Under the Youth Protection Act, and in all the Infosheets you’ll find in this section, the term “child” means a person who is under eighteen years of age. Adolescents are therefore also included under the youth protection system.

There are a number of situations in which the Director of Youth Protection (D.Y.P.) is obliged to get involved in order to protect a child. There are nine situations in which the D.Y.P. clearly has an obligation to intervene.

The nine situations are the following:

• a child is abandoned;
  
• his mental or emotional development is threatened;
  
• his physical health is threatened;
  
• his material needs are not being met;
  
• his parents are behaving inappropriately;
  
• he is doing unacceptable work;
  
• he is the victim of sexual abuse;
  
• he is suffering ill-treatment;
  
• he has serious behavioural problems.

There are also three other situations in which a child may be considered to be in danger, but it’s not automatic. Such unclear cases generally require a closer analysis of the child’s circumstances to figure out whether he is truly in danger.

This would be the case for a runaway child or a child who is not going to school even though he is of mandatory school age (under 16). This is also the case for a child whose parents abandon him while he is in the care of a foster family or an institution – for example, they don’t visit him, aren’t interested in how he’s doing, or are failing to address the situation that put him in danger.

A child is considered to be abandoned if he is an orphan and no one is looking after him.

A child is also considered abandoned if his parents are alive but are not ensuring his education, care and maintenance. Keep in mind, though, that parents do have the right to entrust their child to someone else (like a babysitter) or send him to a boarding institution. However, when a child is boarding somewhere else, the parents still have to maintain an interest in him – for example, by visiting him, contributing financially to his needs, ensuring he receives necessary medical care, etc.

When parents fail to look after their child properly, the D.Y.P. can keep an eye on the situation. If things go on for too long and the parents are not trying to improve the situation, the Court of Quebec (Youth Division) may declare the child eligible for adoption. This means that someone can adopt the child and his parents would then lose all rights over him.

A child’s emotional and psychological development can be threatened by the absence of appropriate care, his social isolation, or by serious and continuous emotional rejection by one or both parents. This is true regardless of whether or not the parents have intentionally created such a situation.

So, let’s say that a parent is suffering from mental problems or an intellectual deficiency, which prevents her from understanding and responding to her child’s emotional needs. If her child ends up socially isolated as a result, the D.Y.P. or the court may decide that the child’s security or development is in danger. The same is true for a child whose parents act in a distant manner and constantly make hurtful, mean comments. The D.Y.P. might also step in to protect a child who is continually treated worse than his brothers and sisters and has, in a sense, become the family’s scapegoat.

A child’s security and development will be considered in danger if his parents are not ensuring that he receives necessary medical attention. Examples would include a child whose parents are not taking him to the dentist even though he has an abscess from a cavity, or a child whose parents can’t be bothered to replace the hearing aid he lost months ago.

However, the courts and the D.Y.P. will hesitate to intervene if the parents have made an informed decision not to seek healthcare. So let’s say that parents refuse to let their child take Ritalin for his hyperactivity because they have read about its side effects – in such a situation, the child’s security and development would not be considered in danger. The same is true when parents make a decision as to whether or not their child will be vaccinated.

In order to figure out what a child’s “appropriate” material needs are (housing, food, clothing, etc.), his parents’ financial means are taken into account to a certain extent. In our society, children have the right to a certain minimum level of material conditions, but this level will obviously be higher for the children of more affluent parents.

Every single child has the right to live in a clean and safe home. So if a child doesn’t have a fixed residence or has to sleep on the floor of his parents’ room, he is being deprived of the material conditions of life appropriate to his needs, regardless of his parents’ financial situation. Also, a home that isn’t heated in the winter does not meet the minimum material needs of a child. Parents are obliged to do whatever they can to meet their child’s material needs, so they cannot refuse help from organizations. For example, parents are not allowed to deprive their child of his material needs just because applying for social assistance (welfare) is against their principles.

If a parent’s behaviour or way of life (or that of a step-parent, tutor, etc.) creates a risk of moral or physical danger for a child, the child’s security and development is considered to be in danger.

