Improve Response to Child Abuse in the Arctic

The Umingmak Centre has been open since October 2019. Our Ultimate Purpose is to enhance wellbeing of children and youth who have experienced abuse.

We continually work towards increasing the community’s capacity to support the healing of children who have experience abuse through the following activities:

Client Activities

1. Child and Family Advocate activities

2 Inuit advocates support children and families through all stages of disclosure, interview, investigation, and healing. Both of our advocates are bilingual (English-Inuktitut, and English- American Sign Language). 75 clients were supported by the child and family advocates. This does not include the caregivers involved in these files.

2. Coordination of services around clients and caregivers

There a number of services coordinated out of the Umingmak Centre that are performed by members of other departments and agencies.

Interviews:  Child and youth interviews after abuse allegations are conducted in the Centre’s soft-interview room. Total interviews conducted were 37 and 36 were monitored by CFS. 4 interviews needed interpretation between English and Inuktitut.

Pediatric clinic:  Pediatricians provide forensic exams, initial assessments and follow-up appointments for clients at the Umingmak Centre. Clinics began regularly at the Umingmak Centre in June 2020, with 75 client appointments recorded in this reporting period.

Other appointments are made at the Centre for our clients. This year, we had dieticians, rehabilitation therapists, neuropsychologists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, and mental health workers use the Centre location for their appointments. In this reporting period, there were 4 of these appointments.

3. Therapeutic Services

We hired a clinician on March 4, 2021 who was available 4 hours each week. On May 3, 2021 we hired a full-time therapist. We also had a graduate student from May 2021 to December 2021 complete their clinical hours with the Umingmak Centre for three days a week. During the current reporting period, there were 611. There were appointments by the highlighted therapists and our clinical director during this reporting period for the following presentations: sexual and physical abuse, exposure to violence and neglect. As per trauma phases, each child and adolescent received a comprehensive assessment and treatment relating to their overall presentation.

Group Programs: During the reporting period, we ran four different groups. We ran a summer camp program on the land in partnership with Youth Mental Health. Attendance was a bit low for the group but the individuals who attended had a good time, the group ran for 5 sessions. The second group was geared towards children in grade 3 and 4 who had shared experiences of exposure to caregiver violence. Unfortunately, the participation level was low for this group as well. The third group was geared for adolescent girls in grade nine with shared histories of sexual abuse, the group ran for three sessions. Unfortunately, our numbers were also low for this. Our team is actively reviewing different ways of engaging with our clients further. In the coming year, we will likely run more recreational and skill building activities based on feedback from previous groups. The fourth group was co-facilitated by our Lead Physician and Clinical Director. The pilot group matched a couple caregivers with similar children who had complex medical and mental health needs. 

Case Reviews: The Umingmak Centre relies on a network of professional experts in the field of childhood trauma. Since the opening of the Centre, we have actively partnered with these professionals for education and clinical review of clients. Indirect consultations typically refer to consultations about a client where the client is not present. It can also include hypothetical consultation about a certain client presentation or behaviour. During this reporting period, there has been 122 indirect consultations relating to our clients. 

Community of Practice: During the last annual report, there was a Community of Practice group that was created. The group meets bi-weekly and focuses on mutual learning, client review and education. The Community of Practice includes the following participants: Umingmak, Justice, Education, Girls Group Home, Mental Health and Embrace Life Council. The group is facilitated by a Clinician through the Umingmak Centre and our consulting partners at Radius Child and Family. The regular Community of Practice meeting allows for enriched learning, more coordinated care for our mutual clients, mentorship and support. During this current reporting period, 26 Community of Practice meetings were held, and 52 client cases were reviewed at these meetings. 

 4. Operating the centre

We have 5 full-time staff members: one clinical therapist, 2 child and family advocates; 1 program coordinator:  and 1 child and youth therapist.  

