Photo by Photo Submitted
A DECADE OF ADVOCACY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE – Child and Youth Advocate office staff are seen here left to right: Bengie Clethero, Rachel Veinott-McKeough, Julia Milnes, Lynda Silverfox, and Annette King. The office celebrated its 10-year anniversary this year. Photo courtesy Child and Youth Advocate office
The problems facing Yukon children are growing in number and complexity, according to the territory’s Child and Youth Advocate.
The problems facing Yukon children are growing in number and complexity, according to the territory’s Child and Youth Advocate.
“The rising number of advocacy issues is a stark reminder that there is still a long path ahead of us,” Annette King said in her recent advocate’s statement.
The Child and Youth Advocate office (YCAO) celebrated its 10 year anniversary last March. The office issued a report detailing its progress on Oct. 20.
The YCAO has faced more than 900 advocacy issues over the last 10 years. As well, the number of clients has grown steadily since the office opened in 2010.
In the last fiscal year, the office tallied a 10-year total of 564 youth clients.
The YCAO saw its all-time highest increase in clients last year, bringing 122 youth into the program in 2019-20 – nearly double the number of new clients the previous year.
Over half of the advocacy issues are related to Family and Children’s Services, with education issues a close second.
The average timeframe of a child’s file is 207 days, the report says. The longest resolution to an issue was 2,192 days.
“YCAO is actively working with the departments to find more timely resolutions to issues,” the report says.
The report makes several requests in its report: a revision to the Child and Youth Advocate Act, increased child rights assessments from government and stronger partnerships with First Nations.
The Child and Youth Advocate Act has served its purpose and is due for a review, the report says.
The YCAO is seeking an expansion in the act to include systemic advocacy, public reviews and investigations as part of the office’s role.
Child advocates are also seeking independent power to investigate the critical injuries or deaths of children receiving services.
The report calls on governments to apply a child rights impact assessment to all policies.
The office has also requested the ability to monitor and review those assessments and their implementation.
“Rapid changes in government programs and high turnover leads to gaps in understanding and accessibility that impact children and youth the most,” King said in the report.
“The YCAO contends that if a child rights lens was proactively applied to services and programs, there would be less of a need to advocate for children’s rights and views to be upheld.”
The office is also calling for meaningful partnerships with First Nations governments to better serve Indigenous youth.
More than 70 per cent of the advocates’ clients are First Nations children.
“While we have observed conscious effort to shift out of a long-standing colonial system, there are ongoing service gaps for children and youth,” King said.
King noted there have been some positive changes since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action and Jordan’s Principle.
“However, money alone does not repair the psychological impacts of trauma, past and present, and as such there is an ongoing need for family supports, family treatment and healing,” King said.
She is calling for partnerships with First Nations that include cultural connections, strengthening relationships and building resiliency
“Without collaboration between programs, children and youth will continue to fall through the cracks,” King said.
The YCAO’s report was tabled in the legislative assembly on Oct. 22.
In a letter to house Speaker Nils Clarke, King offered to meet with the assembly’s Member Services Board to discuss its contents.
The office advocates for children and youth who are receiving services from the Yukon government.
Child advocates meet with children and caregivers, applicable government agencies and First Nations, when applicable.
The advocates then assist children and youth in presenting their views, communicating the child’s rights and submitting requests.
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Comments (25)
Up 3 Down 0
Juniper Jackson on Nov 15, 2020 at 9:47 pm
The mandate as a parent, as a human being is, and will always be.. guardians and protectors of our young. Even animals do that. I do not care what it takes or how many snowflakes have hurt feelings, I do not care about political correctness, I do not care what color the child wears on his/her bones.. every child.. safe, housed, fed, clothed and loved. Money? If a government can **ss away millions and millions of dollars on a running track..they can sure as hell make sure children are warm and dressed at the supper table with their family. An abusive family? Get that child out. Any reason to leave a child in an unsafe circumstance is bulls***. Don't anyone give me any crap about FN, or addictions, or any other excuse. A child is a child. Do whatever has to be done to take care of them.. ALL of them.
