16 to 18 year olds in the N.W.T. can now be placed in foster care

Teenagers aged 16 to 18 in the Northwest Territories can now be placed under foster care.

The amendment, one of several made last fall to the N.W.T.'s Child and Family Services Act, came intoeffect recently.

The change also allowsstruggling parents with children aged 16-18 to enter into voluntary support agreements agreements that provide help such ascounselling andaddictions treatmentwithout requiringparents to give up their rights as legal guardians.

That age group"has been a grey area for many years," said Tammy Roberts, the executive director of the Foster Family Coalition of the N.W.T., who welcomed the changes.

"Being a teenager is a very challenging time, especially for kids that have been involved in the child welfare system or whose families are struggling," she said.

Support extended to age23

In another major update, the act is callingfor the government to support young adults coming out of foster careup to the age of 23.

Thesupport couldinclude"education,counselling, training and other assistance to obtain employment;and programs to assist in the person's mental or physical development," or tohelp to receive those things,according to the updated act.

Previously, that support wasavailable up to the age of 19, the age of majority (though Roberts says some aid, such as money for room and board, was still offered).

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"When we talk about ages, we're talking about chronological ages, we're not talking about developmental ages. So there's a lot of youth who are behind,[these changes]would provide them with that stability," said Roberts.

Overall the number of N.W.T. children under permanent custody ordershas declined significantly over the years, to 177 in the fiscal year 2014-2015. That's downfrom 253 a decade before,according to the latest annual report of the director of Child and Family Services).

However the number of youths aged 15 to 18 under permanent custodyincreased to 75 from 62 during the same period.

(Before the act was recentlyupdated, kids aged 15-18 who were initially placed under custody when they were younger than16 had the option of remaining under custody until they turned 19.)

Act to be reviewed every 5 years

Other changes to the Child and Family Services Act that have come into effect include:

• the addition of prostitution as a reason a child or youth can be removed from a home
• the right of "applicable Aboriginal organizations" to be notified of and take part inapprehension hearings, permanent custody applications, and youth protection applications
• the director of the N.W.T.'s Child and Family Services division is now legally required to tell children, youth and parents of their right to be represented by a lawyer during the child protection process.
• there need to be transition plans for those moving out of foster care.

"There has been a real lack ofplanningfor their future and actively helping them move towardsindependence,whether theywant to go on to furthertheireducationor need help finding a place to live," said Roberts of the requirement for transition plans.

Roberts is also glad to see one subtle but meaningful change.

The previous version of the act said a child needed protection if "the child has been exposed to repeated domestic violence by or towards a parent."

The new version of the act omits the word "repeated."

"Some cases are much more serious than others and this gives the opportunity to protect right away instead of waiting for repeated things to happen," said Roberts.

GlenAbernethy, the Minister of Health and Social Services,pointed to another important change, meant to avoid separating families in the first place.

"When asocial worker or child protection worker goes to court, they now haveto demonstrate to the judge all the avenues they took to avoid apprehensions,"he said."Previously, they didn't."

The Child and Family Services Act must now bereviewed every five years.

More help needed to bolsterkinship care

MLAs in the 18th legislative assembly have said more needs to be done to support grandparents and other extended family members who want to care for a child deemed in need of protection.

In particular, they called on the government to financially compensate those providing kinship care.

Reading from a review of the act last summer, former Frame Lake MLA Wendy Bisaro quoted a "wearied grandmother who has fostered several grandchildren" who said, '''I'm tired and I'm angry. This government is actually going backward.

"'When are things going to change for the better?'"