This means telling the Director of Youth Protection (or D.Y.P.) what you know about the danger you think a child is facing. Most of the time, people report cases to the D.Y.P. by phone. The D.Y.P.’s phone number can be found at the beginning of any Quebec telephone book under the heading “Youth Protection”.

This phone call alerts social workers and other professionals to the case of a child whose physical security or psychological, emotional, intellectual or social development is at risk. (To find out more, read the Infosheet entitled When can the Director of Youth Protection get involved?). The D.Y.P. can decide to launch an investigation into a child’s situation based on the information it receives when a case is reported.

The D.Y.P. does not have the power to carry out an investigation unless someone has first reported the case to them. In a sense, such a report is the D.Y.P.’s entryway into a child’s life.

The law states that any person who knows that a child is the victim of physical or sexual abuse must report the case to the D.Y.P.

People who come into direct contact with children through their work – including police, doctors, other healthcare workers (nurses, psychologists, dentists, optometrists, social workers, etc.), daycare workers and teachers – have even more obligations. These individuals must inform the D.Y.P. as soon as they believe that a child is in a situation that is placing his security or development at risk. To find out more about these situations, read the Infosheet entitled When can the Director of Youth Protection get involved.

Any other person can of course alert the D.Y.P. to the case of a child who, for example, is being neglected or whose parents are abusing drugs or alcohol, but they are not obliged to do so. However, every adult has a legal obligation to help a child who wants to report a case to the D.Y.P. – whether it’s his own situation, that of his siblings, or even that of another child he knows.

If a person has an obligation to report a case or help a child to do so and he doesn’t do it, then he is committing a criminal offence. He can face prosecution and a fine of up to $2500.

Sometimes situations can be unclear. A person who has either witnessed certain events or simply received information from a child may not know whether she has to report a case to the D.Y.P. In such a situation, the person can contact the D.Y.P.’s emergency social service. She will then be able to speak to specialists who can answer her questions and help her understand whether or not she must report the child’s case. Even though this service is offered by the D.Y.P., a person who makes this kind of call is not considered to be “reporting a case to the D.Y.P.”.

As mentioned above, the phone number of the D.Y.P.’s emergency social service can be found at the beginning of any Quebec telephone book under the heading “Youth Protection”.

In order for a report to be as helpful as possible, the person calling the D.Y.P. should try to provide as much pertinent and important information as possible. To avoid any memory lapses, it’s a good idea to write down the information before calling. Important information includes the child’s name, his age (or an estimate), his address or the place where he can be found (school, daycare, recreational center, etc.), what is known about his family situation (one or two-parent household, brothers and sisters, etc.) and, obviously, whatever has happened indicating that the child is in need of help.

If the person reporting the situation has not herself witnessed anything, she must give the D.Y.P. the name of the person who alerted her to the child’s situation and tell them where that person can be contacted.

Shocked and caught off-guard by a child who has suddenly confided in them, many people might react by intensively questioning the child to try to get to the bottom of things. However, if a child has decided to talk about what he’s going through, it’s better to simply listen to him without trying to find out more. After all, children can easily be influenced by adults’ questions. Also, they might get tired of repeating the same thing over and over again to many people.

It is better to leave the questioning to the people whose job it is to evaluate the report and make decisions regarding the child. Many of them have had special training on how to question children in such a way as to influence them as little as possible and avoid worsening their trauma.

Trying to get information from a child by asking too many questions can in fact harm the D.Y.P.’s investigation. Ultimately, this might prevent a child from getting help even if he needs it.

Once a phone call is made to report a situation, the D.Y.P. enters the picture.

The D.Y.P. may decide not to act on a report if it concludes that a child’s situation does not require intervention under the law. This is what happens when a report appears not to be serious and when, even if the reported facts were true, the D.Y.P. would not consider it necessary to intervene. In such cases, the D.Y.P.’s involvement ends immediately. For example, this would be the case if children were rehearsing a violent scene for a school play and an alarmed neighbour alerts the D.Y.P.

On the other hand, if a report is considered serious, the D.Y.P. investigates the child’s situation to uncover the details and find out if the reported facts are true. If it’s an emergency, a D.Y.P. employee will immediately visit the child to ensure his protection, accompanied by police officers if necessary. If needed, the child can immediately be taken from his family or the place where he is living. The D.Y.P. might do this if there’s a risk that the child, if left with his family, would be in danger of death, sexual abuse, serious injury or ending up on the street.

If the report is retained but the situation is less urgent, a D.Y.P. employee will evaluate the report at a later stage. In the course of this evaluation, the D.Y.P. employee meets the child, his parents and possibly other people who know the child, in order to determine whether the D.Y.P. should get involved in the child’s life to ensure his security and development.

After the investigation, the parents, child and the person who reported the situation are all immediately informed of the results. However, neither the parents nor the child will find out who contacted the D.Y.P. The identity of the person who made the report is always confidential. The D.Y.P. can never reveal this person’s identity unless the person gives his consent to do so.

When a person reports a case to the D.Y.P. in the sincere belief that a child’s situation justifies it, legal action cannot be taken against him by the child, parents or the D.Y.P. However, a person can be pursued in the civil and criminal courts if he reports a case to the D.Y.P. with intent to harm, knowing that what he is reporting is false.

The identity of anyone who reports a situation to the D.Y.P. is confidential and no one can reveal it without that person’s consent. Also, nobody is allowed to reveal pieces of information that, taken together, would allow the person to be identified.

It often happens that the reporting person is a police officer or someone else who frequently has to make reports to the D.Y.P. in the course of his work. Such people generally agree to identify themselves as the person who reported the situation to the D.Y.P. Police officers, for example, often mention in their police reports that they were the ones who contacted the D.Y.P.

However, if the reporting person does not want to be identified, his identity will not be revealed – not even in court. The judge must object to questions from anyone on this subject.

It’s possible…but not automatic. The obligation to report a child’s situation does not automatically lead to an obligation to testify in court. Everything depends on the importance of the information that the person holds.

The D.Y.P. might need the person to come and tell the judge what he knows, in order to prove that the child needs the court’s intervention for his protection. In such cases, the person will be called as a witness and his presence in court is mandatory. Sometimes, a person has enough information to justify reporting the child’s situation to the D.Y.P. but not enough to give a useful testimony in court. For example, let’s say a child has told his teacher that he is being abused, but the teacher hasn’t actually witnessed any violence.
This teacher would be a less likely witness than a neighbour who witnessed abuse every day, even if both have enough information to report the situation.

Even if the person who reported the situation is called to testify, his identity is kept confidential at all times. In court, nobody can demand to know who reported the child’s situation, not even the judge. If the person who reported the situation is called to testify, it will be as a witness and not as the person who made the report. If someone asks him if he was the one who contacted the D.Y.P., the judge won’t allow the question.

If the person who reported the situation is called to testify and has questions about the issue of confidentiality, he can talk to the lawyer who called him before the hearing. He may even want to consult a lawyer about it.