abuse to be easily accessed (flagged) and used to identify possible patterns. | Closed – Met | Mar-17 | This recommendation has been met given the significant transition to electronic medical records. | ||
| Baby Sadie: Serious Injury | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Nov-14 | Ministry of Human Services | Alberta Human Services should review their training for frontline staff specifically related to critical thinking, risk assessment and case analysis. Training should be strengthened and tailored for assessors and supervisors to ensure well-informed case analysis and case-planning for young people and their families. | Closed – Met | Mar-16 | This recommendation has been met through a variety of initiatives (a review/revision of training, mandatory supervisory training, competency profiles) aimed at enhancing the analysis and assessment skills of frontline staff. | ||
| Baby Sadie: Serious Injury | Investigative Review | Recommendation 3 | Nov-14 | Ministry of Human Services | Alberta Human Services should: (a) Ensure collaborative strategies are in place for every young person receiving child intervention services; and, (b) Include regular case conferences in the child intervention standards and monitor for compliance. | Closed – Met | Sep-16 | This recommendation has been met with the completed file reviews. | ||
| 15-year-old Tony: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Nov-14 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Human Services, with its service delivery partners, should strengthen processes related to: – The search for meaningful relationships in an Aboriginal child’s life and ensure that the extended family of both parents is explored. – The ability of placement facilities to provide Aboriginal children in care continuous and ongoing access to traditional knowledge and activities. These processes should be documented and audited for compliance to ensure that Aboriginal children remain connected to their family, community and culture. | Closed – Met | Sep-17 | This recommendation has been met with the various strategies and training noted in the response. | ||
| 15-year-old Tony: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Nov-14 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Human Services, with its service delivery partners, should require a suicide risk inventory be completed for all young people, who have been identified as at risk of suicide, on a regular and ongoing basis – not just at the time of crisis. | Closed – Met | Mar-17 | This recommendation has been met with the Policy to Practice training session on youth suicide that identifies warning signs, who is at risk, and triggers and speaks to the need to check in on an ongoing basis. | ||
| 15-year-old Tony: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 3 | Nov-14 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Human Services, with its service delivery partners, should review policy and practice in information sharing when a child transitions to a new placement. Emphasis must be placed on direct communication between day-to-day caregivers to support the continuity of successful treatment approaches. This means those caregivers who work directly with young people in their placements. | Closed – Met | Mar-19 | This recommendation has been met. | ||
| Baby Dawn: Bed-Sharing with Infants in Foster Care | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Aug-14 | Ministry of Human Services | The Ministry of Human Services should implement clear policy for foster parents providing direction not to bed-share with infants placed in their care. | Closed – Met | Sep-15 | This recommendation has been met with the policy that has been developed. | ||
| Baby Annie: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | May-14 | Ministry of Children’s Services | Child Intervention Services should institute policy that is proactive in planning for children and families when a newborn child is expected into a family that is receiving intervention services. | Closed – Met | Mar-18 | This recommendation has been met with the policy update which notes planning and assessment both up to and after the child’s birth. | ||
| Baby Annie: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | May-14 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Human Services should work with Alberta Health Services to implement a provincial, multi-service response model that enables collaborative and joint response to families with at-risk children who are involved with Human Services and Alberta Health Services. | Closed – Met | Sep-17 | This recommendation has been met with the significant amount of planning and work that has been done for province-wide services in this area. | ||
| Baby Annie: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 3 | May-14 | Ministry of Children’s Services, Alberta Health Services | The Ministry of Human Services and Alberta Health Services should establish policy and protocols to ensure sufficient information sharing and a collaborative, timely (prior to discharge) response for infants at risk from Neo-Natal Abstinence Syndrome. | Closed – Met | Mar-21 | This recommendation has been met. The Practice Guidance for AHS Social Workers Working with Children’s Services meets the need for communication sharing between the Ministry of Children’s Services and Alberta Health Services. | ||
| Baby Annie: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 4 | May-14 | The College of Physicians & Surgeons, The Alberta College of Pharmacists | The College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Alberta College of Pharmacists should review the effectiveness of the Pharmaceutical Information Network (PIN) to detect and flag multi-doctoring and potential safety concerns related to codeine and benzodiazepine prescriptions, with a view to preventing fetal exposure to these medications. | Closed – Met | Sep-18 | This recommendation has been met. Benzodiazepines have been incorporated into the Triplicate Prescription Program data set. This allows for the CPSA to detect and flag multiple doctoring. | ||
| Baby Annie: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 5 | May-14 | Ministry of Children’s Services | (a) Child Intervention Services should review how parenting capacity assessments are conducted across the province and implement policy that ensures parenting assessments are done in a consistent manner and are comprehensive in nature. (b) Child Intervention Services should ensure that parenting norms unique to First Nations and other cultural groups are incorporated into parenting capacity assessments. | Closed – Met | Mar-17 | This recommendation has been met with the recent Policy to Practice session on Parenting Capacity Assessments. | ||
