Some workers at the Direction de la protection de la jeunesse (DYP) will now receive a $900 bonus when they assess children at risk, learned The Press.
This ministerial directive announced Friday afternoon comes in full negotiation of collective agreement in the public sector.
The bonus aims in particular to reimburse the membership of the professional order of the stakeholders concerned, according to our information. Employees who complete 150 hours of assessment and orientation during the year will be eligible.
When a child is deemed to be at risk after a report, the workers in this position are the first to intervene. Their role is to meet children and parents, often creating shock waves in families.
If the child is in danger, other teams then take over to enforce the measures determined by the Court. All these other teams, upstream or downstream of the evaluation, are not covered by the new ministerial directive.
According to our information, the $900 will be retroactive to the 1er April 2023 and paid in two instalments. A first $600 will first be paid to stakeholders who engage in the process, and the remaining $300 will be sent to them once the 150 hours of evaluation have been completed.
“At the evaluation, we are sure that we are happy for us”, reacts Katherine Christensen, criminologist, who has worked in evaluations at the DPJ of the Capitale-Nationale for nearly 10 years. “But we find it absurd and unfair to others,” she adds quickly.
In his view, a bonus of $900 will not necessarily have the desired impact. “We find it unrealistic that they think it will have an impact on the waiting list [pour l’évaluation des enfants], she assures. It’s not $900 that’s going to make staff retention better, or that people are going to want to come. I don’t believe in that. »
“It’s difficult everywhere”
For Laurie Allard, social worker at the DPJ of the Capitale-Nationale, the evaluation and the orientation of the children are not the only difficult position within the youth centers.
She has worked at the DYP for 10 years, including four years in assessment and guidance. She is now in a sector called “social emergency”. “We also go to families, we will also remove children, she explains. We also witness the personal and family difficulties of our clients. We are all at risk of witnessing and experiencing violence every day. »
The new ministerial directive, which has not yet been transmitted in writing, was received coldly on Friday afternoon, assures Mme Allard.
It is sure that it creates a lot of discontent, as much among those who are not included as those who are. For us, it devalues our work: why is it just a small sector that is recognized? People are really angry.
Laurie Allard, social worker at the DPJ de la Capitale-Nationale
The Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) did not respond to the request for The Press at the time these lines were written.
The unions would like to extend the measure
On the union side, it is believed that this ministerial directive goes beyond the negotiations in progress.
At the Alliance of Professional and Technical Personnel in Health and Social Services (APTS), which represents the vast majority of DYP stakeholders in Quebec, we believe that the measure should apply to everyone.
“We thought it wasn’t enough, even for evaluation and orientation,” says Josée Fréchette, first vice-president of the APTS. We also tried to extend the measure to the entire DPJ. We had a no, we tried to discuss, and they gave us an ultimatum and finally they decided to proceed anyway. »
Reimbursement of membership in professional orders is part of union demands for all APTS employees who need it, adds Ms.me Frechette.
For Jessica Goldschleger, first vice-president of the Federation of Professionals of the Confederation of National Trade Unions (CSN), this bonus will not be a magic recipe for combating the labor shortage at the DPJ.
“We think that the heaviness of the clientele, its intensity, the violent remarks, the difficult working conditions in the youth centers, it is much more these conditions that prevent the stabilization of the workforce, she believes.
“We are negotiating for a maintenance of premiums [existantes], she adds, and to think about innovative projects to facilitate the integration of new employees and the development of skills. »