2018 QCCQ 14441, 2018 QCCQ 14441

Protection de la jeunesse — 185038 2018 QCCQ 14441 JA0940 QUEBEC COURT Youth Division Canada PROVINCE OF QUÉBEC DISTRICT OF […] N° : 525-41- 031737-166 DATE : February 7, 2018 ______________________________________________________________________ PRESIDING JUDGE : THE HONOURABLE MARIE ARCHAMBAULT, J.C.Q. ______________________________________________________________________ In the matter of: X born on [...], 2012 THE DIRECTOR OF YOUTH PROTECTION Applicant and A , mother B , father Respondents ______________________________________________________________________ JUDGMENT (Section 95 of the Youth Protection Act ) ______________________________________________________________________ WARNING: The Youth Protection Act forbids the publishing or broadcasting of information allowing for a child or the child’s parents to be identified.

Any person who contravenes this provision commits an offence and is liable to a fine (sections 11.2, 11.2.1 and 135 Y.P.A.). [ 1 ] As required under

Section 90 of the Youth Protection Act, the present judgment confirms in writing the decision rendered orally at the hearing held on February 7, 2018. [ 2 ] The Director of Youth Protection (the Director) seizes Court of an application for revision of a decision rendered by the undersigned on December 22, 2016. [ 3 ] The Director is asking that the child be entrusted to a foster family, that aid, counsel and assistance be provided for one year and that certain attributes of parental authority be withdrawn from the mother. [ 4 ] The parents admit only partially the facts alleged in support of the application.

Both are in agreement with the main recommendation of placement for their son. The mother is opposed to certain attributes of parental authority being withdrawn from her. [ 5 ] No admissions are made on behalf of the child. At the conclusion of the hearing, the child’s attorney invites the Court to allow that the child receive medication if deemed necessary by the pediatrician.

THE CONTEXT [ 6 ] Up until August, 2017, the child remained with his mother, as per the decision rendered in December, 2016. [ 7 ] Although the parents had not yet engaged in any services to address their issues of conjugal violence, the parents had been

receiving the services of an educator to help them improve their parental skills. [ 8 ] The youth protection worker as well as the educator supervised the contacts between the father and the child. Efforts were made to try and support the father not to get angry and raise his voice during contacts with the child. Discussions took place around ways to have the child listen to his father. Mr. B has expressed his belief that the way to insure that the child listens to him is by yelling at him.

According to the father, it is the only way the child will listen. [ 9 ] The importance of anger management was discussed again and again with the father who clearly indicated that he did not seek services because he does not feel that he needs help. The father eventually agreed to follow through with the recommendations and signed up for anger management. Since then, positive changes have been observed. The father began using the tools provided to him.

He reported that he could see the changes in his son’s behaviour towards him. [ 10 ] The mother has worked collaboratively with the educator and the social worker to try to speak to the child in a more age appropriate manner. She no longer used physical discipline but recognized that she still needed support and had some work to do. [ 11 ] On June 15, 2017, an incident occurred at the mother’s home. The parents had a verbal altercation in the presence of the child. At 10:00 p.m., the father came to the mother’s place and asked if his girlfriend could meet with the child. The mother refused. A dispute ensued.

The child was once again exposed to the conflicts of his parents. [ 12 ] Since that incident, the situation appeared to regress. The mother was observed to be less patient with the child and less collaborative with the worker. When the issue was raised with the mother, her response was that she was not going to act differently towards the child as she had always spoken that way. [ 13 ] Soon after, around August 1 st , the mother moved into a new apartment.

As the address given to the Director was incorrect, the workers could not be in contact with the mother and the child for over two weeks. [ 14 ] The educator finally located the new apartment and paid an unannounced visit to the mother on August 17, 2017. [ 15 ] The mother was home but did not allow the educator to enter the apartment, claiming the child was not home. The mother’s eyes were red, according to the educator. [ 16 ] Police intervention was necessary to help the worker and educator enter the home.

The mother eventually admitted that the child had been home when the educator first came but that her “cousin” took the child out from the back of the building and she did not know where exactly the child and her “cousin” were. The mother also admitted that she had been smoking marijuana and did not want the workers to find out. It is only at 10:00 p.m. that the child was located, two blocks away from the apartment, with an individual who was a friend of the mother and not a cousin as she had claimed.

