Direction de la protection de la jeunesse
Director of youth protection
In accordance with the Youth Protection Act, the director of youth protection receives reports of situations in which the security or development of a child is or may be in danger. They also receive the referred cases and orders under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
The youth protection also provides other services, notably for reunion and adoption, under the Act respecting health services and social services or in relation to the provisions of the Civil Code of Québec in terms of adoption.
Reporting a child in difficulty
Making a report means contacting the Director of youth protection to share a situation that leads you to believe that the security or development of a child is in danger.
You may be concerned for a child without being certain that you should report the situation. Should that happen, do not hesitate to contact us to get answers to your questions and be guided through the actions to be taken.
Furthermore, an adult has the obligation of providing the necessary assistance to a child who wishes to report their own situation, that of their siblings, or that of any other child.
Reporting is important! The director of youth protection intervenes to ensure the protection of a child only if their situation is reported to them. All reports are confidential.
Filing a report with the DYP is already protecting a child
You can make a report to the Director of youth protection by telephone at 418 589-9927 or at the toll-free number 1 800 463-8547, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can also make a report by email at 
signalement.dpj.09cisss@ssss.gouv.qc.ca or in writing at 835, boulevard Jolliet, Baie-Comeau (Québec) G5C 1P5.
Motives and intervention process
MOTIVES FOR REPORTING
Even though parents or legal guardians are primarily responsible for the protection of their child, certain difficulties may prevent them from fulfilling their responsibilities. The Youth Protection Act considers that the security or development of a child is considered to be in danger in the following situations:
Abandonment
The child’s parents or legal guardian are deceased or fail to provide for the child’s care, maintenance or education, and those responsibilities are not assumed by another person.
Neglect
The child’s parents or legal guardian do not meet their physical, health and educational basic needs, or there is a serious risk that they do not meet those needs.
Psychological ill-treatment
The child is seriously or repeatedly subjected by their parents, their legal guardian or another person to behaviour that could cause them harm, and their parents or legal guardian fail to take the necessary steps to put an end to the situation. This includes behaviour such as indifference, denigration, emotional rejection, isolation, threats, exploitation and exposure to conjugal or domestic violence.
Sexual abuse
The child is subjected to or runs a serious risk of being subjected to gestures of a sexual nature by their parents, their legal guardian or another person, with or without physical contact, and their parents or legal guardian fail to take the necessary steps to put an end to the situation.
Physical abuse
The child is the victim or runs a serious risk of becoming the victim of bodily injury or being subjected to unreasonable methods of upbringing by their parents, their legal guardian or another person, and their parents or legal guardian fail to take the necessary steps to put an end to the situation.
Serious behavioural disturbance
The child behaves in such a way as to seriously or repeatedly undermine their or others’ physical or psychological integrity, and their parents or legal guardian fail to take the necessary steps to put an end to the situation or, if the child is 14 or over, the child objects to such steps.
INTERVENTION PROCESS
The intervention processes are offered under the Youth Protection Act.
Receiving and processing reports
This step consists in receiving the report to the director of youth protection, briefly analyzing the situation, deciding whether it is to be accepted for evaluation, and establishing the urgency of the intervention. These activities are carried out with a focus on the accountability of the person who made the report.
Evaluation and orientation
Once the report is received and accepted, evaluation activities allow for an informed decision about whether the child’s security or development is in danger or not. If there is danger, the orientation determines if the procedure will be voluntary or judicial, as well as the applicable measures.
Application of measures
The child whose security or development was declared in danger at the evaluation and orientation step is then taken in charge by the director of youth protection or by the tribunal.
Revision
The revision consists in validating, in accordance with the conditions prescribed by regulation, if the security or development of a child followed by the director of youth protection is still in danger. During this step, we must make sure of the appropriateness and effectiveness of the measures that were implemented to help the family, and the legal framework of the intervention for the continuation or not of the services must be decided. According to the conditions prescribed by regulations, revision is also compulsory for the situation of any child who has been placed in an alternative living environment for one year under the Act respecting health services and social services, if the child is not expected to be returned to their family.
Removal from the family environment and placement
The removal from the family environment or the placement in an alternative living environment is done for the purpose of ensuring the child’s protection and favouring their development or their rehabilitation.
Tutorship
Under the Youth Protection Act, tutorship is a measure offered to certain children placed in an alternative living environment and who cannot expect to be returned to their family.
Young offenders
Youth crime interventions are carried out in accordance with the Youth Criminal Justice Act. In Québec, the director of youth protection is in charge of its enforcement and acts as provincial director in accordance with Article 33.3 of the Youth Protection Act.
