The Commission for Human Rights and Youth Rights (CDPDJ) opened an investigation on Thursday into the poor conditions in which young people are allegedly housed in centers under the Department of Youth Protection (DPJ), in Monteregie.
The Commission claims to have opened this investigation on its own initiative after media reports that the young people were living in spaces that would be devoid of windows and which would be subdivided by panels and curtains, for privacy.
Considering the nature and seriousness of the information alleged in the mediathe CDPDJ claims to have reason to believe that the rights of these young people are being harmed.
” The investigation aims to verify whether the alleged facts are true and whether the rights of young people are respected. It also aims to ensure that measures are taken so that the situation does not recur. “
The opening of this investigation occurs the day after the submission of the conclusions of another investigation initiated last February by the Commission, and this, for a similar situation in Mauricie-Centre-du-Québec.
In this region, the CDPDJ visited overflow units and observed significant gaps in the living spaces of young people. The latter were placed in spaces separated by screens and curtains, and with little adequate furniture.
Following this visit, says the CDPDJ, the establishment dismantled these temporary installations and undertook to no longer use them. […]. A wing of the rehabilitation center has been converted to accommodate young people adequately.
However, the Commission points out that some structural issues remain in these centers in Mauricie-Centre-du-Québec. One of these issues is the shortage of families able to take in young people who no longer need to be placed in rehabilitation centres.
Another issue relates to the shortage of personnel. Although educators have been hired for the summer period, the CDPDJ fears that the balance in youth/educator ratios be terminated next fall.
The union denounces the situation
In mid-June, the union representing workers in the youth centers of the DPJ affirmed that the situation has deteriorated In certain regions.
The Alliance of Professional and Technical Health and Social Services Personnel (APTS) denounced the inadequate living spaces offered to young people living in rehabilitation centers in the Montérégie. According to Sébastien Pitre, responsible for the youth protection file at the APTS, these centers offer conditions well below those offered by foster families recruited by the DPJ.
The APTS sounded the alarm when the 19th annual report of the Youth Protection Department was published.
On average, in Quebec, the DYP recorded 363 reports on children every day, for a total of 132,632 reports in 2021-2022.
This 12.5% increase over the previous year is considered to be worrying.
Source: Radio-Canada
