Opposition asks auditor general to review Yukon child protection

MLAs with Yukon's official opposition are not happy with how the government is handling questions about the territory's child protection system — and they want Canada's auditor general to get involved.

Yukon Party MLA Patti McLeod sent a letter to Auditor General Michael Ferguson this week, asking that he conduct a performance audit of Yukon's Family and Children's Services branch. She also tabled the letter in the Yukon Legislature on Wednesday.

The move comes in the wake of complaints about group homes and the territory's child protection system. Several workers within the system, as well as youth, have come forward in recent weeks to describe how youth in care are sometimes neglected or mistreated. 

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"Obviously these are some pretty serious situations happening with Yukon's group homes," McLeod said.

"Really, we need to have a review of what's going on."

McLeod says she's not impressed with what she's heard from the government — and particularly the minister of health and social services — so far on the issue.

Yukon's Child and Youth Advocate has already agreed to conduct her own review of the system, but McLeod says it's not clear what the scope of it will be.

"What I do know is that the auditor general does a very comprehensive review of government programs, and provides specific recommendations to government," McLeod said.

Audit done 4 years ago

The auditor general last looked at Yukon's child services in 2014. He found several flaws in the system, including files that were years out of date, children in foster care who didn't get regular dental or medical checkups, and a lack of planning for youth becoming too old for foster care. 

McLeod's letter asks Ferguson to "monitor progress" since then, and to broaden the scope of that earlier review. She also suggests that "particular attention should be given" to child placement and protection services.

The auditor general's office told CBC on Wednesday that it had not yet received McLeod's letter.

McLeod says it's about having "another set of eyes to look at this."

"I believe that there's room for an additional level of scrutiny over what's going on, given that we are talking about young people," she said. 

"Obviously there's a problem, we need to get to the bottom of it."