Quebec is facing a growing problem in youth centers: runaways. In three years, the number of young people in care who have fled their host environment has doubled, and even more.
The duty got its hands on the most recent data from the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS) on runaways noted by the Direction de la protection de la jeunesse (DPJ). These indicate that in 2022-2023, 5,927 people fled their accommodation.
This is an increase of around 241% compared to the 2020-2021 fiscal year, during which 2,459 runaways were recorded. In 2021-2022, this total reached 3,413.
It is the Montérégie which holds the sad record — in absolute numbers — of runaways recorded last year. The region has seen nearly 2,000. The Center-South of Montreal follows, with 1,116 cases counted.
Asked about these figures, the director of prevention, intervention and clinical programs of the organization Dans la rue, Marie-Noëlle L’Espérance, wanted to put these figures into perspective. “We saw a drop in runaways at the start of the pandemic for all kinds of reasons,” she said. “Particularly because of the confinement. We no longer had the right, really, to find ourselves in the street. »
Moreover, nothing in the statistics obtained by The duty gave no indication of the duration of the runaways. However, within the normative framework of the MSSS, a young person is considered “runaway” as soon as he exceeds by one hour and “in a deliberate and unjustified manner” his planned return his planned return. “It is certain that on Friday, if a small party in the park with all the friends, the person may not want to be stigmatized. But she may come back the same day, ”she observed.
Actions from 2017
In 2017, the Liberal government of Philippe Couillard was forced to make changes to the law to reduce the risk of leaks in the DPJ network. A year earlier, several runaways at the Center jeunesse de Laval had led to the appointment of an independent expert, André Lebon, to shed light on this situation.
In his report filed in 2016, Mr. Lebon – who has since served as vice-president of the Special Commission on the Rights of Children and Youth Protection – raised the risk that young runaways end up in networks of pimps and concluded that the budget cuts made by the Liberal government to the health and social services network were aggravating the problem.
To remedy this, the Minister for Youth Protection at the time, Lucie Charlebois, had amended her bill “amending the Youth Protection Act” to give youth centers more tools, in particular “impediment measures” intended for young people placed at risk of running away.
More details will follow.