Nunavut government shuts down Cambridge Bay group home
The Nunavut government has decided to shut down a group home in Cambridge Bay following an investigation into a report of child harm.
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on Jan. 10 that its approval to operate as a child-care facility under the Child and Family Services Act had been rescinded.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.
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