In Quebec, we can call ourselves champions of monopolies. Whether for alcohol with the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ), for energy with Hydro-Québec or for natural gas with Énergir, our governments provide well-known leadership. I am not a specialist in the matter and I will not comment on the advantages and disadvantages of this type of positioning.
However, when the monopoly affects health, education, development and, above all, the protection of children, I find myself in my element. It is my duty to express my point of view on the matter.
The recent study by researcher Tonino Esposito et al. sheds great light on Quebec’s child protection monopoly and, above all, on the scale of the problem. This time, we agree that this state of affairs no longer makes sense. We adopted an exceptional law (the Youth Protection Act) in favor of the DYP without giving ourselves the means to achieve our ambitions.
The observation is clear, the figures demonstrate it: the system no longer works, neither from the inside nor from the outside. The protection of children, especially in neglect, cannot be done in a monopoly model. It is first and foremost a problem of society and values. It is also an organizational problem. With this model, we open the door wide and then close it immediately, hence the endless waiting lists, hence the minimal service offering and hence the placement of children as a basic tool.
Once again, it is the children who suffer from the limits of this model, which causes them to suffer serious attacks on their fundamental rights, not to mention the fact that it contributes to the exhaustion of human resources, who give themselves up to exhaustion in a system that cannot support them. The child in need of protection first expects his parents to be cared for, not to be deported himself beyond the reach of his family and his environment.
The issue of child protection continually comes up in the news as a reminder of our common responsibility to act together for the well-being of children, but also to remind us of the scale of this problem. The data is convincing and the solutions are well known. However, as long as the “monopoly” of child protection lasts, we will not be able to achieve this and we will continue to go in circles.
We must democratize “child protection care” to allow communities to take action with local services that also address the causes of the problem. It is imperative in this area to care for and support children and parents to counter the neglect and abuse of which they are victims.
The specialized DYP must apply an exceptional law during dangerous situations, such as sexual abuse and abuse, and when it is deemed relevant, at the request of those in the field who have exhausted their resources. Preventive and curative care, to be effective, requires bonds of trust, proximity and an intensity that can only be accessible in communities.
Quebec as a whole must examine its conscience to reflect and act on the root causes of the mistreatment of children. It must be particularly interested in factors that increase psychological distress, high rates of mental health disorders, toxic social stressors, social inequalities and… the place of the child in our scale of priorities.