The FAQs below can help you answer questions you may have about our office.
Our office helps young people with their rights and makes sure the Government of Nunavut supports and protects these rights.
One way we do this is by working one-on-one with you. We can:
How we help you really depends on what you need and what you tell us!
Child rights are things you should have or be able to do so you can live life to your full potential. Children around the world are entitled to these things – regardless of their sex, nationality, religious beliefs or race.
There are many child rights. For example, you have a right to:
There are many reasons why you may want to contact our office:
If you don’t know if we can help you, we suggest you contact us anyway. If we can’t help you, we will find you someone who can.
You have a right to live with a healthy family that supports you and government has a role to play in supporting families. So there are some ways we can help you and your family. We can listen to your concerns. We can help you and your family access programs and services you need. We can sit in on a meeting with you, your family and a government worker if you ask us to.
Anyone can call us. You can call us yourself or you can have an adult call us for you.
We respect your privacy. We won’t share information you give us without your permission. However, if it becomes clear to our staff that someone’s safety or well-being may be at risk, we are required to report this to someone who can help.
We may also need to contact a parent or guardian if you are under 12 years old and contact our office for help. But we never do this if we think it’s against your best interests.It’s also important to know that if we need to share something, we will work with you on how to do this.
The first person you speak with will be our intake specialist. He or she will ask you:
Next, you will most likely speak with one of our child and youth advocacy specialists. We call these staff advocates for short. The advocate will go over how our office can help, explain your right to confidentiality and confirm you want to work with us.
He or she will then:
After this, you may choose to work one-on-one with an advocate. You will lead this work with your advocate. Together, you will come up with an advocacy plan.
You have a right to contact our office in private. This means the person in charge of where you are living must find you a private space for you to call or email us. Also, if you choose to write us a letter, the person in charge must send this letter to our office unopened.
There are a few things our office can’t help with. Under the law, we can’t:
But if there’s something you want help with, contact us anyway. If we can’t support you, we will find you someone who can.
We are not lawyers so we can’t provide you with legal advice. But we can help you in other ways, including helping you find a lawyer.
We suggest you contact us if you are a Nunavut resident but in government care or receiving services outside of the territory. Our office can only work directly on matters that happen in Nunavut. But we can work with the child and youth advocacy office in the province or territory you are now in.
You can reach us toll-free at 1-855-449-8118, Monday to Friday 8:30am to 5:00pm EST.