FFARIQ reacts to the CDPDJ report in Mauricie-Centre-du-Québec: putting children's interests first

On April 24, the CDPDJ published its report on the Direction de la protection de la jeunesse (DPJ) de la Mauricie-Centre-du-Québec's handling of mixed bank files. The report was devastating, stating that there was an organizational culture that ran counter to the Youth Protection Act in the case of mixed-bank adoptions. It was alleged that children were placed in mixed bank adoptions too quickly. We wrote about this in an article that you can read here: https://ffariq.org/en/news/dpj-mauricie-placed-und...

Mixed-bank families worried

Ms. Gagnon told us in an interview that many mixed-bank foster families are worried. They're afraid of having their children taken away from them. “When you're a mixed banker, you want a child for life,” reminded Ms. Gagnon.

The child's best interests must come first

This report confirms what FFARIQ has been denouncing for a long time: the culture of the DPJ needs to be radically changed throughout Quebec. However, our president reiterates that the child's best interests must be the most important consideration when deciding whether or not to return a child to his or her biological family.

"I understand that biological parents have been wronged, but we must always look at the child's best interests. You know, this child has been forged in a foster family and will pay the price. For me, that's where the tragedy lies too. These little children didn't ask for procedures to be done improperly," said Ms. Gagnon.

For her part, Sonia Mailloux, Acting Director of Youth Protection for the Mauricie and Centre-du-Québec region, believes that the placement decisions made during this period were probably the right ones.

FFARIQ will continue to monitor this issue closely and listen to foster families as the repercussions of this report are felt.

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