Quebec will adjust certain aspects of its reform of the Directorate of Youth Protection (DPJ), including its very principle, after the criticisms issued last week by several actors in the field, including Régine Laurent.
The preamble will notably be modified to say that the interest of the child is “the” priority in the application of the Act, not “a consideration”. This was formally requested by the former president of the Special Commission on Children’s Rights and Youth Protection, Régine Laurent, last week.
“I heard it clearly. Certain articles need to be improved, and I will work with the opposition to [le faire] “Said Mr. Carmant in the corridors of the National Assembly on Thursday.
In presenting his bill in December, Mr. Carmant indicated that he wanted to put the rights of children at the heart of the Youth Protection Act. By making it “a primary consideration in the application” of the law, he wishes to modify the analysis grid for the workers of the DPJ and the judges who will examine a case.
However, the use of the word “a” – rather than “the” – poses a problem, suggested several speakers heard in parliamentary committee this week and the previous one. “When you read that, it means that it is one consideration among others. This is not at all the spirit in which we worked, ”launched Ms. Laurent a week and a half ago.
The detailed study of bill nº 15 reforming the DPJ will resume next Tuesday, in parliament. According to Mr. Carmant, the “political will is there [de l’]adopt” as soon as possible. The elected CAQ also maintains that this is a first step towards a longer-term reform of the youth protection network.
“Incredulous”
It is therefore with “disbelief” that he welcomed Thursday morning the remarks of the former vice-president of the Laurent commission, André Lebon, according to whom the final report of the commissioners is at risk of being shelved. By launching the special commission in 2019, Prime Minister François Legault had assured that this would not be the case.
However, in an interview with The Press and published Thursday morning, Mr. Lebon strongly criticizes the follow-up to the recommendations of the Laurent report: waiting lists are getting longer, he notes, and staff are fleeing the network.
“I was very surprised [des propos] by M. Lebon. In December, when we introduced the bill, he sent me an e-mail congratulating me on what we were doing. Two months later, he makes this declaration, ”discouraged Minister Carmant on Thursday.
“The most urgent phase” of the reform – the bill – is already underway, he noted. And the shortage of personnel continues to reduce, according to him.
“There are hundreds more workers on the ground,” said Mr. Carmant. The problem is that you have to keep the most experienced. There, we will be able to do it because following the last collective agreement, social workers in youth protection will have an additional salary than in CLSCs or elsewhere. »