The 20 directors of youth protection are demanding to be heard during the parliamentary committee which is currently considering Bill 15, which profoundly modifies the law on youth protection, of which they are the main masters of work in the field.
Posted at 4:30 p.m.
Updated at 4:59 p.m.
“The 20 DYPs from Quebec have asked to be heard. Unfortunately, to date, we have not received a response to this request”, specified to The Press spokesperson Jocelyne Boudreault, who spoke on behalf of DYPs across Quebec.
However, Minister Carmant declared, at the opening of the parliamentary commission, that the deputies were going to hear “the youth protection experts”. The DYPs, who apply the law on youth protection, are nevertheless the main experts in the law on a daily basis.
For the former vice-president of the Special Commission on Children’s Rights and Youth Protection, André Lebon, who gave an interview to The Pressit is “inadmissible” that the DYPs were not asked to present their point of view to the parliamentary committee.
Unable to testify before the deputies, the 20 DPJs therefore sent an open letter to the media on Thursday, where, if they welcome the progress of Bill 15 sponsored by Lionel Carmant, they are also of the opinion that this new legislation doesn’t go far enough.
“The principles mentioned in Bill 15 are very interesting, however do they live up to the wishes expressed? In some respects, we believe that the bill can and must go further to allow legal levers to be beneficial for the child, and to be able to bring about the changes so desired. We must give ourselves the means so that this extraordinary opportunity is not a missed opportunity! We are crying out from the heart as a DPJ on behalf of the children; dare to go further and higher! »
For directors, particular emphasis should be placed on the interest of the child, which should not be a predominant consideration in decision-making, but the only one that should count. They are also calling for new levers to be added to the law to facilitate the transition to adult life, limit court delays and better define the confidentiality of information concerning children.
The 20 directors are not the only ones to find that the project of the 15 does not go far enough. Six ex-commissioners who worked on the Laurent commission came to deliver exactly the same message to the parliamentary committee on Thursday.
“While we recognize the progress of PL-15, we are greatly concerned by the lack of action on several of our recommendations for legislative changes to ensure the stability of children. We are of the opinion that the absence of certain levers that we had planned will be detrimental to the achievement of the intended goal,” says the memorandum signed by six other former commissioners, including Gilles Fortin, Lesley Hill, Jean-Simon Gosselin, Jean-Marc Potvin and Danielle Tremblay.
“It’s as if the toolbox of the renovation project was missing,” adds the former vice-president of the commission, André Lebon, who was at the same time in an interview with The Press.
The objective of the changes to the law should be to allow children in care to have a family for life, underline the former commissioners in their brief. “There are still too many of them who remain in the youth protection system for a very long time, sometimes from birth to majority, without being offered a permanent family, unconditionally committed to them, able to meet their needs and support them in their development. A situation they call “unacceptable”.
Before the parliamentarians, the former commissioners cited the case of “baby Leo”, a young adult who came to testify before them. Changed host families several times, the youngster was never able to put down roots in a family, lamented the five former commissioners. He remained in a rehabilitation center until he was 18 years old. “Without a family for life, the child is mistreated for life”, summarizes André Lebon.
To arrive at “breaking this cycle”, the interest of the child must be placed above all, say the former commissioners. Each decision must be justified by a rigorous analysis of the interests of the child.
In addition, majority placement remains the most common tool for placing children in the long term, note the former commissioners. However, this method is not the one that guarantees the most long-term stability. Moreover, it keeps the young person in a “stigmatising” situation, because he still bears the label of “child of the DPJ”.
The ex-commissioners believe that majority placements should be modified to give more powers to surrogate parents and to, in some cases, cut ties with the biological family if it is in the interest of the child. In addition, they argue that much more use should be made of adoption and guardianship, options that are “little used” in Quebec. After the age of two, adoptions drop drastically, and almost none materialize if the child is older than six.
“The Civil Code of Québec sets out the grounds for submitting an application for admissibility to adoption. The reasons are interpreted very strictly by the courts, so that even if the interest of the child dictates, in several situations, that he be adopted or that a tutor be appointed to him, these children remain placed at majority . In fact, this option, chosen by default, is the one that gives him the least stability, permanence and the ability to live a normal life as a child,” say the commissioners.
The group of ex-commissioners also believes that the forms of adoption possible in Quebec should be broadened, beyond full adoption where ties with the family of origin are severed.
“To facilitate the adoption of older children or children who wish to be adopted while maintaining certain ties with their biological parents, we recommend modifying the chapter on filiation by adoption of the Civil Code by introducing simple adoption, without rupture. of parentage. »