Activities with Service Providers

 1. Professional Development 

Training for staff and community
 The Umingmak Centre delivered a series of trainings throughout the year and as requested by our partners. This included: 

1.   Education on problematic sexualized behaviours and boundaries at Nakasuk Elementary School by Clinical Director and Trauma Therapist 
2. Education to Umingmak staff, RCMP, and Guidance Counselors about interventions relating to complex sexual trauma by Dr. Garfinkel 
3.   Presentation by Lead Physician and Clinical Director on a case study relating to an unexpected community tragedy at the annual Child and Youth Advocacy conference 
4.   Presentation by Program Director and Lead Physician to community members on Traumas relating to exposure to violence and the ACEs 
5. Education on interventions with complex caregivers by Dr. Garfinkel

1.   Ongoing education sessions with Umingmak Centre team by Clinical Director and Lead Physician 
2.  Ongoing webinar education by our Lead Physician to community health nurses across the territory on topics relating to child maltreatment and assessment. 
3.   Umingmak Staff also attended the following trainings:
   a. Our Lives Journey through Illisaqsivik (Modules 1 and 2)
   b. Developmental trauma training through Radius Child and Family
   c. Play Therapy training through Crisis Trauma Resource Institute: Tools for Helping 

 2. Promotion of Promising Practices

Over the year, we have worked with a number of local organizations to improve our services to clients.

QHRC: The Umingmak Centre submitted a joint proposal with QHRC with regards to program evaluation and the incorporation of the 8 Ujarait in our therapeutic practices. The funding has been approved and data collecting will commence during the next reporting period. 

University of Toronto: Existing in a relational context, abuse and the potential subsequent disclosure is informed and shaped by family relationships. Research highlights that the presence of a supportive non-offending caregiver during a process of disclosure acts as essential in influencing a child/adolescent's willingness to disclose and their ability to cope in the aftermath of trauma (Brown, Cohen & Mannarino, 2020). This revelation of abuse can be greatly distressing for a caregiver, especially if the abuse occurs within the family or reflects the caregiver's own trauma (Holm & Hansen, 2004). In Nunavut, colonial realities of intergenerational trauma increase the likelihood and vulnerability of caregivers contending with their own past traumatic experiences while seeking to support their children (Crawford, 2014). Recognizing how caregiver involvement acts as a central tenant to a child/adolescent’s overall recovery, the Umingmak Centre, in partnership with University of Toronto, seeks to investigate the needs of non-offending caregivers to inform the creation of wrap-around pathways supporting local families. 

With the objective of decreasing barriers to resources and building substantive support for non- offending caregivers, this project seeks to be carried out throughout a three-year process. The first component includes the development of a scoping review and knowledge synthesis to identify evidenced-based best practices in the support of caregivers with trauma histories, with consideration of both contextual factors such as Inuit child welfare policy, and cultural factors, such as Inuit specific mental health and traditional healing practices. The second component will be the development (and subsequent analysis of findings) of a service needs assessment and climate survey related to key challenges community caregivers are facing when accessing services at the Umingmak Centre. Participants will be recruited from multiple sectors, including caregivers, service providers, traditional healers and knowledge holders. Findings will be collaboratively published with the academic lead and team and the partner organization. The third and final component of the research will be qualitative, and include a series of focus groups, with minimum number of 15 participants, related to the key research questions separately conducted with the following: (1) previous clients of the Umingmak Centre, (2) service providers of the Umingmak Centre and (3) Inuit Counselors. Results of this needs assessment and climate survey will be able to provide clear indications of contexts of service development, as well as clarify existing needs and opportunities in the community and beyond; development of wise or best practices of healing will be made widely available. The data stored by UofT will be stored on a secure server, the data will be de-identified with the identifying information being destroyed once it's no longer needed; data will be coded as soon as possible and we will only work with the de-identified data; and data will only be retained if is necessary for research, legal and policy purposes. The Umingmak Centre will only retain data that are connected to family files already held at the centre, this data is retained on a secure server in a manner that complies with the Nunavut and federal privacy recommendations.