Posted yesterday at 10:00 a.m.
Prime Minister, I am the adoptive mother of the young girl mentioned by Katia Gagnon in her articles published in The Press May 28 and 29 1.2.
When I was entrusted with my daughter, I did not expect to have to endlessly claim her fundamental rights, and it is not over.
I am writing to you because they refused to hear my testimony at the Laurent commission, at the Commission des droits de la personne et de la jeunesse and at the Société de criminologie du Québec. No forum where to assert the rights of my daughter!
Butterfly Effect
The botched front-line intervention of the Direction de la protection de la jeunesse (DPJ) led to a catastrophic paradigm for my daughter. This poor initial support has skewed all the systems we have encountered. The events are linked, cognitive distortions have settled, incongruous actions have been made by multiplying. We were wrongly accused and blamed for their mistakes and bad decisions. A descent into hell followed.
Findings
The Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) must put an end to the bias of self-indulgence and be consistent with the interests of the child by assuming its responsibilities.
All persons mandated by the DYP, therefore in a position of authority, working with children hold immunity in good faith and impunity. This is unacceptable. They must be held accountable for their actions.
We extol the DPJ. Why this blind trust to the point of giving him carte blanche? It is illusory to believe that by giving him superpowers with impunity, this protects our children because the DPJ is not made up of celestial beings. Haven’t we learned from our past mistakes with the clergy?
A failing system
The interest of the child must take precedence over the organizational values of the DYP and the MSSS; we must not be limited to a sectoral vision (DPJ), but have a global vision bringing together several ministries given the complexity of applying the Youth Protection Act (LPJ). Consultation is essential!
Among the systemic flaws causing harm to my daughter:
— Abandonment, neglect, sexual abuse, physical abuse. These four articles of the YPA applied by the DPJ are also part of the Criminal Code. However, this concordance opens the door to the subjective interpretation of the DYP, which does not have judicial expertise, neither in investigation, nor in criminal acts, nor in evidence management, nor in crime scenes. The DYP, arrogating to itself discretionary power and the diversion of criminal acts committed against my daughter, did not initiate a multisectoral agreement, thus depriving her of the care required. Butterfly Effect…
— Absence of a crisis center for childhood mental illness. The health system fills this gap by automatically notifying the DYP for placement of the child in a rehabilitation center. However, the children do not receive the necessary care, which contravenes the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
— Huge divide between research/studies and the MSSS. The field of child psychiatry lives in the age of the dinosaurs. Invisible neurological disabilities are not recognized or diagnosed. My 15-year-old daughter, too old for the neurodevelopmental clinic, is too young for the Montreal Neurological Institute. What to do ?
— Absence of post-adoption service for the children of the DPJ… Why ? While internationally adopted children benefit…
— Lack of code of ethics. It is imperative, in the interest of the children, that the DYP, as an expert3 in the application of the Youth Protection Actor subject to a legislative framework governing its rules, duties and sanctions in the event of unacceptable conduct.
— Absence of an independent investigation office for the DPJ. It is imperative, in the interest of the child, to create such an entity to carry out investigations in all impartiality and transparency in the cases of blunders.
— Youth court. In the case of my daughter, the DYP prioritized its own interests over those of my daughter. The DPJ prosecutor, not being a substitute for the Attorney General, has the same interest as the hand that feeds him. I had to spend exorbitant attorney fees defending us against abusive litigation. Why ? There is a crying need for the establishment at the Youth Court of an independent and impartial liaison officer, with investigation expertise, reporting to the Department of Justice in order to collect facts and evidence to inform the judge seized of the matter. case.
— Privacy ? Is it in my daughter’s best interest to have whole swaths of her life put on hold?
— Destruction of DYP files after five years. Why make confidential documents relating to an important part of my daughter’s life disappear forever?
— Held hostage by the School Service Center… because of a postal code. Which special school will meet my daughter’s needs? What should I do ?
Mr. Legault, what would you do in my place, with a 15-year-old girl, intelligent, with only an unfinished fourth year of primary school, who hadn’t been to school for two years? A child who received eight diagnoses related to the severe abuse she suffered… and the label behavioral disorder? Is there a way to change his paradigm? I fight against the tide in the maze of the system. In your opinion, is there a way to regain my trust in the State, to have peace of mind with my daughter and to ensure her the future she deserves?