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Lost In the Yukon on Nov 13, 2020 at 3:53 pm
Dearest Dick ... the article in fact was about gaps in services for children in an area of responsibility that falls into the lap of the Minister of Health and Social Services. The Advocates Office comes into play because of its toothlessness which was very evident during the Group Home debacle ... and it wants the public to now believe it is on the job by talking about gaps.
I appreciate that interconnected issues may be difficult for you to untangle, so we’ll cut you some slack. You did start off by saying you are no fan of Pauline Frost so maybe you’re not a lost cause.
Up 9 Down 12
Mick on Nov 13, 2020 at 10:42 am
@ Lost In the Yukon
Pot, meet kettle. The article is about the Child Advocates office, not about the Group home you seem oddly obsessed with.
Wanna try again?
Up 14 Down 1
Oya on Nov 12, 2020 at 4:12 pm
@ Mike Love your comment... Stop catering to the drunks, crackheads and sex abusers and start paying some attention to these children! THAT is THE BEST advice for the government!
Those poor, poor children.... my heart breaks for them all. Wish I could bring them all in. With such a rough start to life, it's truly amazing that any of them can ultimately become contributing members of society.
@ SWSW Yes, I knew of the privilege, but I didn't know of the MSW. Thanks for enlightening me.
Up 17 Down 2
Cameron on Nov 12, 2020 at 12:40 pm
@Mike - That makes me very sad and sick to hear a 20 year old taking his own life and the Director is again responsible. I can not understand how this Director continues in this position; the exodus of workers, the respectful workplace issues, she was found guilty of wrongdoing and her absence to answer for anything - disgusting.
Before the advocate is given more powers she should look at what is in front of her - youth and young adults are dying as a result of the negligence of the system that is suppose to protect them. It looks like the highest numbers of complaints are about Family and Child Services - a conscious effort to shift out of a long-standing colonial system, there are ongoing service gaps for children and youth. What fact do you base this on because they told you that? The numbers don't lie and I agree I don't trust the reported numbers - if you have dealt with 900 advocacy issues in 10 years why are there still this number of complaints? Your assertion does not make sense to me. Aside from the group home recommendations what concrete recommendations has this office made and followed up on?
Up 25 Down 8
Mike on Nov 11, 2020 at 8:03 pm
To the two thumbs down on my post at 840 on NOVEMBER 9 2020
I said I buried a 20 year old boy on the 15th of last month and hold the ministry of child protective services responsible because for 4 years we had to argue, fight, call lawyers just to get this ministry to do their jobs. And the sh*t this young man went through while in the group home was nothing short of child abuse on a grand scale. Every child deserves to be treated with respect, love and guidance not abuse, lies and excuses. To anyone who has ever fostered a child here in the Yukon they will know exactly what I'm talking about. This Ministry needs to be held accountable for their lack of care for the child and more care for the federal dollars they get every year to care for these children. Remember they never asked to be born nor did they create the situation that finds them in care. Stop catering to the drunks, crackheads and sex abusers and start paying some attention to these children.
Up 15 Down 8
Jessie on Nov 11, 2020 at 6:39 pm
@Oya to answer your questions Ms. King has had jobs with YG @ victim services briefly, Child Abuse Treatment Services. Not sure of her qualifications but in her current job doing what YG wants seems to be the only qualification. What did someone say lap dog not watchdog ???? Change is required not more money or additional powers and responsibilities.
Up 12 Down 3
Social Worker Schmocial Worker on Nov 11, 2020 at 4:52 pm
Dear Mick - It does not matter who created the Child Advocate’s office when. Everyone knows that the civil service in the Yukon is not independent of the government of the day. FFS! So yes, brought to you by Pauline Frost. This Liberal Government has been nothing but political interference for all of its mandate so back your truck up!
It is absolutely bewildering that at this time so far 9 people have liked your comment. This is beyond bewildering and I am literally in shock and my frontal lobe is spasming uncontrollably.