| 7-year-old Jack: Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Jan-14 | Ministry of Human Services | The Ministry of Human Services should ensure the preservation or resolution of relationships are at the foundation of permanency planning for children: – Children need to be involved – at a level appropriate to their understanding – in envisioning how their significant relationships will look in their future. Attention should be given to grief and loss interventions where relationships are lost or ambiguous. – Transitions between parental care and placements within the system need to be deliberate and focused on a child’s need for consistent relationships. | Closed – Met | Sep-16 | This recommendation has been met with the Foundations of Caregiver Support training. | ||
| 7-year-old Jack: Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Jan-14 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Human Services in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General should undertake a review of court delays for children in temporary care: – identify the number of children for whom court delays have impacted permanency; – identify the barriers that are causing court delays; – establish a plan to resolve this issue; and, – report on progress. | Closed – Met | Mar-18 | The Ministry of Children’s Services provided a very detailed response to this recommendation. Included in this response is a list of possible remedies to allow for timelier hearings. Based on this response, this recommendation has been met. | ||
| 7-year-old Jack: Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 3 | Jan-14 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Human Services needs to reinforce compliance to existing policy regarding regular case conferencing with all stakeholders and service providers, ensuring that children are involved whenever possible. | Closed – Met | Sep-17 | This recommendation has been met with the results of the review being disseminated. | ||
| 7-year-old Jack: Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 4 | Jan-14 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The results of service delivery placement investigations should be better coordinated to ensure that: – Recommendations resulting from these investigations are documented and accounted for in the Human Services’ electronic database to ensure their resolution; – Results of placement investigations are centrally analyzed in order to identify key learnings that could enhance the strength of the overall system; and – The learnings identified from service delivery investigations are actively disseminated province-wide, with the goal of enhancing the safety and wellbeing of children in care. | Closed – Met | Sep-17 | This recommendation has been met with the creation of the database which will assist in centrally analyzing and disseminating information | ||
| 7-year-old Jack: Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 5 | Jan-14 | Ministry of Children’s Services | The Ministry of Human Services should: (A) Review, clarify and communicate policy regarding the decision-making authority of the Director when a child in temporary care passes away. Including clear policy direction for decisions related to tissue donation; (B) The Ministry of Human Services should review case practice in relation to what parents are told when their child is in temporary care; specifically, the decision-making that might occur in the parents’ absence. Policy should be implemented to ensure consistent application across the province. | Closed – Met | Mar-18 | This recommendation has been met with the fact sheets published on the Children’s Services website | ||
| Kamil: An Immigrant Youth’s Struggle | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Nov-13 | Ministry of Human Services | Assessments should be undertaken with and informed by a comprehensive understanding of a young person’s cultural context, including their life history, background and relationships (both pre and post migration), to improve the effectiveness of intervention services. This recommendation has been met with the implementation of the training. | Closed – Met | Sep-16 | This recommendation has been met with the implementation of the training. | ||
| Kamil: An Immigrant Youth’s Struggle | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Nov-13 | Ministry of Human Services | The child intervention system should assess each young person holistically, including identification and assessment of their protective factors, and work proactively with supportive adults to maintain and strengthen these factors to improve the young person’s resiliency and well-being. | Closed – Met | Sep-14 | The Ministry reported the implementation of the Signs of Safety, which could facilitate the identification of protective factors and is based on supporting young people to make supportive connections. This recommendation has been met. | ||
| Kamil: An Immigrant Youth’s Struggle | Investigative Review | Recommendation 3 | Nov-13 | Ministry of Human Services | The policy regarding approval of psychotropic medications should be amended to recognize and reflect the urgency of situations in which young people require these medications. In addition, there should be a requirement to communicate back to the mental health professional(s) when a recommended medication or therapy is not approved. | Closed – Met | Mar-16 | This recommendation has been met with the development of the practice tool. | ||
| Kamil: An Immigrant Youth’s Struggle | Investigative Review | Recommendation 4 | Nov-13 | Ministry of Human Services | Caseworkers should personally communicate with young people and their mental health providers to obtain thorough and accurate information to ensure that their client’s needs and interests are met. | Closed – Met | Mar-16 | This recommendation has been met with the development of the practice tool. | ||
| Kamil: An Immigrant Youth’s Struggle | Investigative Review | Recommendation 5 | Nov-13 | Ministry of Human Services | Human Services should increase opportunities for child intervention staff to work in a more innovative, inclusive and collaborative environment to improve the quality of decision making for vulnerable children and youth. | Closed – Met | Mar-15 | The Ministry has indicated two large scale initiatives which provide increased opportunities for child intervention staff to work in more collaborative environments. This recommendation has been met. | ||
| Remembering Brian: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 1 | Jul-13 | Ministry of Children’s Services | Child Intervention Services should engage in comprehensive assessments to ensure a balance is struck between child-focused and family-centered approaches. It is vital that intervention services not only address the presenting issues in a family, but also fully examine and address the impacts those issues have had on children in the family. | Closed – Met | Mar-18 | In reviewing all of the Ministry of Children’s Services’ responses to this recommendation, including the most recent one, this recommendation has been met. | ||
