Yukon not following up on child services case plans: report

Only 63 per cent of children in the care of the Yukon government received medical exams and about half got their teeth checked once a year, according to a recent report by the auditor general of Canada.

These are a few of the key responsibilities related to the well-being of at-risk children and youth under the Yukon Child and Family Services Act that the auditor general found were not being met.

The report also found less than half of youth were given transitional plans when they turned 16 years old.

The report found the government was meeting its commitments to contact Yukon First Nations when it provides services to Yukon First Nations families and children; is meeting requirements for approving foster homes and develops case plans for children and families. 

 But it found the government did not follow up on case plans for almost two thirds of children living in foster homes.

"They make those plans at the time and they do a good job of doing that," said Ronnie Campbell, northern assistant to the auditor general.

"However, things change, and dynamics change and circumstances change and their own standards require that some of those plans be reviewed every four months and the other ones be reviewed annually,

"So we audited them against their own standards and found that for the most part they're not doing a good job in that regard."

The auditor general's team made recommendations to improve these health and social services, which the Yukon government accepted.