Nunavut government shuts down Cambridge Bay group home
In a brief news release on Friday afternoon, the territory said its director of family wellness had informed Nunik Care Services on Jan. 10 that its approval to operate as a child-care facility under the Child and Family Services Act had been rescinded.
The release said the facility, which is a home for children and youth between five and 19 years old, had been given 60 days notice about the approval being revoked. It said the Department of Family Services was "working diligently" to make sure there were "transition plans" for the children and youth who lived in the home.
The department did not say in the release what the findings were of its investigation.
Home was facing community pressure to fold
The department told CBC News late last year that it had been working with the RCMP to investigate the group home.
Solomon Bucknor, the director of Nunik Care Services, previously told CBC News that two incidents had been under investigation – in one, a child accused an employee of choking them and in another, a youth claimed a staff member "manhandled" them.
Bucknor denied the allegations at the time.
The home opened in May 2023 and as of December was home to seven youth in care – some from Cambridge Bay, and others from different Nunavut communities. It is privately run, but funded by the Nunavut government.
The home had been facing pressure from residents in the community to shut down, and a petition calling for its closure said that youth who lived there were "way out of control" and "out at all hours of the night." It also suggested the group home wasn't caring for youth properly, and that young people needed a place to go with better treatment.
Nunavut RCMP previously confirmed that some crimes in the community had been linked to youth – some who were in care at the home, and some who were not.
The recent release from the government of Nunavut doesn't say where young people living at the home will go instead.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
AISH recipients panicked over looming provincial deadline: health providers
Health providers say people who receive Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) are calling them in a panic over a letter from the province that threatens to cut their benefits if they don't meet a September deadline. The providers tasked with filling out the forms for the Disability Tax Credit (DTC) and Canada Disability Benefits (CDB) say they are overwhelmed by the calls and confusion over the deadline set by the province. A copy of the letter obtained by CBC News states that AISH clients are "required to access all sources of income they may be eligible for, including federal programs." The letter tells clients to update their local AISH office about the status of their DTC and CDB applications prior to Sept. 5, 2025. "Clients who have not communicated the status of their CDB application to their AISH office prior to September 5, 2025, may see an equivalent amount to the CDB benefit, $200, deducted from their monthly AISH benefits, beginning with the October 2025 period of assistance," reads the letter. The province plans to keep AISH payments at the same amount but take back the $200 monthly amount for the federal benefit. The Alberta government has said it has the highest payments in Canada and exceeds the minimum set by the federal government. WATCH | Why AISH recipients won't get extra money from a new federal disability benefit: AISH recipients, who receive $1,901 a month from the province, say they are being forced to pay upfront for the medical evaluations in order to apply for the benefits. Ivy Hays, from Coronation, has received AISH benefits for nearly 20 years due to a number of permanent health issues that resulted from a massive heart attack in her late 30s. Hays said her physician is charging $400 to fill out the medical form for the DTC application. She said she asked to pay the clinic in instalments but the office insisted she had to pay the entire cost upfront. "My heart hit the floor," Hays said. "I have no living family. I have no way to come up with that $400." Her AISH caseworker arranged for a loan that she could pay back over a series of months, but Hays said she has learned the form will still take at least two months for the physician to fill out, taking her past the Sept. 5 deadline. At an unrelated news conference on Thursday, Assisted Living and Social Services Minister Jason Nixon said his government isn't expecting AISH recipients to complete the federal application process by September 5. Nixon said they are required to check in with their caseworker by that date and update them on where they're at with their application. "We will not be cutting off AISH benefits in September if people are still working through their process with the federal government," he said. 