From reaction to prevention: a necessary shift for young people and their families.
- May 21
- 2 min read
In Quebec, the reality of child protection has reached critical levels that call for deep reflection. In 2023–2024, the Youth Protection Directorate (DPJ) handled 135,839 reports, a record figure that illustrates the scale of needs. This situation highlights complex dynamics that go beyond emergency cases alone and forces us to rethink how our interventions are organized.
The impasse of the reactive model
Our current mechanisms still rely heavily on responses deployed once difficulties have already become entrenched. At present, a predominant share of resources is mobilized at a stage where situations require intensive measures. Yet the statistics are clear: one in ten children in Quebec will be the subject of a substantiated report before reaching adulthood. This approach, although essential, highlights crucial opportunities for earlier intervention that are still too underutilized.
Precariousness as a factor of rupture
The contexts in which these interventions occur are not random. They are predominantly marked by economic precarity, isolation, and mental health challenges. The MSSS strategic document also highlights a striking figure: more than 50% of children under youth protection live in a context of family poverty.
These vulnerability factors are not isolated; they form the breeding ground for trajectories leading to youth homelessness. Without an early activated social safety net, the risk of breakdown becomes a statistical likelihood.
The shift toward structured prevention
In this perspective, strengthening preventive actions appears to be the most effective lever. Intervening at the earliest signs of vulnerability would make it possible to support families sooner and limit the worsening of situations. Such an approach promotes more stable trajectories and helps reduce the risks of breakdown at different stages in young people’s lives.
It is in this spirit that the “Growing Up in Confidence” initiative, led by the Ministry of Health and Social Services, is being developed. This initiative aims to transform our model by strengthening preventive interventions and enhancing the support offered to families, before reporting becomes the only remaining option.
A priority aligned with the action of the Coalition Jeunes+
In the field of youth homelessness prevention, these findings resonate directly with the realities observed on the ground by our members. The pathways leading to homelessness are rarely sudden accidents; they are often rooted in a continuum of vulnerabilities that were not addressed early enough.
The approach promoted by the Coalition Jeunes+ is fully aligned with this logic of transformation. By prioritizing early intervention and strengthening social safety nets, we act on the root causes of breakdowns. Investing in prevention today means refusing to let tomorrow’s statistics become the chronicle of a foreseeable exclusion.
