Quebec's Youth Protection Directors says the number of teenagers in trouble continues to grow.
The number of overall situations reported to youth protection in the last year has risen by four percent.
Between 2016 and 2017 there were 91,191 situations reported to youth protection across Quebec, about 250 per day.
The previous year there were 87, 800 cases reported.
Most of the incidents reported are not considered "justified" -- they don't need follow-up visits from officials.
Of the 36, 000 cases that warranted more serious scrutiny, 24 percent involved those aged 13 to 17, and 2, 684 cases involved serious behavioural disorders.
Assunta Gallo of the CIUSSS Montreal West Island said teenagers face unusual obstacles and challenges that when combined with problems at home makes situations much worse.
"If we think just of gains that children need to make, so every child, one of their obligations is they need to be going to school, they need to learn, so when you're dealing with a stressor in your life such as family situations where there's abuse or neglect, there are points of references in terms of healthy learning and a capacity to take in the cognitive portion becomes impacted. So there are consequences, potentially, to children when they are neglected or abused," said Gallo.
Overall in Quebec, about 34 percent of cases reported to the DPJ involve neglect, while 30 percent concern abuse or the risk of abuse.
