MONTREAL -- Parts of Quebec's social services need to be overhauled to better deal with youth protection complaints, according to recommendations made in a report on the October deaths of two children.
The report is the result of an external investigation, ordered by Social Services Minister Lionel Carmant, into what happened in the Quebec City region's youth protection system leading up to the deaths of a five-year-old and two-year-old boy in the Indigenous community of Wendake on Oct. 11.
One recommendation is better training for regional health and social service board employees in receiving and processing reports.
It also calls for officially creating positions that are specialized in creating and processing reports in all youth protection offices across the province, and for giving better, more user-friendly tools to employees within the system who are responsible for applying the Youth Protection Act.
In a statement, Carmant asked the Quebec City regional health and social services board, as well as the Health Ministry, to enact the recommendations of the report.
“I'm convinced of the merits of in-depth reform of the Directorate of Youth Protection and Youth Protection Act,” said Carmant.
“I'm committed to working in this direction and it's my firm intention to completely review this system.”
Due to confidentiality, the entirety of the investigation's report can't be made public.
The father of the two boys, Michael Choicoine, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder. The lawyer representing the boys' mother has said she hasn't ruled out a lawsuit against the youth protection system.
