The Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) is issuing new standards of practice for stakeholders working on the evaluation of cases at the Youth Protection Directorate (DPJ), changes which are causing great concern on the field at a time of severe staff shortage.
These standards of practice, which constitute “a guide” and not “a dogma”, says the national director of youth protection (DNPJ), Catherine Lemay, had not been revised for more than 30 years. The Laurent commission also recommended reviewing them, with the aim of lightening the task of those involved.
“Society has changed, practice has evolved, scientific knowledge in the social sciences has also evolved. So, rightly so, Mme Laurent told us, well, it would be time to review these practices,” explains M.me Lemay, in interview with The Press.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The national director of youth protection, Catherine Lemay
These new standards, explains the DNPJ, took years to build and will come into force at the end of September. The MSSS consulted a plethora of experts to develop them. These new standards have been issued for all stages of a report to the DPJ and the various DPJs have had them in hand since June 3.
The Press asked to obtain the details of these new standards, but the MSSS refused, claiming to want to give the DYP management time to transmit them to staff members. “We don’t want them to learn about it in the newspaper,” illustrates Mme Lemay.
Changes to the assessment
First step in the DPJ’s trajectory aimed at testing these new standards of practice: evaluation. This is the step that comes immediately after reporting a child’s case, which must be considered severe enough to be retained. Subsequently, the case goes to the evaluation sector, where the stakeholders must determine if the child’s safety or development is compromised, and if he must therefore be taken care of by the DYP.
At the time, these standards provided that parents must be informed of a compromised situation within 12 working days. On the ground, this standard of 12 days has no longer held for a long time, admits Catherine Lemay.
This is why the MSSS has opted for a change: we will now give stakeholders 21 calendar days to let parents know if the child’s safety or development is considered compromised.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not asking each of the stakeholders to make their decision in 21 days. I am very aware that at this moment, the speakers do not need additional pressure, says Mme Lemay. But we expect, generally speaking, in Quebec, that on average for everyone, we have around 21 days to make a decision. »
In theory, we therefore give stakeholders a few more days to proceed. But in reality, the evaluation process extends over much more than 12 days in all regions of Quebec. The “unofficial” standard in the DPJ for the complete evaluation process is around 45 days, tells us the Alliance of Professional and Technical Personnel (APTS), the main union bringing together the stakeholders.
In Montérégie, for example, the total evaluation process extends on average over 51 days. In Montreal, the average duration of the evaluation is just over 27 days.
But these figures are valid “for the entire evaluation process”, retorts Mme Lemay: “The new indicators are more precise than that. Basically, 21 days is to make the decision, to announce it to the parents.”
To make the decision, however, doesn’t the evaluation process have to be more or less complete?
Currently, a worker can make the decision and, sometimes, it will take several weeks before meeting the family. What we say is make sure that as soon as your decision is made, you tell the family.
Catherine Lemay, national director of youth protection (DNPJ)
In a given file, the worker may not have transcribed his notes, may not have written the final report, but on a clinical level, his decision is made, illustrates the director of youth protection in Montérégie, Marie-Josée Audette. “What we want is for them to give the family a signal as quickly as possible. »
Concerns
Despite the reassuring words of Mme Lemay, these new standards of practice are causing some concern in the field, noted The PressWe received several alarmed messages from stakeholders working in Montérégie, the largest DPJ in Quebec, and one of the rare regions where the nature of these new standards was explained to staff.
“Previously, the evaluation of a file allowed us to conclude that a file had been compromised within 45 days. Now we have to make a decision on the compromise in 21 days, calendar days. That means taking the time to see everyone, asking for police archives, hospital centers, paperwork, and having a meeting with our busy bosses to discuss the decision. The impact: ever more pressure on the stakeholders who remain and, inevitably, we will cut corners more and more, at the expense of our users,” denounces a stakeholder from Montérégie.
“It’s certain that the stakeholders have concerns,” agrees Marie-Josée Audette. But we don’t do this like cowboys, we had common sense yesterday, we still have it today! » She would also like to salute the “major” contribution of the speakers in recent years.
The APTS representatives are also upset at never having been consulted in the process. “ Although we were told about this reform over a year ago, our organization has not been informed of the updates nor consulted. This is a shame when we know that the APTS represents almost all of the people concerned! », exclaims Sébastien Pitre, responsible for the youth protection file at the APTS.
The union should have been involved in the process. This way of working in silos is unacceptable: if the standards are not adequate, it is still our members who will pay the price.
Sébastien Pitre, responsible for the youth protection file at the APTS
Remember that 1,000 positions are currently vacant at the DPJ, across Quebec, including 200 at evaluation. In Montreal, a third of positions are vacant in the evaluation sector. In Sept-Îles, 7 professionals are in place out of a team of 14 people in the evaluation team, including 2 who cannot carry out all the professional actions. The APTS, which has even lower numbers (3 workers out of 15), says it fears a “break in services” in the region, which the CISSS de la Côte-Nord denies.
“I am concerned about certain situations,” said Catherine Lemay. I follow this daily. We must avoid having blind spots. »