QUEBEC to tighten Youth protection act
Quebec courts will be able to intervene sooner
to take custody of children away from parents
who fail to offer safe and proper care under
major changes proposed yesterday for the
province's Youth Protection Act.
In cases where children are abandoned,
neglected or subjected to physical, mental or
sexual abuse, the younger the child the less
time the offending parents will have to
remedy the situation in order to keep
custody of their children.
A delay of 12 months will be given to
parents with children less than two years
old, 18 months for parents of children
ages 2 to 5, and 24 months for parents
of older children.
"We think it's important to recognize
that a child does have rights. The child
is entitled to have a safe and a good life
and some parents, unfortunately, it's
terrible to say, but some parents are
unable to care for their kids," said
Margaret Delisle, Minister of Child Services.
The time frames were based on studies
showing that children who do not receive
affection and care and who do not
develop a sense of attachment in the
early years of their development often
face social and mental problems later in life.
The bill aims to create stability for children
by eliminating the endless shuffling from
foster homes back to family settings and
into foster homes again.
"What we now know from psychologists
and neurologists is that a child can
experience trauma . . . as early as three
months of age. And for a child's brain to
develop appropriately, they need to be in
stable relationships. They need to be able
to form a clear relationship with one
caregiver who responds to their needs,"
said Michael Godman, provincial director
of youth protection services.
Ms. Delisle said the bill will offer social
workers and family-court judges the
tools they need to protect the most
vulnerable children. It will require
officials to present to the court a plan to
assure a stable family setting for children
who have been placed in foster homes for
the maximum length of time set by the law.
It will also require that the situation in
foster care be reviewed every three
months to ensure its stability.
This means more children could be put
up for adoption. Or they could be placed
under legal guardianship, such as with an
extended-family member who will receive
financial support to take care of the child
but where the parents will not lose all
their rights.
The minister said her priority will be to do
everything possible to keep children with
their natural parents. One of the objectives
will be to proceed more through voluntary
mediation rather than the court system in
establishing a stable environment for the
children.
But Quebec remained among the last
provinces in the country to take tough
action against irresponsible parents.
Ms. Delisle said no new funding will
be made available, insisting that the
reforms could be put into place with
the current budget.
Province unveils new youth-protection plan
Last updated
Oct 21 2005 11:51 AM EDT
CBC News
Youth Protection Minister Marguerite
Delisle introduced legislation Thursday
that includes new rules to prevent children
from being bounced from one foster
home to another.
To avoid having children change
homes repeatedly, the maximum stay
in child-care centres for a child under
two years old will be capped at 12
months. For children between two and
five it will be 18 months, and for children
over six years old it will be 24 months.
If, after that length of time, their parents
are still unable to provide them with a
stable environment, youth-protection
services will recommend they be given
up for adoption, placed in the state's
care, or given a mentor, rather than
allowing them to be sent to yet another
foster home, as they have been in the past.
According to the provincial association of
child-protection centres, about 2,000
children get bounced around from their
biological parents to various foster
homes each year.
"The priority remains to keep the child
with his family," Delisle said. "But there
are cases where that's not possible,
and they could be placed in a stable
environment."
The bill also places more emphasis on
mediation to help troubled families,
reducing the role of courts in resolving
child-care issues.
"These children are suffering enormously,
" Delisle said at a news conference.
"After 10 years of recommendations
from experts, this has to stop. These
children have to be able to develop
normally."
Officials who work in Quebec's
youth-protection system say they are
happy with the government's plans for
reform.
The director of youth services for the
Batshaw Centre in Montreal,
Michael Godman, says the legislation
will help save money, and will allow
more efficient use of resources.
Problems in the youth-protection
system were brought to the public's
attention recently by the release of a
documentary film, Les voleurs
d'enfance, by Paul Arcand.
The film criticized the province's
Youth Protection Agency, accusing
it of mistreating children and regularly
putting them into solitary confinement.
One of the measures highlighted in the
film, the use of isolation rooms, is not
dealt with in the new legislation.
Officials say the government is recommending
that youth centres only use the rooms
in extreme cases, and never as a punitive
measure.
Youth-protection bill aims to end
shunting of kids
Province's first choice is to help parents
properly care for children, minister says
Friday, October 21, 2005
QUEBEC - Margaret Delisle, the
Quebec minister responsible for youth
protection, presented a bill yesterday
aimed at fixing the province's
Youth Protection Act.