| Remembering Brian: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 2 | Jul-13 | Ministry of Human Services | Develop guidelines that will aid caseworkers in assessing the impacts of family violence and parental addictions on children, and which provide direction for supporting children who have been exposed to these circumstances. | Closed – Met | Sep-14 | The Ministry has indicated the use of a comprehensive family violence screening tool and further planned training. This recommendation has been met. | ||
| Remembering Brian: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 3 | Jul-13 | Ministry of Children’s Services | In developing support plans for children and their families, intervention caseworkers should ensure that comprehensive plans are in place to support and maintain a child’s cultural connections, recognizing that family, community and tradition are all important contributors to culture. | Closed – Met | Mar-19 | This recommendation has been met. | ||
| Remembering Brian: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 4 | Jul-13 | Ministry of Human Services | Kinship caregivers should be provided with specialized training and support plans which are both tailored to meet their individual and unique needs. The goal should be to ensure kinship caregivers have the resources they require to manage the unique challenges that come with their caregiving, such as dual loyalties, unrealistic expectations, changes in family dynamics and feelings of loss, guilt and shame. | Closed – Met | Sep-14 | The Ministry has developed and is delivering training as well, has made policy enhancements regarding kinship care support plans. This recommendation has been met. | ||
| Remembering Brian: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 5 | Jul-13 | Ministry of Human Services | Intervention workers should be provided specialized training to manage unique situations presented by kinship care arrangements. The goal should be to ensure caseworkers can effectively support kinship caregivers in providing protection, well-being, and a bridge to permanency for children in their care. | Closed – Met | Sep-14 | The Ministry has developed, delivered and made available the online session Understanding Kinship Care. This recommendation has been met. | ||
| Remembering Brian: An Investigative Review | Investigative Review | Recommendation 6 | Jul-13 | Ministry of Children’s Services | Alberta Human Services should review and amend policies and guidelines to bring about consistent practices among regions and ensure seamless, coordinated interregional delivery of intervention services. | Closed – Met | Sep-17 | This recommendation has been met given the policy has been reviewed and staff are being supported to improve consistency in the application of the policy. | ||
| Where Do We Go From Here?: Youth Aging Out of Care | Special Report | Recommendation 1 | Apr-13 | Ministry of Human Services | To meet the needs of Alberta’s youth transitioning out of our care the Child and Youth Advocate recommends that the Ministry of Human Services: – Ensures young people leaving care have affordable, safe, and stable housing options and the financial resources to support themselves independently. – Revise policy and practice to provide the support required by young people. | Closed – Met | Sep-14 | The Ministry has reported further initiatives aimed at ensuring young people who leave care have stable housing options. The Ministry has revised policy. This recommendation has been met. | ||
| Where Do We Go From Here?: Youth Aging Out of Care | Special Report | Recommendation 2 | Apr-13 | Ministry of Children’s Services | To meet the needs of Alberta’s youth transitioning out of our care the Child and Youth Advocate recommends that the Ministry of Human Services: – Dedicates and trains caseworkers to meet the unique needs of young people leaving care. – Identify caseworkers to serve this population, including dedicated time available for young people to access them. – Provide training to staff on the needs of this population and how to engage them. | Closed – Met | Mar-18 | This recommendation has been met with the commitment to develop a resource list and with the created practice specialists. | ||
| Where Do We Go From Here?: Youth Aging Out of Care | Special Report | Recommendation 3 | Apr-13 | Ministry of Human Services | To meet the needs of Alberta’s youth transitioning out of our care the Child and Youth Advocate recommends that the Ministry of Human Services: – Increases the awareness of caseworkers, caregivers, and service providers about resources for young people leaving care and support young people to access them. – Create greater awareness among caseworkers, caregivers, and agency staff about resources and programs that support transitioning to independence. – Build processes for a seamless transition from ‘in care’ to adult services that are appropriate to their needs. | Closed – Met | Sep-14 | The Ministry has indicated further activity with the Policy to Practice session and the Transitioning From Care guide book. This recommendation has been met. | ||
| Where Do We Go From Here?: Youth Aging Out of Care | Special Report | Recommendation 4 | Apr-13 | Ministry of Human Services | To meet the needs of Alberta’s youth transitioning out of our care the Child and Youth Advocate recommends that the Ministry of Human Services: – Ensures young people leaving care have supportive adult relationships. – Work with young people and caregivers so young people develop the relationships and relationship skills they require for independence. – Wherever possible, ensure that young people are able to effectively address their interests regarding family relationships. | Closed – Met | Mar-16 | This recommendation has been met with the development of the mentorship program and the various training opportunities available on the relational needs for youth. | ||
| Where Do We Go From Here?: Youth Aging Out of Care | Special Report | Recommendation 5 | Apr-13 | Ministry of Human Services | To meet the needs of Alberta’s youth transitioning out of our care the Child and Youth Advocate recommends that the Ministry of Human Services: – Supports young people leaving care with access to counseling and/or mental health services and those that require it are transitioned to the adult system. – Provide counseling to young people who require it to address the trauma surrounding coming into care and related issues. – Work with Alberta Health Services to provide services that meet the mental health needs of young people. | Closed – Met | Sep-14 | There has been an announcement for significant increased support for mental health services. This recommendation has been met. |
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