Coroner’s recommendation to the DYP | Be careful not to forget the oldest, says the middle

Nearly a thousand children aged 5 and under were on the DYP’s waiting list when coroner Géhane Kamel recently recommended that they be assessed without delay following the death of young Thomas Audet. An impossible mission, in the circumstances, without harming the treatment of the elderly, responds the community.

More specifically, 915 children aged 5 and under were classified according to a priority code 3 on the waiting list of the Direction de la protection de la jeunesse (DPJ) as of February 19, according to figures provided by the ministry. of Health and Social Services.

It was on this day that coroner Géhane Kamel released her report on the tragic case of young Thomas Audet, who died of a blow to the abdomen inflicted in nebulous circumstances in 2016, in Alma.^⁠1.

All reports received by the DYP are classified according to a priority code. The organization’s protocol provides that a child classified according to a priority 1 code must be seen for immediate evaluation; a code 2, in less than 24 working hours, and a code 3, in less than four working days.

However, according to the testimony of a specialist in clinical activity at the public inquiry into the death of Thomas Audet, the “codes 3” would, in reality, rather be treated within a period of more or less 30 days.

This is what happened to the 20-month-old boy, classified as priority 3 following a report received by the DPJ on May 17, 2016, about a month before his death. On the waiting list for about 30 days, he died the day before he was assigned to a worker.

“Really surprised”

Hence the coroner’s recommendation to implement, at the DYP, an “exceptional measure” according to which all children aged 5 and under who are the subject of a report “must be the subject of ‘immediate assessment and daily monitoring of the situation’ given the vulnerability.

An almost impossible mission in the context of a lack of manpower at the DPJ without harming the service offered to the elderly, admits the union which brings together its stakeholders, the Alliance of Professional and Technical Personnel in Health and Social Services (APTS ).

“Really surprised” by the number of children aged 0 to 5 classified according to a priority code 3 on the DPJ’s waiting list, the president of the APTS, Robert Comeau, considers the situation “unacceptable”. Although he says he is “in favor” of prioritizing toddlers, Robert Comeau nevertheless believes that this would be done “to the detriment of others”, that is to say the oldest, and potentially those classified according to a priority code 1 or 2.

Significant impacts

Same story in Quebec, where the office of the Minister responsible for Social Services, Lionel Carmant, also fears the effects of prioritizing 5 years and under on other older children.

“Rapid intervention may be necessary for children of different ages depending on their vulnerability and the severity of the situation. Considering that about a third of reports concern children aged 0-5, automatically categorizing them as code 1 would have significant impacts on the processing of code 1 cases for older children,” said its press officer, Lambert Drainville. , Sunday.

Mr. Drainville specifies that the prioritization is done “regardless of age, depending on various factors”.

Quebec also considers to act fairly quickly in the case of children classified according to priority codes 1 and 2, fragile achievements which could be endangered if all cases of very young children were treated immediately.

free up time

The solution, according to Robert Comeau, is already well known: add personnel to the evaluation, the step that follows the prioritization. “We are talking about thousands of people, not hundreds,” he judges.

A reorganization of work at the DPJ could also bear fruit, according to him, insofar as it would make the work of its stakeholders more attractive. “Especially how we retain our oldest, because our expertise tends to leave [le métier] because it’s too difficult, because there’s no replacement, but we need to free them up a bit of time to take care of those who arrive,” explained the president of the APTS.

“It has to become an attractive environment for people to come and work there, to come and make a career there, but we are far from that,” he adds, emphasizing his expectations vis-à-vis the budget that will be presented. the Legault government on March 21.

This was also Coroner Géhane Kamel’s second recommendation in her report on the death of Thomas Audet: “Promote professional practice within DYPs through the recruitment and retention of staff, in particular by ensuring ratios adapted to the needs of the target clienteles. »