Up 12 Down 3
Social Worker Schmocial Worker on Nov 11, 2020 at 4:42 pm
Hello Oya - Ms King has a very privileged life both financially and socially. She does have an MSW and she has taught some classes at Yuk U. She travels within the upper echelon and would be familiar with keeping things on the down low. As many have indicated, people are selected for these positions not because of any special talents that they possess but for their ability to produce an “image” unrelated to and in spite of reality.
As many people have indicated here and elsewhere in these forums we gain nothing from these self-serving “reviews”, “reports”, or so-called “investigations”. So yes, the Child Advocates Office is another dead end in reality but in the real world it’s existence and it’s practice is to maintain the “image” of the government as a top 100 employer. And there are a lot of people who have their brains shut-off to that reality - They have been programmed.
There are so many people in government who really have no clue on how to navigate their ethical codes and the employment relationship but then in the Yukon there is no requirement to be a registered Social Worker, Psychologist etc. Par for the course in the Yukon - Ethics not required.
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Lost In the Yukon on Nov 11, 2020 at 12:35 pm
Dearest Mick ... please take a remedial reading course with a focus on comprehension ... 1) Minister Frost WAS the Minister of the day during the Group Home crisis; 2) I don’t believe I said Minister Frost was in office in 2010 when the Office was created.
Good luck with your course work. I would have expected more from one of Minister Frost’s EAs
Up 19 Down 21
Oya on Nov 11, 2020 at 9:21 am
Does Ms King have any education related to child protection? Is she a certified social worker or something along those lines? Or is she just a Conservative Party appointee (which would explain so much)?
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Tired of second class male-status? on Nov 10, 2020 at 9:48 pm
Wow! Look at that Liberal Diversity in action... No men, specifically, no Caucasian men. Is the Liberal Diversity Virtue Signal platform really about something other than diversity?
For example, women make up 92% of all nurses in Canada while men only account for 8%. This is crap! Men should account for 49% of all nurses in Canada. Of course then we would have to figure out the percentages of those who identify as other and add/subtract accordingly. We can do the same calculations for race/culture/ or whatever.
We must correct this matriarchal system of male intolerance. Men must be allowed to care, love and nurture! We must stop training our young boys that they do not matter... It’s time that we all say, save the men and children first... Put our women on the frontlines to fight in the trenches.
Let’s put diversity in action and rid ourselves of this sexism once and for all! Down with Matriarchy and female privilege!
Up 16 Down 13
Mick on Nov 10, 2020 at 5:06 pm
@ Lost In the Yukon
Nice try. I’m no fan of Frost but if you read the article you’d know that Frost wasn’t a minister in 2010. This agency was born of the Fentie regime. Your revisionist comment sounds like something Trump would spew.
False and full of hate. Ask yourself this, what have you done to better your community? I’ll bet Nothing.
Up 21 Down 3
Sweet Child of Mine... Welcome to the Jungle... on Nov 10, 2020 at 4:37 pm
If you are a government “leader” (sick) you should be worried about this statement; “rapid changes in government programs and high turnover...”. This is the modus operandi of YG management. Everyone knows this. This is the result of a psychopathology that fosters and encourages rampant anti-social behaviours, fear, silence, and poisoned work environments.
In addition to this YG has created circular loops in their system of checks and accountability. For example, the Child Advocates Office, Human Rights, the Privacy Commission, the RWO, and even the Yukon Employees Union, all report back to YG so that the victim now becomes prey in a Yukon special edition of The Purge.
Minister Mostyn and Minister Frost have set the Yukon back at great cost. So these so called independent/arms-lengths agencies of accountability actually work to reinforce government power because they are as empowered as teats on a bull.
This is what makes the Yukon a true sh**hole. Labour lawyers outside of the Territory know just how effed up things are in the Yukon and if you had any sense at all you would see the same thing... How in the f@$k do you get to be a top 100 employer with this kind of turnover and this amount of ongoing controversy? FFS? WTF!
Up 25 Down 6
Not a watchdog more like a lap dog on Nov 10, 2020 at 4:34 pm
Blah, Blah, Blah .........the Advocate is and always has been aligned with the YG government and she is afraid to really deal with issues. If she wasn't she would be all over Family and Child Services and the Director who was found to have committed wrong doing against kids in her care.