'Very sad' Patty Wilson, a nurse practitioner in Calgary, said her clinic is getting deluged with calls from patients with disabilities worried they will miss the September deadline. Others are concerned they received the letter because they did something wrong. "I'm sad, very sad, for my patients, as well, that this is another hurdle that they have to jump through, another added stressor they have to go through," Wilson said in an interview. Wilson estimates each form takes her about two to three hours to fill out. There are so many people in the queue, Wilson said she'd be lucky to get all them done by September 2026 She already has a one-year wait list for people needing medical forms to get AISH. Dr. Ginetta Silvalaggio, a family physician in Edmonton, said the forms have contributed to her working more hours. While she is managing to keep up at the moment, she worries what will happen by the end of August as the deadline creeps closer. Silvalaggio said she can't understand why the province is taking this action when it ended the last fiscal year with an $8.3 billion surplus. "Why target the disabled community in particular in the name of saving a buck?" she asked. "There's a lot of distress because the time frames are so tight." Research A new brief from the Disability Policy Research Program at the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy compiled reaction to the changes from 241 AISH recipients who were allowed to stay anonymous so they could speak freely. If they could keep the Canada Disability Benefit, respondents said they would use that $200 to buy more and healthier groceries, pay for prescriptions not covered by health benefits, and cover rent increases in market housing. Others spoke about the ability to set aside $5 or $10 a month for a small emergency fund or even have the ability to leave their apartment. "I'm housebound because transportation is too expensive," a respondent from Edmonton wrote. "I feel trapped and being able to get out once in a while would be life-changing." Another respondent said the extra money would allow them to live with more independence and dignity "For someone relying on AISH, $200 isn't just money; it represents hope, stability, and a chance to live with real choices." Senior research associate Brittany Finley was involved in the report, which was an initiative of the Disability Policy Research Program and eight organizations across the province, including Inclusion Alberta, Disability Action Hall, Alberta Ability Network and Inclusion Grande Prairie. Finley said the responses showed that people on AISH believe the government is leaving them behind. "You don't feel that you're being valued as a citizen in the province where you were born and where you live," she said. "And I think that just makes people feel like they've lost hope." The brief recommends that the province abandon the CDB clawback and help AISH recipients apply for the Disability Tax Credit.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Debate on forced mental health treatment continues as one woman's costs top $800K
In the fight to better help people with severe and persistent mental illness in Ontario — which can sometimes result in costly detention in jails and hospitals — two opposing camps are lobbying the Ministry of Health in very different directions. On one side are those who think unwell patients are given too much freedom to reject treatment, putting them at risk of having their mental illnesses progress and become entrenched. On the other side are the patient advocates who say there are already enough mechanisms to force treatment on people, that giving patients the help they ask for leads to better outcomes, and that insufficient community support is the real problem. Meanwhile, health and justice systems as they exist today can spend much to achieve little. In one woman's ongoing case, a CBC News analysis estimates the costs since 2018 at $811,600 — and counting. She has bipolar I disorder, characterized by episodes of extreme emotional highs that last at least a week, followed by depression. Click here for source data Yet despite Barbara Cleary's dozens of stints in hospital psychiatric wards, emergency housing, jail cells and living rough — as well as brief periods of stability and several months in an assisted living facility last year — today the 76-year-old is again unhoused, living in a tent encampment in Cornwall, Ont., continuing the cycle. 'An extremely high cost to the system' "It is an extremely high cost to the system when people are unwell," said Dr. Karen Shin, chief of psychiatry at St. Michael's Hospital for Unity Health Toronto and chair of the Ontario Psychiatric Association. "And you have to remember, she's one person. If you went in and reached out to any psychiatrists in the system that are working in a hospital, they can tell you numerous people they care for that have a similar story." Cornwall police say they're dealing with 20 people like Cleary on a daily basis. The force picked five individuals from that group and found each averaged 53 occurrences requiring police response in 2024. So, what to do? Shin founded and co-leads the Ontario Psychiatric Association's mental health and law reform task force, which is calling on the province to expand forced treatment in certain circumstances. From her organization's perspective, some forced care protects the right to health for vulnerable people whose illnesses can cause delusional thinking. "Choice is extremely important, but that choice has to be a capable choice, and a capable choice needs to include that there's an understanding of the symptoms of the illness and the consequences of saying, 'No, I don't want treatment,'" Shin said. The task force wants the province to: Permit treatment during a patient's court appeal after the Consent and Capacity Board upholds a finding that they're incapable of making a decision. Remove the requirement that people have had to respond to treatment in the past from involuntary admission criteria under the Mental Health Act. Extend a first involuntary admission from 14 days to up to 30 days. An organization called the Empowerment Council takes an opposing view. It says medication comes with risks that not every patient can tolerate, including the possibility of neurological damage, and that the trauma of having something forced into the body and mind can interrupt therapeutic relationships and scare people into avoiding it altogether. "Why