2023 QCCQ 8449, 2023 QCCQ 8449

Protection de la jeunesse — 232608 2023 QCCQ 8449 QUEBEC COURT CANADA PROVINCE OF QUEBEC DISTRICT OF [...] TOWN OF [...] « Youth division »

N os : 460-41-002661-239 DATE : March 13, 2023 ______________________________________________________________________ BY THE HONOURABLE PASCALE BERARDINO, J.C.Q. ______________________________________________________________________ IN THE SITUATION OF : X Born on [...], 2009 [SOCIAL WORKER 1] , person duly authorized by the Director of Youth Protection; Applicant -and- A -and- B Child’s parents ______________________________________________________________________ JUDGMENT [1] ______________________________________________________________________ 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 9.2, 9.3 and 135 Y.P.A.).

Introduction [ 1 ] The Director is requesting that the Court declare the security and development of the child X in danger on the grounds of psychological ill-treatment, educational neglect and behavior disturbance. [ 2 ] As protective measures, the Director recommends that the Tribunal to entrust the child to a rehabilitation center, to take judicial notice of the Director’s intention to clarify a long term plan during this period, excluding the return to his parents, to authorize, supervised contacts with his father according to the modalities set by the Director, with the possibility of lifting the supervision, to forbid all direct or indirect contacts between the child and his mother, to withdraw from her the exercise of the parental attributes of authority and entrust it to the father, the whole with other various measures including a social follow-up for a period of nine months. [ 3 ] At the hearing on March 13, 2023, the mother is absent and is not represented by a lawyer.

She received the application , but she is not involved in her son’s life. [ 4 ] The father is present and not represented. After a brief consultation on the day of the trial, the father agreed to proceed without representation. He stated that he knew his son needed rehabilitation, but disagreed with the exclusion of his return to his care. He also objected to the supervision of his contacts. [ 5 ] The child's lawyer reports that her young client has mixed feelings about whether he wants to remain in rehabilitation center. X agrees with the supervision of contact with his father but wants it to be lifted soon.

He wants greater contacts with his paternal grandmother. He also contests the exclusion of the return to his father’s care and wants a shorter order. Questions in litigation

[ 6 ] Should contact with the father be supervised? [ 7 ] Should the Court in the present order exclude any possibility of return to the father’s care? [ 8 ] What should be the length of the present order?

Context [ 9 ] The situation of the child is under the care of the Director of Youth Protection and known of this Court in the file number 460- 41-002453-220. [ 10 ] The last Court order rendered on May 13, 2022, entrusted X to a rehabilitation center, for a period of 9 months. [ 11 ] The Director of Youth Protection did not file a motion for revision prior to the expiration of the said Court order on February 13, 2023, which explains the current proceedings. [ 12 ] An immediate protective measure was applied on February 17, 2023, entrusting X to a rehabilitation center, to regularize the situation.

An extension of the said measures was obtained on February 20, 2023. [ 13 ] This is in fact a revision of the aforementioned order rendered on May 13, 2022.

Evolution of the situation [ 14 ] Since the last Court order, X remained entrusted to a rehabilitation center. [ 15 ] Indeed, it had not been possible to return him to his father’s care for the following reasons. [ 16 ] First, X continues to exhibit behavioral problems in the rehabilitation unit in that he has anger management issues, defies the rules, and is often put into withdrawal and/or physical contention due to threats or acting outs. [ 17 ] X has been diagnosed with ADHD, for which he takes a medication.

Although he needed an adjustment of it, his father did not give his authorization before November 2022. [ 18 ] As for the father, he did not mobilize quickly enough to participate in the social follow-up sufficiently to resume his contacts with X.

It was not until the late fall of 2022 that two satisfactory meetings were held and supervised visits were instituted. [ 19 ] In his defense, there was also a lack of social worker assigned to his case before the late fall of 2022. [ 20 ] medication has only recently been adjusted. [ 21 ] The father has no personal follow-up to address his personal difficulties, although it was recommended by this Court.

This being said, he does recognize that he has an issue regarding hi impulsiveness and violent behavior. [ 22 ] The father still lives with his spouse C but denies being in a conjugal relationship with her. [ 23 ] He continues to show problems with anger management and admits having new assault charges pending. [ 24 ] In January, the father was informed that the Director recommends excluding a reintegration of X with his him and that the contacts between them would be supervised once per month. [ 25 ] The father reacted with aggressiveness and disrespect to this announcement.

Since then, he has not returned the delegates calls. [ 26 ] X reacted to this announcement by displaying an increase in violent and aggressive behavior. [ 27 ] The father presents that he has his daughter Y with him every other weekend and everything is going well, so he does not see why X could not return to his care. The Director claims that the two children are different and have not lived through the same events. [ 28 ] X was very exposed to conjugal violence, as gone through rejection and he has special needs. [ 29 ] He visits his paternal great-aunt D monthly.

On these occasions he sees his sister Y and sometimes his paternal grandmother. [ 30 ] The latter testifies that she would like to X to come to her house every other weekend for an overnight visit. [ 31 ] There have been issues of physical abuse in the past by the grandfather who is now deceased. [ 32 ] She commits to not accepting the father’s presence if it is not allowed by the Director. [ 33 ] She also mentions that she was outraged by the fact that X showed marks of contention that were not acceptable or unacceptable. [ 34 ] The father testifies that, since January 2023, he is following a therapy with René Gagnon at Organism A.