There continue to be significant issues that she ignores. She is not remotely independent or functional, if that office continues it should be with an advocate who is not "friendly" with YG and only concerned about keeping her position. Like the liberal government it is time for a change - BIG TIME.
Up 18 Down 4
Eddie on Nov 10, 2020 at 4:13 pm
Okay - reality check the Advocate wants more powers or responsibility ? What has been actually been produced by this "independent"office? The Advocate was asked to complete the group home review she did not make the decision to do it despite lots of concerns reported to her. On this subject - that review was actually done by the Alberta Advocates staff because it was too much for this office. How much did that cost? What recommendations have been followed up on? Now she is doing a review on school attendance ? All this in 10 years.
Young people I have spoken to tell me that you go to advocate for help they say "advocate for yourself" and close the file. I think a close look at what actual work is being done and how this office provides any accountability should be done before you add to her responsibilities - it sounds like give me more money. This is not a good investment and has not amounted to any real services or changes for vulnerable youth. This advocate is and always has been a puppet for the government at I am sure quite the cost.
Up 29 Down 12
Lost In the Yukon on Nov 10, 2020 at 2:50 pm
Another program brought to you by Pauline Frost who has kept the same Director in place that was at the center of the group home issue. Nice management Minister and your invisible Deputy Minister ( who still hasn’t been around to the departments programs after three years). The Advocates Office needs to be eliminated as it does zero ... nice picture though (at tax payers expense).
Up 27 Down 6
TMYK on Nov 10, 2020 at 12:21 pm
So with a yearly budget of $760,000 what have you accomplished for all those tax dollars? Artificially inflated your numbers and solved nothing?
Up 25 Down 9
Charles Bronson on Nov 10, 2020 at 12:14 pm
Incompetent is the only word that comes to mind when describing the Child Advocate.
Up 23 Down 5
Edie rue on Nov 9, 2020 at 9:17 pm
Feels like a movie trailer for “There’s a New Sheriff in Town”. And the picture is the movie poster.
You certainly can’t get enough eyes looking after our children. Definitely appreciate that.
It’s important to consider the growth of an agency like this, as it may (and may already be) become just another unchecked agency that is saturated with systemic racism. I’m hearing those advocates pictured above are going around town interviewing children wherever and whenever they feel like it. Acting like this, and taking on the duties listed above will dilute your primary purpose.
Up 37 Down 3
Mike on Nov 9, 2020 at 8:40 pm
Yeah it all sounds good in this paper but I just buried a 20 yr.old boy going to college but when Government sh*ts the bed and doesn't provide the proper funding or support all the rest of it is crap. Kids aren't falling through cracks, they're dying get the story straight.
Up 30 Down 12
Mike on Nov 9, 2020 at 7:18 pm
I can’t stop laughing - this office is a joke given all the issues facing youth here. Try reading the advocate in Nunavut’s report you might learn something. If you are really independent and think there are problems, do something - the privacy commissioner is more visible than this office.They want to expand their powers so they can do more of nothing - just government waste. It is time for a change - shouldn’t your term be up by now ?
Up 36 Down 7
Again, and again, and again! WTF Pauline?!?! on Nov 9, 2020 at 4:25 pm
Again... Fire them all from the Manager level up... As well as any HR person even remotely related to their hiring... For example, if an HR rep was employed in that department at the time any of them were hired they are fired!
How many times do we have to hear about this same thing... Kids are being harmed... Do it now! You’re fired, you’re fired, you’re fired... Everyone gets a severance check.
Up 36 Down 10
Brenda on Nov 9, 2020 at 4:25 pm
What a revelation !! Thanks goodness you are here to announce this and what exactly have you done - zero. Keep collecting that big salary.
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Deanna on Nov 9, 2020 at 4:19 pm
This office is a joke. Where were you during the group home issues? That’s right, you said you had known for years about concerns. What have you done with the recommendations you made - bought and paid for by YG?