2 years after Laurent Report, Quebec youth protection service is worse, workers say

Two years after a report by a special commission on children's rights and youth protection produced some 60 recommendations, two unions representing almost all youth protection employees in Quebec are denouncing the worsening of the situation.

Findings from a survey of more than 750 youth protection (DPJ) workers in the Capitale-Nationale (Quebec City) region are particularly discouraging, according to Nicole Cliche, president of the SPTSSS-CSN — a union representing professionals and technicians in health and social services.

She said 85 per cent of respondents said the situation has deteriorated or that nothing has changed.

"It's a sad anniversary because, after two years, concretely, there is no improvement," she said.

Noting that Lionel Carmant, Quebec's minister responsible for social services, has said he is proud of what has been achieved, Cliche said workers "can't wait for him to take off his rose-coloured glasses, to really look at what's happening on the ground."

Sébastien Pitre — the head of youth files at the Alliance du personnel professionnel et technique de la santé, which represents more than 85% of youth protection employees in Quebec — agrees.

"There are still many things to do. We don't see any results yet. The situation is constantly getting worse," he said.

Cathy, a social worker who assesses cases that are reported to the DPJ, says leaders are "trying as best they can to give the impression that things are going better," although employees don't see improvement in their daily work.

Radio-Canada has agreed to withhold Cathy's real name over fear of retribution.

"We are always in a rush. We are not able to offer the quality of work we would like," she said.

Worsening working conditions

The Laurent Report recommended valuing and supporting DPJ workers, reviewing their workload and recognizing their specialized practice, in the hope of reducing the turnover rate of experienced workers, which is creating a chronic shortage of personnel in the field.

But workers on the ground say the issue persists.

"There is a loss of expertise and a lot of new employees to train," said Geneviève, a youth protection worker who works with families and evaluates calls to the DPJ.

Radio-Canada has agreed to withhold Geneviève's real name over fear of retribution

For instance, she says at the CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale more than 300 files are awaiting additional verification on the ground, meaning just as many children are waiting for a social worker to determine whether their report will be retained for future intervention.

"Families and children are not receiving the services they should be receiving," she said.

Cliche said workers are assigned files but are unable to take care of them because the workload is unrealistic.

Geneviève, for her part, deplores the fact that nothing has been done to develop standards of practice that would make it possible to differentiate files by degree of complexity and better divide cases among workers, as commissioner Régine Laurent recommended.

Workers decry order of priorities

Phase one of implementing the recommendations of the Laurent Report included reforming the Youth Protection Act and appointing a provincial director of youth protection. Other measures aimed to strengthen local services by increasing CLSC interventions for young people in difficulty.

Carmant should have had different priorities, according to stakeholders.

Some of these actions have had positive effects, but Cliche said the increased transfer of responsibilities to CLSCs was not a good move.

"If we relieve the DPJ to transfer tasks to the front line without adding resources, the front-line first mission, prevention to avoid reports, cannot be fulfilled," she said.

The first step should have been to offer better working conditions to improve retention, said Cathy, adding that she believes she and her colleagues should have been consulted before the order of measures to be prioritized was decided.

Social services minister 'satisfied' with progress, office says

Carmant's office said it is satisfied with the major changes made to the youth protection system and recalled that Laurent said it would take eight to 10 years to implement a reform of the scale she wanted.

The office said that at last count, more than two-thirds of the recommendations had been implemented. The next full update is scheduled for June.

In response to the employees' criticism, the minister's office replied that recognizing the demanding responsibilities of youth protection workers is also a government priority. It said a first step has been taken by offering a four to seven per cent raise to employees and that work is being done to improve their working conditions.

Carmant also announced last week the start of the second phase of implementing recommendations from the Laurent Report, which will consist of starting projects to transform the services offered to young people and their families.

Among the projects planned are the creation of a commissioner for the well-being and rights of children, the development of a partnerships with the Quebec network of social pediatric centres and introducing standards and directives for the protection of youth to harmonize practices.