"We want to put an end to the shunting
around of children," she said. Children
who are abused, or otherwise mistreated,
find themselves shuffled from foster
homes, back to what is often an
abusive home, then back again to a
different foster home, in a drawn-out
cycle that takes its toll.
Quebec's first choice is to help parents
properly care for their children, she said,
noting "love, affection and care in the
first two years of their lives" makes a
big difference.
If that fails, such options as foster homes
naming a tutor or adoption will be
considered more quickly, the minister
said.
"There will be more adoptions,"
the minister said.
Recently, Les Voleurs d'enfance, a
documentary by Paul Arcand about the
mistreatment of children within Quebec's
youth protection system, made headlines.
Delisle said she was not influenced at all
by the film, pointing out her bill was
already being studied by the Quebec
cabinet when it was released.
One of the film's more graphic scenes
shows the minister in an isolation cell,
pleading to be released after a short
confinement, a scene she says was
edited to cast her in an unfavourable light.
Delisle said the isolation cells will remain.
"We're not changing anything at all," she
said, explaining that confining a child is
a last resort and her department is
monitoring the use of isolation cells
to ensure they are not used as
punishment.
"It's a clinical intervention," she said.
Isolation is used to calm a child
who has lost control.
Hearings on Bill 125, to amend the
existing Youth Protection Act, will
begin this fall, continuing into the new
year.
Delisle said her plan calls for using
youth protection for serious cases,
after social services and other
intermediate levels of care have
been exhausted.
Michael Godman, director of youth
protection at Batshaw Youth and
Family Centres, said Bill 125 has
all the right options.
"It's a Cadillac of a law," he said.
"I hope it doesn't have a Lada engine."
Godman explained that agencies such
as Batshaw also need help to play a
role in youth protection.
"We need to support grassroots
community groups," he said.
Often, parents who abuse were
abused themselves and caught in a
cycle of little education, substance
abuse and a precarious job situation.
Delisle said the Liberal government's
law to reduce poverty complements
its youth protection strategy.
"I think it's important also to work at
the other end of the spectrum to make
sure that we're going to be trying to
diminish poverty, diminish the
difficulties that these parents have,
and that they had when themselves
were children," she said.
kdougherty@thegazette.canwest.com
© The Gazette (Montreal) 2005
Quebec courts will be able to intervene sooner
to take custody of children away from parents
who fail to offer safe and proper care under
major changes proposed yesterday for the
province's Youth Protection Act.
In cases where children are abandoned,
neglected or subjected to physical, mental or
sexual abuse, the younger the child the less
time the offending parents will have to
remedy the situation in order to keep
custody of their children.
A delay of 12 months will be given to
parents with children less than two years
old, 18 months for parents of children
ages 2 to 5, and 24 months for parents
of older children.
"We think it's important to recognize
that a child does have rights. The child
is entitled to have a safe and a good life
and some parents, unfortunately, it's
terrible to say, but some parents are
unable to care for their kids," said
Margaret Delisle, Minister of Child Services.
The time frames were based on studies
showing that children who do not receive
affection and care and who do not
develop a sense of attachment in the
early years of their development often
face social and mental problems later in life.
The bill aims to create stability for children
by eliminating the endless shuffling from
foster homes back to family settings and
into foster homes again.
"What we now know from psychologists
and neurologists is that a child can
experience trauma . . . as early as three
months of age. And for a child's brain to
develop appropriately, they need to be in
stable relationships. They need to be able
to form a clear relationship with one
caregiver who responds to their needs,"
said Michael Godman, provincial director
of youth protection services.
Ms. Delisle said the bill will offer social
workers and family-court judges the
tools they need to protect the most
vulnerable children. It will require
officials to present to the court a plan to
assure a stable family setting for children
who have been placed in foster homes for
the maximum length of time set by the law.
It will also require that the situation in
foster care be reviewed every three
months to ensure its stability.
This means more children could be put
up for adoption. Or they could be placed
under legal guardianship, such as with an
extended-family member who will receive
financial support to take care of the child
but where the parents will not lose all
their rights.
The minister said her priority will be to do
everything possible to keep children with
their natural parents. One of the objectives
will be to proceed more through voluntary
mediation rather than the court system in
establishing a stable environment for the
children.
But Quebec remained among the last
provinces in the country to take tough
action against irresponsible parents.
Ms. Delisle said no new funding will
be made available, insisting that the
reforms could be put into place with
the current budget.