not exhaust providing the services that evidence shows help people, rather than spending a half a million dollars on your more carceral responses?" said Jennifer Chambers, the council's executive director. "Instead, people are just in and out, in and out, and it makes no sense." Cleary spent a few months in an assisted living facility last year after CBC first covered her story. She was removed last August by police after her illness deteriorated. In late October she was arrested and charged by Cornwall police for the 23rd time, according to court records — this time for breaching probation and trespassing at her former apartment building. She spent a month and a half in jail getting back on medication before she pleaded guilty in December. She was sentenced to the time she had already served, bringing her total time in jail since 2018 to about 347 days. Near her tent encampment on Wednesday, she recalled being removed from the assisted living facility and being strapped down on a bed in an anteroom of the hospital's emergency department for half a day. "Then they admitted me for 12 days. The doctor released me onto the street again," she said. Asked what she thinks she needs, Cleary said Cornwall has only one psychiatrist and requires more, and that she needs to live with someone who can help her with things like getting around and getting dressed. Many people in the unhoused community help her out on a daily basis, she said, though in the past she has been taken advantage of by some. She wants housing, but in light of her history since 2018 it's unclear how long it would last. Chambers said Ontario used to be a leader in peer support, but that it's been first on the chopping block with funding constraints. And a transitional support system would help people adjust after being released from institutions like hospital and jail. "Peers can be really creative and supportive with just where people are, rather than concentrating so much on wrenching them into a different space against their will," she said. 'So much has changed' Shin agrees that more wrap-around social supports and services are necessary. But she also thinks Ontario's Mental Health Act needs beefing up. "So much has changed with our knowledge of mental health care, the importance of access to treatment, the concerns around repeated episodes of illness and how that leads to more intractable illness, how it can lead to medications not working as well," she said. "Most jurisdictions consider the potential risks and harms related to treatment refusal. They have legislative safeguards to ensure involuntary admission is with treatment, so that people get the treatment they need and are not indefinitely detained untreated." The provincial ministries of health and the attorney general, which oversees the justice system, have not responded to repeated requests for comment. Where our numbers come from According to figures provided by the Cornwall hospital about how much it costs to run its short-term crisis housing program ($100,000 per bed, per year), it cost about $14,600 to fund her bed for seven weeks this past winter. Mental health resources Do you need help, or does someone you know need help? Here are some mental health resources in the province, which differ depending on where you are: 211 Ontario maintains a database of services. You can search by topic (mental health/addictions) and your specific location. Live chat is available Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET, and a chatbot is available 24/7. You can also text 211, call 211 or email gethelp@ ConnexOntario is a directory of community mental health and addictions services in Ontario. You can connect with someone for information and referrals to services in your community 24/7 via 1-866-531-2600, texting "CONNEX" to 247247, live web chat or email. The Suicide Crisis Hotline can be reached 24/7 by calling or texting 988.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Debate on forced mental health treatment continues as one woman's costs top $800K
In the fight to better help people with severe and persistent mental illness in Ontario — which can sometimes result in costly detention in jails and hospitals — two opposing camps are lobbying the Ministry of Health in very different directions. On one side are those who think unwell patients are given too much freedom to reject treatment, putting them at risk of having their mental illnesses progress and become entrenched. On the other side are the patient advocates who say there are already enough mechanisms to force treatment on people, that giving patients the help they ask for leads to better outcomes, and that insufficient community support is the real problem. Meanwhile, health and justice systems as they exist today can spend much to achieve little. In one woman's ongoing case, a CBC News analysis estimates the costs since 2018 at $811,600 — and counting. She has bipolar I disorder, characterized by episodes of extreme emotional highs that last at least a week, followed by depression. Click here for source data Yet despite Barbara Cleary's dozens of stints in hospital psychiatric wards, emergency housing, jail cells and living rough — as well as brief periods of stability and several months in an assisted living facility last year — today the 76-year-old is again unhoused, living in a tent encampment in Cornwall, Ont., continuing the cycle. 