He mentions that his therapist at Organism B had left and that the waiting list was too long, so he changed resources. [ 35 ] Although he addresses his problems, he does not inform the director informed because he does not like the new worker. [ 36 ] His conflict with him is partly because he feels the worker is not taking his complaints seriously about the marks of contention

that he also noticed on X. He says that Mister [Social Worker 1] always takes the Youth Center’s defense. [ 37 ] He makes threats about kidnapping his son if the supervision is not lifted, but later admits that he would not seriously do so. [ 38 ] As for his partner, Ms. C, he says that their story is complicated. He wants her to leave, but as she is a victim of conjugal violence, he cannot make her leave.

He admits that there are still violent incidents between them. [ 39 ] He affirms that he will respect the rules given to see his child or not if X goes to see his grandmother. [ 40 ] He mentions that he is currently under a probation order for another year.

DECISION [ 41 ] The Court finds that the motives of compromission are still present: psychological ill-treatment for being exposed to conjugal violence, educational neglect and behavioral disturbance. [ 42 ] In terms of measures, the Court must decide how long X should remain in a readaptation center, what should be the modalities of the contacts with his father, should a return to his care be excluded and the modalities of contacts with the grandmother. [ 43 ] All of these issues, as X’s life project, will dictate what his contacts with his father and his family will be like. [ 44 ] X is a young man who has seen too many things he shouldn’t have at his age which reflects on his behavior today. [ 45 ] X must be able to project himself into the future to be appeased. [ 46 ] But his father has been facing the same problems for a long time now and lives in a cycle where he gets better and then his impulsiveness gets the better of him. [ 47 ] In his case, it is not a matter of not recognizing his problems, but more of his incapacity to settle them. [ 48 ] The prognosis that he will be able to do so within the next four years is slim. [ 49 ] However, the father has some parental capacity and contacts with his son should not be always supervised.

For now, the contacts will be at the conditions set by the Director, which could include a partial supervision at the beginning and end of the contacts, allowing for outings for example. [ 50 ] As for frequency, it should be once every two weeks minimally to maintain their relationship. [ 51 ] Because of this, the Court orders that the contacts with the paternal grandmother be every other month. [ 52 ] A placement in a rehabilitation centre is not a life plan for a child.

So, the Director will have to study an alternative life plan for X that excludes his return to his father’s care. [ 53 ] An appropriate foster home must be found for X. That is why the Court will render an order of nine months with the possibility of integration in a foster home when the situation allows. [ 54 ] There was a question of wronged rights that the father would have liked to raise regarding the contention events.

The Court will reserve the father and the child’s recourse in that sense if they decide to do so. [ 55 ] The Director of Youth Protection has no information on the evolution of the mother’s situation and has no coordinates to reach her.

FOR ALL THESE MOTIVES THE COURT: GRANTS the present application; DECLARES that the security and development of the child X are in danger on the grounds of psychological ill-treatment, educational neglect and behavioral disturbance; ENTRUSTS the child to an institution operating a rehabilitation center chosen by the institution operating a child and youth protection center ; AUTHORIZES , the reintegration of the child into his foster home when the situation allows; TAKES JUDICIAL NOTICE of the Director’s intention to clarify a long-term plan for the child during this period, excluding the return of the child to his parents; TAKES JUDICIAL NOTICE that the father undertakes to not talk about DYP during his contacts; AUTHORIZES in the child’s favor, contacts with his father according to the frequency and modalities agree with the Director; if there is no agreement, the contacts will be once every two weeks at the youth center to begin with and eventually when the situation allows in another setting even the father’s home but at the exclusion of the father’s partner; AUTHORIZES in the child’s favor, contacts with his paternal great-aunt, Mrs D, after agreement and according to the modalities set with the Director of Youth Protection, excluding the father;

FORBIDS direct or indirect, contacts between the child and his mother; AUTHORIZES in the child’s favor, contacts with his paternal grandmother after agreement and according to the modalities set with the Director of Youth Protection, excluding the father; if there is no agreement, then they will be once every two weeks; RECOMMANDS that the father pursues his follow-up in connection with the management of his emotions, his impulsiveness and his marital dynamics; WITHDRAWS from the mother the exercise of the attributes of parental authority concerning school authorizations, passport application, travel and medical authorizations; ENTRUSTS to the father the exercise said attributes of parental authority withdrawn to the mother; ORDERS that the parents actively participate in the measures aimed at correcting the situation namely that they cooperate with the various service providers; ORDERS that the parents report periodically to the Director on the measures they apply to themselves or to their child to put an end to the situation which compromises the security or the development of the child; ORDERS that a person working for an institution or body provide aid, counselling or assistance to the child and his mother and father, if they expressly request it, for a period of nine (9) months; ENTRUSTS the situation of the child X to the Director of Youth Protection to see that the measures are carried out.

RESERVE the rights of the child and the father to invoke the child’s wronged rights; __________________________________ PASCALE BERARDINO, J.C.Q. M e Christine Loubier Counsel for the DYP M e Maryse Pinsonneault Counsel for the child Last Exhibits deposed: D-1 to D-5