Province unveils new youth-protection plan
Last updated
Oct 21 2005 11:51 AM EDT
CBC News
Youth Protection Minister Marguerite
Delisle introduced legislation Thursday
that includes new rules to prevent children
from being bounced from one foster
home to another.
To avoid having children change
homes repeatedly, the maximum stay
in child-care centres for a child under
two years old will be capped at 12
months. For children between two and
five it will be 18 months, and for children
over six years old it will be 24 months.
If, after that length of time, their parents
are still unable to provide them with a
stable environment, youth-protection
services will recommend they be given
up for adoption, placed in the state's
care, or given a mentor, rather than
allowing them to be sent to yet another
foster home, as they have been in the past.
According to the provincial association of
child-protection centres, about 2,000
children get bounced around from their
biological parents to various foster
homes each year.
"The priority remains to keep the child
with his family," Delisle said. "But there
are cases where that's not possible,
and they could be placed in a stable
environment."
The bill also places more emphasis on
mediation to help troubled families,
reducing the role of courts in resolving
child-care issues.
"These children are suffering enormously,
" Delisle said at a news conference.
"After 10 years of recommendations
from experts, this has to stop. These
children have to be able to develop
normally."
Officials who work in Quebec's
youth-protection system say they are
happy with the government's plans for
reform.
The director of youth services for the
Batshaw Centre in Montreal,
Michael Godman, says the legislation
will help save money, and will allow
more efficient use of resources.
Problems in the youth-protection
system were brought to the public's
attention recently by the release of a
documentary film, Les voleurs
d'enfance, by Paul Arcand.
The film criticized the province's
Youth Protection Agency, accusing
it of mistreating children and regularly
putting them into solitary confinement.
One of the measures highlighted in the
film, the use of isolation rooms, is not
dealt with in the new legislation.
Officials say the government is recommending
that youth centres only use the rooms
in extreme cases, and never as a punitive
measure.
Youth-protection bill aims to end
shunting of kids
Province's first choice is to help parents
properly care for children, minister says
Friday, October 21, 2005
QUEBEC - Margaret Delisle, the
Quebec minister responsible for youth
protection, presented a bill yesterday
aimed at fixing the province's
Youth Protection Act.
"We want to put an end to the shunting
around of children," she said. Children
who are abused, or otherwise mistreated,
find themselves shuffled from foster
homes, back to what is often an
abusive home, then back again to a
different foster home, in a drawn-out
cycle that takes its toll.
Quebec's first choice is to help parents
properly care for their children, she said,
noting "love, affection and care in the
first two years of their lives" makes a
big difference.
If that fails, such options as foster homes
naming a tutor or adoption will be
considered more quickly, the minister
said.
"There will be more adoptions,"
the minister said.
Recently, Les Voleurs d'enfance, a
documentary by Paul Arcand about the
mistreatment of children within Quebec's
youth protection system, made headlines.
Delisle said she was not influenced at all
by the film, pointing out her bill was
already being studied by the Quebec
cabinet when it was released.
One of the film's more graphic scenes
shows the minister in an isolation cell,
pleading to be released after a short
confinement, a scene she says was
edited to cast her in an unfavourable light.
Delisle said the isolation cells will remain.
"We're not changing anything at all," she
said, explaining that confining a child is
a last resort and her department is
monitoring the use of isolation cells
to ensure they are not used as
punishment.
"It's a clinical intervention," she said.
Isolation is used to calm a child
who has lost control.
Hearings on Bill 125, to amend the
existing Youth Protection Act, will
begin this fall, continuing into the new
year.
Delisle said her plan calls for using
youth protection for serious cases,
after social services and other
intermediate levels of care have
been exhausted.
Michael Godman, director of youth
protection at Batshaw Youth and
Family Centres, said Bill 125 has
all the right options.
"It's a Cadillac of a law," he said.
"I hope it doesn't have a Lada engine."
Godman explained that agencies such
as Batshaw also need help to play a
role in youth protection.
"We need to support grassroots
community groups," he said.
Often, parents who abuse were
abused themselves and caught in a
cycle of little education, substance
abuse and a precarious job situation.
Delisle said the Liberal government's
law to reduce poverty complements
its youth protection strategy.
"I think it's important also to work at
the other end of the spectrum to make
sure that we're going to be trying to
diminish poverty, diminish the
difficulties that these parents have,
and that they had when themselves
were children," she said.
kdougherty@thegazette.canwest.com
© The Gazette (Montreal) 2005
LAC/20051021/QUEBEC21/TPNational/Canada
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