'An extremely high cost to the system' "It is an extremely high cost to the system when people are unwell," said Dr. Karen Shin, chief of psychiatry at St. Michael's Hospital for Unity Health Toronto and chair of the Ontario Psychiatric Association. "And you have to remember, she's one person. If you went in and reached out to any psychiatrists in the system that are working in a hospital, they can tell you numerous people they care for that have a similar story." Cornwall police say they're dealing with 20 people like Cleary on a daily basis. The force picked five individuals from that group and found each averaged 53 occurrences requiring police response in 2024. So, what to do? Shin founded and co-leads the Ontario Psychiatric Association's mental health and law reform task force, which is calling on the province to expand forced treatment in certain circumstances. From her organization's perspective, some forced care protects the right to health for vulnerable people whose illnesses can cause delusional thinking. "Choice is extremely important, but that choice has to be a capable choice, and a capable choice needs to include that there's an understanding of the symptoms of the illness and the consequences of saying, 'No, I don't want treatment,'" Shin said. The task force wants the province to: Permit treatment during a patient's court appeal after the Consent and Capacity Board upholds a finding that they're incapable of making a decision. Remove the requirement that people have had to respond to treatment in the past from involuntary admission criteria under the Mental Health Act. Extend a first involuntary admission from 14 days to up to 30 days. An organization called the Empowerment Council takes an opposing view. It says medication comes with risks that not every patient can tolerate, including the possibility of neurological damage, and that the trauma of having something forced into the body and mind can interrupt therapeutic relationships and scare people into avoiding it altogether. "Why not exhaust providing the services that evidence shows help people, rather than spending a half a million dollars on your more carceral responses?" said Jennifer Chambers, the council's executive director. "Instead, people are just in and out, in and out, and it makes no sense." Cleary spent a few months in an assisted living facility last year after CBC first covered her story. She was removed last August by police after her illness deteriorated. In late October she was arrested and charged by Cornwall police for the 23rd time, according to court records — this time for breaching probation and trespassing at her former apartment building. She spent a month and a half in jail getting back on medication before she pleaded guilty in December. She was sentenced to the time she had already served, bringing her total time in jail since 2018 to about 347 days. Near her tent encampment on Wednesday, she recalled being removed from the assisted living facility and being strapped down on a bed in an anteroom of the hospital's emergency department for half a day. "Then they admitted me for 12 days. The doctor released me onto the street again," she said. Asked what she thinks she needs, Cleary said Cornwall has only one psychiatrist and requires more, and that she needs to live with someone who can help her with things like getting around and getting dressed. Many people in the unhoused community help her out on a daily basis, she said, though in the past she has been taken advantage of by some. She wants housing, but in light of her history since 2018 it's unclear how long it would last. Chambers said Ontario used to be a leader in peer support, but that it's been first on the chopping block with funding constraints. And a transitional support system would help people adjust after being released from institutions like hospital and jail. "Peers can be really creative and supportive with just where people are, rather than concentrating so much on wrenching them into a different space against their will," she said. 'So much has changed' Shin agrees that more wrap-around social supports and services are necessary. But she also thinks Ontario's Mental Health Act needs beefing up. "So much has changed with our knowledge of mental health care, the importance of access to treatment, the concerns around repeated episodes of illness and how that leads to more intractable illness, how it can lead to medications not working as well," she said. "Most jurisdictions consider the potential risks and harms related to treatment refusal. They have legislative safeguards to ensure involuntary admission is with treatment, so that people get the treatment they need and are not indefinitely detained untreated." The provincial ministries of health and the attorney general, which oversees the justice system, have not responded to repeated requests for comment. Where our numbers come from According to figures provided by the Cornwall hospital about how much it costs to run its short-term crisis housing program ($100,000 per bed, per year), it cost about $14,600 to fund her bed for seven weeks this past winter. Mental health resources Do you need help, or does someone you know need help? Here are some mental health resources in the province, which differ depending on where you are: 211 Ontario maintains a database of services. You can search by topic (mental health/addictions) and your specific location. Live chat is available Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET, and a chatbot is available 24/7. You can also text 211, call 211 or email gethelp@ ConnexOntario is a directory of community mental health and addictions services in Ontario. You can connect with someone for information and referrals to services in your community 24/7 via 1-866-531-2600, texting "CONNEX" to 247247, live web chat or email. The Suicide Crisis Hotline can be reached 24/7 by calling or texting 988.