Immediate protective measures were invoked and the child was placed in foster home for the weekend. [ 17 ] A few days later, the child was entrusted to his aunt who, after a couple of weeks, asked for the child to be moved as soon as possible. [ 18 ] Since September 19, 2017, the child is placed in a foster home. [ 19 ] Although the child is said to be doing relatively well in the foster home, he continues to exhibit serious behavioral disturbances. He has continued to be destructive, oppositional and hard to handle when in public.

The child can run onto the streets, run in stores and break many things around him. [ 20 ] In September 2017, a new educator began working with the family, providing support to the parents during their supervised visits with their son. [ 21 ] Since the child’s placement, the mother began receiving services from a shelter to help her work through her past traumas . She claims to have stopped using drugs (she was using marijuana on a daily basis to help her sleep and eat). [ 22 ] On November 1, 2017, the mother informed the workers that she is in a new relationship and had recently moved in with her boyfriend.

In mid-January, she reported that she was no longer living with her boyfriend. When asked to divulge her new address, she could not remember it by heart. [ 23 ] Throughout fall and winter, it has been difficult to reach the mother as she had lost her phone. In addition, the mother did not keep the scheduled appointments set with the worker. Since November, 2017 until the end of January, 2018, the mother did not visit with the child. She explained that she had been going through a very difficult period. She did not want her son to witness this.

She had been facing various difficulties. [ 24 ] The father seems to realize that he is not in a position to take on the responsibilities of caring for his son on a full time basis. His girlfriend is pregnant. He has nonetheless been working collaboratively with the workers and has made progress with his son. He has visited the child on a consistent basis and has also called him on a regular basis in his foster home. The father still needs support in order to respond appropriately to his son’s needs although he was provided with the report completed following the psychological assessment of his son in December.

He had not yet read the report one month later. [ 25 ] The mother is opposed to certain attributes of the parental authority to be withdrawn from her. She claims that she had no money to pay for her phone, did not have an email address and at times, could not provide the workers with her address. But now that she has had a phone for a week and a half, she wishes to assume full responsibility of her son. [ 26 ] The evidence reveals that the mother has gone through a difficult period and as a consequence, she was inconsistent in her visits with her son and did not meet the workers when requested to do so.

In addition, she was hard to reach and her address was often

unknown for weeks at a time. [ 27 ] The Director has established that the security and development of the child are still compromised. [ 28 ] The measures recommended meet the needs of the child and are in his best interest. [ 29 ] AS A CONSEQUENCE AND FOR THESE REASONS, [ 30 ] THE COURT: [ 31 ] GRANTS the application; [ 32 ] DECLARES that the security and the development of the child are still compromised; [ 33 ] AND, BY VIRTUE OF AND PURSUANT TO THE POWERS GRANTED UNDER SECTIONS 91 AND 91.1 OF THE YOUTH PROTECTION ACT, THE COURT ORDERS THE FOLLOWING MEASURES: [ 34 ] ORDERS that the child continue to be entrusted to a foster family for the whole duration of the court order that will end on March 27, 2019; [ 35 ] ORDERS that the modalities and duration, including supervision if need be, of contacts between the child and his parents be determined by the Director; [ 36 ] SETS the minimum frequency of these contacts at one contact per week; [ 37 ] RECOMMENDS that the mother make herself available once a week; [ 38 ] ORDERS that the parents fully collaborate with the Director; [ 39 ] RECOMMENDS that the child attend daycare; [ 40 ] WITHDRAWS from the mother the exercise of attributes of parental authority regarding health care; the father will exercise these attributes alone; [ 41 ] RECOMMENDS that the parents follow through with the recommendations made for the child by the professionals involved with the child; [ 42 ] ORDERS that aid, counsel and assistance be provided to the child and his family including the services of an educator as long as needed; [ 43 ] ENTRUSTS the situation of the child X the Director of Youth Protection of the Centre A , who shall then see that the measures are carried out; [ 44 ] ORDERS the execution of this court order by any peace officer if need be; [ 45 ] THE WHOLE until March 27, 2019.

Signed on March 13, 2018 _________________________________ MARIE ARCHAMBAULT, J.C.Q. Me Marie-Josée Paiement Attorney for the Director of Youth Protection Me Marie-Josée Ayoub Attorney for the child Me Jean-Hervé Thomas Attorney for the mother

Dates of hearing: November 29, 2017 and February 7, 2018 MA/lf