The youth criminal justice system is different from the adult system in the nature of the objectives and the judicial or extrajudicial proceedings taken against young offenders. The intervention of the provincial director must aim to protect the public while promoting the accountability, the rehabilitation and the reintegration of young persons, as well as the repair of harm done to victims and the community.
Extrajudicial sanction
Once the criminal and penal prosecuting attorney submits an evaluation request to the provincial director, a youth worker (delinquency specialist) is responsible for evaluating the eligibility of the concerned young person to an extrajudicial sanction. This evaluation is carried out with the young person and their parents, or any other source of information deemed useful. It is based on criteria that lets the worker decide if the young person in question has the characteristics that allow for an extrajudicial sanction. In such a case, the young person promises to respect an arrangement to repair the damage and harm done, with respect to the victim’s expectations, if applicable.
The worker may also decide to return the young person’s file to the criminal and penal prosecuting attorney for prosecution or to stop the intervention, depending on the result of their evaluation.
Pre-sentence report
In certain cases, the court needs more information before making a decision about a young person. The judge then orders the production of a pre-sentence report, which allows them to learn more about the young person and to issue a sentence better adapted to their situation. Mandated by the provincial director, the youth worker is in charge of writing the report. A thorough analysis based on several criteria will be carried out using interviews with the young person, the victim or anyone else involved in the young person’s life, and clinical evaluation tools. It will allow the worker to make recommendations to the court. The judge will render a decision in light of the elements highlighted in the report and of the representations of the criminal and penal prosecuting attorney and the young person’s lawyer.
Other reports
The court may sometimes need other types of information to decide upon the orientation to take or the sentence to impose to a young person. In such cases, the judge may order the production of different expert reports, for example in mental health. The provincial director is then responsible for conveying the request to the concerned professionals and for ensuring the report is transmitted to the court.
Specific sentences
Several punishments imposed by the court provide for the intervention of the provincial director, notably volunteer work, probation or custody sentences. In such cases, the youth worker’s first responsibility is to ensure the conditions of the order made against the young person are respected, and to encourage their reintegration. With the young person, the parents or any other person important to them, the youth worker will establish the objectives of the intervention to meet the young person’s needs and to reduce the likelihood of recidivism. In the case of custody sentences, the worker is called upon to work in collaboration with rehabilitation workers for young persons with adjustment problems.
The situation may involve other resources, if possible and desirable, such as addiction or employability resources. Alternative justice organizations, which ensure the execution of volunteer work imposed by the court or the application of certain measures to develop social skills, are also important collaborators in the intervention with young offenders.
Youth Criminal Justice Act - Young offenders and the criminal justice system - YCJA
Reintegration
Rehabilitation services
Interventions in rehabilitation are focused on youth. They aim to change certain behaviours and to re-establish their ability to interact with their environment. Assistance is also provided to young parents with adjustment problems in order to support them in learning their role as a parent.
Youth qualification program
This program provides young persons between 16 and 19 years old with assistance and support for social and professional integration using independent living accompaniment and learning activities. Young persons adhering to this program have a real desire to remain in school, or to return to school or on the labour market. The Youth qualification program is exclusively offered to young persons taken in charge by youth protection who require intensive follow-up and accompaniment beyond the age of majority.
Adoption and mixed bank
In Québec, there are three types of adoption: regular adoption, adoption under the Banque mixte program and international adoption. The reality of adoption has evolved and several adoptions take place every year. There are more and more children placed with the aim of having a permanent family.
Adoption and post-adoption services
Adoption and post-adoption services concern both children born in Québec considered at risk or in situation of abandonment, and children from outside the province. The services available aim to prepare and accompany the child, the biological parents and the adoptive parents throughout the adoption process.
Mixed bank
The purpose of the Banque mixte program is to allow children who are at risk of being abandoned or whose parents are unable to meet their needs to be placed in a stable foster family in order to be adopted.
For more details, call 418 589-9927 or 1 800 463-8547.
To learn more about the adoption of a child living outside Québec and about international adoption certified bodies in Québec, call the Secrétariat à l'adoption internationale at 514 873-5226.
Family history and reunion
Family history and reunion services aim to provide information on socio-biological history and biological parents upon request from an adopted or adoptable person. The adopted or adoptable person can also receive assistance to establish contact with their biological parents. Services are also provided to biological parents who put their child up for adoption or to adoptive parents. For more information, call 418 589-9927 or 1 800 463-8547.
Psychosocial expertise
The psychosocial expertise includes the evaluation of the child’s needs and of the parenting abilities. This expertise is exercised in case of litigation about child custody and access rights, following the parents’ separation or divorce. This expertise is ordered by the Superior Court of Québec.