Posted at 12:00 p.m.
It is clear that the well-being and rights of our children is a topic very little raised in the current electoral race. Even less the fate reserved for children and young people living in the worst contexts of vulnerability… in particular, those who are victims of abuse.
The trend must be reversed and more importance given to what society intends to do for young people in care and ex-careers in order to ensure them decent living conditions and a healthy transition to adult life. Youth protection being an important function of the State and the responsibility of an entire society, we urge political parties to explain to the population what they intend to do for young people in difficulty.
Each year, more and more children and young people are reported to the Director of Youth Protection: it was 132,632 in 2021, a jump of almost 40% in four years!
More than 40,000 children and young people were taken care of for the same year. Almost half of these were placed outside their family environment (DPJ/DP report 2022).
Why worry about it?
The effectiveness of our social policies and our institutions ultimately depends on the impact they have on the health and well-being of the young people they are meant to help. We must ask ourselves certain questions continuously. What are the living conditions of young people in our society? Are they isolated and marginalized or are they happy and well surrounded? If they need help, do they have access to the services they need? Are they successful in school? Are they ready to enter the job market? Are they prepared for citizenship? Do they contribute to society?
Recent research from the Study on the future of young people placed in Quebec and France (EDJeP) reveals a disastrous situation for former young people placed in Quebec. Young people come out of their placements unprepared to face life and very little supported afterwards. Far too many young people experience situations of homelessness, undereducation, isolation, marginalization and physical and mental health problems.
Towards equity for our vulnerable young people!
It is very clear to all of the undersigned that young people in care and ex-careers rightly require policies and programs that take their needs into account. To achieve equity, young people with a background in youth protection need more concrete help and services, not only given the traumas they suffered during their childhood, but also because that they often have no parents or relatives to help support them.
We urge the parties to describe concretely what they intend to do to ensure fair opportunities for these young people in terms of income, schooling, housing, integration into the workplace and to provide psychosocial and health care appropriate to their needs.
The report of the Laurent commission recommended several integrated measures to support young people in difficulty so as to allow them to fulfill themselves despite the obstacles they have to overcome.
The Partners for the Well-Being of Placed and Ex-placed Youth are a group of people and organizations concerned with the difficult living conditions faced by young people during and after their placement with the DYP. This group is made up of various bodies, including associations of young ex-placed people, community organizations, foundations, allies and researchers who work for the well-being of these young people.
* Co-signatories: Nancy Audet, author, lecturer, ex-placed and godmother of the Youth Foundation of the DPJ; Fabienne Audette, Executive Director, Youth Foundation of the DPJ; Anick Charland, ex-placed and member of the Board of Directors, Friendship, Resources and Mutual Aid Center for Youth (CARE Jeunesse); Jessica Côté-Guimond, ex-placed and director of the Collective Ex-Placed DPJ; Melanie Doucet, Former Fellow, Head of Research and Projects, Child Welfare League of Canada and Assistant Professor, McGill University, School of Social Work; Caroline Dufour, coordinator of the Coalition Jeunes+; Stéphanie Gagné, President of the Board of Directors, Foundation for Children and Youth, Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean; Martin Goyette, co-holder of the Quebec Youth Research Network Chair; director of the EDJeP partnership, National School of Public Administration; Talina Henseleit, Executive Director, Center for Friendship, Resources and Mutual Aid for Youth (CARE Jeunesse); Catherine Ippersiel, instigator and spokesperson, Bagages de vie; André Lebon, consultant and former vice-president of the Special Commission on Children’s Rights and Youth Protection; Sonia Lombart, Managing Director, Déclic; Jayne Malenfant, M3C postdoctoral fellow, McGill University, co-founder of the LivEx student network; Varda Mann-Feder, Full Professor, Applied Human Sciences, Concordia University; Christine Stich, Assistant Professor, School of Population and Global Health, McGill University; Mikah Youbi, managing director and founder of Renaître de la Rue and ex-worker of the DPJ; Nicolas Zorn, social entrepreneur and ex-worker of the DPJ