The number of reports to the Youth Protection Department (DPJ) has not only reached new heights in Montreal in the last year, but nearly one in five has the reason for exposure to domestic violence. And during this time, more than a third of speaker positions are vacant.

A total of 21,084 reports to the DPJ were recorded in Montreal in 2023-2024, revealed the 21st annual report of the DPJ, presented Tuesday.

Last year, that total was 19,727.

This increase could be explained by “the crumbling of the social fabric around families,” explained the director of youth protection at the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, Ms. Assunta Gallo, at a press conference.

In Quebec, the news is better. 134,871 reports were received in the last 12 months, a slight decrease compared to last year. But this year’s total still represents a 57% increase over 10 years.

For the office of the minister responsible for Social Services, Lionel Carmant, this is still a step forward, says his press secretary, Lambert Drainville. This is the first time the total number of reports in the province has decreased in almost twenty years.

This is the second year in a row where we have seen a drop in the reports that are retained, emphasizes the national director of youth protection, Catherine Lemay. This year, just over 42,000 reports were upheld.

“That means we are able to better filter situations before they enter the entire youth protection process,” she explains.

Another finding: the number of reports whose reason is exposure to domestic violence has more than doubled in 10 years in Quebec. There will be more than 17,000 in 2023-2024.

“And I think it will be even worse next year,” believes Mathilde Trou, co-responsible for political issues at the Group of Homes for Women Victims of Domestic Violence, present at the announcement.

Since April 2023, exposure to domestic violence constitutes a reason for compromise in its own right to make a report to the DPJ. Prior to this change, exposure to domestic violence was a subcategory of psychological maltreatment.

This modification to the law allowed a more in-depth analysis of the problem and the establishment of a specific approach to the needs in terms of domestic violence, explained Ms. Gallo.

These data pushed the DPJ to make domestic violence the theme of its report this year.

The goal? “Bring domestic violence out of the privacy of private places, raise awareness among the population, break the silence, because it still remains a taboo subject,” said Ms. Gallo.

Surprising data: we also observed a 22% increase in reports issued by the police compared to last year.

According to Ms. Trou, it is possible that this increase is linked to better knowledge of the signs that indicate the presence of domestic violence during a police intervention.

Data from the DPJ’s 21st report revealed that problems linked to labor shortages in the social services sector have worsened in Montreal.

Out of 101 worker positions for assessing the situation of children at the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud, which oversees the DPJ in Montreal, 30 were vacant last June. This year, six more positions are to be filled, or a little more than a third.

“It’s still important, the labour shortage we’re currently experiencing,” Ms. Gallo conceded. “Despite the efforts that are being made, I know that stakeholders share with us the pressure they’re experiencing.”

The same phenomenon is observed across the province, notes Sébastien Pitre, national manager of the youth protection file and treasurer of the Alliance of Professional and Technical Personnel in Health and Social Services (APTS). The proportion of vacant positions, in extreme cases, can even rise to 75%.

In Sept-Îles, for example, three workers do the work of 14 people, he notes. And one of them will leave for another sector soon.

“[The question] is not whether a person will fall off work or not, but when. And the task and the overload of work make it unattractive for someone finishing school,” he adds.

The DPJ also intends to implement various recruitment methods, particularly among students and staff from other services of the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud. Their presence would make it possible to accomplish tasks external to the evaluation of cases at the DPJ.

Salary, diversity of clientele, increase in mental health problems, gaps in training: “Put yourself in the place of a young person finishing high school 5. When they look at how health and social services come on, is this attractive? Not really. », concludes Mr. Pitre.