There are many different types of “inappropriate behaviour”. Examples include parents suffering from drug addiction, alcoholism or a gambling problem leading them to spend all of the family’s money. A child may also be considered in danger if his parent is involved in a violent relationship witnessed by the child, or if he regularly has to change schools because his parents move repeatedly throughout the year. Another example would be a young child whose parents are incapable of getting up in the morning to make him breakfast or get him to school on time.

However, not all unconventional behaviour on the part of parents will necessarily create a risk of danger for the child. For example, a child will not automatically be in need of protection because his mother is a stripper or prostitute. The child won’t be considered in danger if he is kept away from these activities and they are not preventing the mother from adequately meeting his needs.

A child’s work capacity is limited compared to that of an adult. Moreover, a child has to go to school and meet people her own age. In light of this reality, the law states that a child who has to do work that is disproportionate or exaggerated for her age is in need of protection, regardless of whether or not the work is paid.

So, for example, a child may be in need of protection if she is entirely responsible for keeping the family home clean, or if she regularly misses school to babysit her brothers and sisters. Such tasks are considered incompatible with her own basic needs (education, socialization) and her limited physical capacity.

The law also provides for the protection of a child who is forced or induced to beg or to perform for the public in a manner that is unacceptable for her age. For example, this would include an eight-year-old child who has to perform in shows late at night during the week.

In matters of youth protection, sexual abuse includes much more than just full homosexual or heterosexual sexual relations between a child and adult (or adolescent). Sexual abuse can also include sexual acts or games between an adult and child whose goal is to sexually stimulate the child or obtain sexual gratification from the child. In most cases, any act that is considered to be a sexual offence will also be considered sexual abuse under the youth protection system. However, the opposite is less likely to be true.

When it comes to youth protection matters, if sexual abuse is committed by someone other than a parent, the parents’ response will be a determining factor in deciding whether or not the D.Y.P.’s intervention is required.

For example, the child’s security or development may be considered in danger if his parents don’t believe him, take the aggressor’s side, allow him to still be around the child, or try to downplay the incident. In such circumstances, the parents probably won’t be able to protect the child from future abuse or help him to recover psychologically.

On the other hand, the D.Y.P.’s intervention probably won’t be necessary if the parents are protective, take their child’s side, prevent the sexual abuse from happening again, and assist their child in getting the help he needs to recover.

A child can suffer physical ill-treatment either in the form of violence or neglect.

Violence occurs when acts committed by an adult cause pain or physical injury to the child. Violent acts are excessive, uncontrolled, unreasonable, or impulsive. To evaluate whether an act is excessive, one must take into account the child’s age and physique (health, height, etc.). A violent act can include an isolated incident of excessive force that, for example, physically injures the child or affects his health.

Violence can also include less serious acts that occur repeatedly and affect the child’s development. For example, the child might develop a fear of adults, low self-esteem or anxiety because he is always getting slapped on the back of the head without warning. A child who continually suffers physical ill-treatment might become fed up of always being the victim and respond by acting violently towards other children.

Physical ill-treatment can also be the result of neglect on the part of the adults who are responsible for the child. The neglect has to be significant to be considered ill-treatment. Examples would include a parent who lets her child hit his head repeatedly against a wall or lets him play without supervision in a dangerous area where he might hurt himself. Neglect can also occur if the adults in charge of a child allow someone else to hurt him.

Most children go through some sort of behavioural change when they reach adolescence. But just because a child is acting moody or causing trouble, this doesn’t necessarily mean he is experiencing behavioural disturbances. “Serious behavioural disturbances” might include the following:

• delinquency (alone or as a member of a street gang);
  
• violence and aggression;
  
• children who are a danger to themselves, because they are suicidal, addicted to drugs or alcohol, or engage in self-mutilation.

Other cases might include an anorexic or bulimic child, or a child who resists all forms of authority both at school and at home.

The D.Y.P. will generally not intervene in the case of a child whose behaviour poses a danger for himself and others as long as his parents are taking the necessary steps to address the problem (medical treatment, psychological or psychiatric help, rehabilitation program, assistance from a C.L.S.C. social worker, etc.). But if such steps do not help or if the parents do nothing, then the parents may not be able to solve the problem on their own. In such a case, D.Y.P. intervention will be necessary.