Attention for youth improved with new money for child protective services

Sonia Roy

 

Previously known as the Fondation du centre jeunesse de Montréal, the Youth Foundation of the DPJ has been working in the community since 1998 by getting involved with young people and by providing services that complement those provided by the government. Children, teenagers and young adults up to the age of 25 can benefit from various services such as child protection, school assistance, family support, psychological support, assistance in the transition to adulthood and many others. In collaboration with government agencies and services, the DPJ Foundation assists thousands of youth each year, in addition to receiving referrals.

According to the latest statistics presented by the Foundation, 84% of the reports received are for youth living outside of Montreal. Since last November, the organization has broadened its mandate and now aims to help young people across the province through a new budget envelope, available to various organizations in Quebec. In fact, these funds will be directly injected into the youth assistance initiatives already in place in the various regions of the province. A call for proposals has been launched by the Foundation, which is looking for Quebec organizations outside of Montreal that are involved with youth and their well-being. Organizations whose mandate revolves around the transition to adulthood (we are talking about youth between the ages of 16 and 25) are invited to submit their applications for financial support by May 8, 2022. Decisions regarding the selection of organizations that will benefit from this funding envelope should be made in early June 2022.

Please note that organizations wishing to submit their application must help youth under the care of the Youth Protection Act (Loi sur la protection de la jeunesse) or the Youth Criminal Justice Act (Loi sur le système de justice pénale pour adolescents). The eligibility criteria and the application form are available on the Foundation's website.

Several people have spoken out about this initiative. Anaïs Favron, host, actress and official spokesperson for the Youth Foundation of the DPJ, believes that it is a collective duty to get involved in youth protection and mentioned that "when we have the ability to help, we have the duty to do so!”. The Foundation's Executive Director Fabienne Audette stated, "This is an innovative philanthropic model! We will continue to significantly support youth in Montreal and we will also support the initiatives of organizations already established in other regions to increase the impact with youth in the DPJ."

The Director of the Outaouais DPJ, Collette Nadeau, and the Centre intégré de santé et des services sociaux en Outaouais (CISSSO) told the Bulletin through their media relations team that they are very pleased with the implementation of the Foundation's project. "Ms Nadeau proudly underlines this excellent news." The management of the Outaouais YPD is currently considering a project proposal to be submitted.