Children in emergency care homes stay for eight months on average, when they’re only suppose to stay for up to four days.

That’s one of the reasons emergency care homes lack oversight, which creates more problems for an already vulnerable population, according to a new report from Nova Scotia’s auditor general.

Auditor general Kim Adair released the report on Tuesday.

She recommends that the province monitor whether social workers are meeting with children, and if they aren’t, social workers must contact the child, including visiting in-person.

She says the province should also record and track critical incidents reported by child and youth care homes to identify trends and how to manage those risks.

On average, they stay in emergency arrangements for eight months, when they’re only supposed to be there for up to four days.

Plans to help children in emergency care homes often go missing or aren’t updated, which prevents children from getting the care the need.

The number of children in care has increased from 36 in 2017-18 to 138 in 2022-23, the report says. The annual cost to emergency care homes rose from $4.6 million to $27.9 million in that same time. Temporary emergency arrangements are not licensed or inspected by the government, which contributes to weak oversight, Adair says.

An internal government review from 2022 assessed how well the government was following temporary emergency arrangements, which made recommendations to the government. Adair says the government was not tracking whether those recommendations were implemented.

In an emailed statement, Minister of Community Services Brendan Maguire, says his department has accepted the 20 recommendations from the auditor’s report.

Previous audit progress

Adair also released a separate audit report on how well the province is implementing the auditor general’s recommendations from 2019, 2020 and 2021.

The province is implementing less and less those recommendations, despite agreeing to do so within two years of their respective reports.

For the 2019 recommendations, the auditor says the government has implemented 76 per cent, or 35 of the 46 total.

It declines for the 2020 recommendations, where the auditor says the government has implemented 45 per cent, or 9 out of 20.

The government has done even less for 2021, with 42 per cent of recommendations, or 11 out of 26, implemented so far.

Auditor General Kim Adair just released her annual follow-up report and the @nsgov success rate on carrying out her recommendations is slipping. Find out more on our website here: https://t.co/tAGi5f4MIT@NSLeg #NSpol pic.twitter.com/hzwp66s46D

— NS Auditor General (@OAG_NS) May 7, 2024

More to come…