Reacting to an investigation by The Gazette that found three children died in March while they were under the care of Montreal’s anglophone youth protection agency, Quebec’s national director of youth protection says changes were made in response to those deaths.
The comments come as the Quebec Liberal Party continued to criticize the province’s minister responsible for social services Tuesday for what it describes as his “unacceptable silence” following the revelation that a four-year-old girl and two teenagers died in a single month while under the care of Batshaw Youth and Family Centres.
Lesley Hill, Quebec’s national director of youth protection, said the deaths were reported to her in the spring and that a number of measures have been taken at Batshaw since April.
“I am deeply saddened for each of these children and adolescents, their families and the staff involved. I can assure you that each of these situations has been thoroughly examined by the appropriate authorities at the establishment, and we are awaiting the results of the coroner’s investigations,” she said in a statement Tuesday. “The death of any child remains a tragic event.”
She said a new directive to ensure the safety of children who are awaiting placement was put in place in May.
It requires that a risk assessment be conducted for each child; for high-risk children to be given immediate care; and for a mandatory monitoring agreement to be put in place for all children awaiting placement through partnerships with schools, daycares and other organizations.
The plan also calls for situations to be regularly reviewed and for regular contact with the person responsible for monitoring the child.
The four-year-old, who showed signs of malnutrition and had bruises on her body at the time of her death, was supposed to receive regular visits from Batshaw workers, but hadn’t been visited in months after the caseworker assigned to her switched departments.
Another of the children, a 17-year-old boy, took his own life. He had been waiting months for Batshaw to assign a caseworker to him.
The other child, a 16-year-old girl, was in Batshaw’s custody when she died by suicide.
Hill says there have been meetings with other ministries to arrange their support for the necessary monitoring of children and youth, as well as with the province’s committee on access to English-language services.
“All children deserve to receive the protection services they need and to which they are entitled,” she said. “It is essential that our efforts be co-ordinated, because it is by working together that we will be able to better meet their protection needs.”
Meanwhile, the Liberals accused Lionel Carmant, Quebec’s minister responsible for social services, of fuelling mistrust and cynicism by not addressing the deaths publicly.
“Nearly one week after these revelations were made public, the minister has still not commented publicly on the situation, expressed his support for the loved ones affected or provided any answers to reassure the public,” the party said in a statement. “This lack of leadership and transparency during a crisis is incomprehensible and unacceptable.”
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Liberal youth protection critic Brigitte Garceau said Quebecers need clear answers about how many children receiving services from youth protection have died in recent years, what failed and who must be held accountable.
“Minister Carmant can no longer remain silent,” Garceau said in the party’s statement, adding that she wants the province’s human and youth rights commission to conduct an investigation into each of the three deaths.
“The full truth must come to light and the necessary corrective measures must be implemented without delay,” she said.
A spokesperson for Carmant did not respond to questions from The Gazette about the opposition’s criticism, instead directing questions to Hill.