Measures to help ex-DPJ youth insufficient, report says

Our data shows that young people experience significant difficulties when they leave youth protectionsummarizes Martin Goyette, professor at ENAP and one of the authors of the report.

With his team, he took an interest in the life trajectory of just over 300 young people who have benefited from the Youth Qualification Program (PQJ).

Martin Goyette, professor at ENAP and co-author of the Report on young participants in the Youth Qualification Program

Photo: Radio Canada

This program is intended for teenagers from the DYP who ask for support in order to prepare them for their 18th birthday, when they will no longer have the services of the system. Only a limited number of young people have access to it at present.

By comparing their progress with that of other young people from the DPJ who did not benefit from the program, the researchers observed significant differences.

They found that almost 15% of young people who benefited from the Youth Qualification Program were neither working nor studying. Surprisingly, this is a rate twice as high as among young people who did not receive the support offered by the program.

The authors of the report also noted that young people who benefited from the PQJ were more at risk of experiencing an episode of homelessness when they left the youth protection system than those who did not take part in the program.

Results that can be explained

How can young people who have benefited from support do less well than those who have not had access to it? The explanation is simple: the PQJ is aimed primarily at young people who are experiencing the greatest difficulties.

For example, program participants are more likely to report having mental health problems than other DYP children in general.

” If we take the young people who have the darkest prospects […] it should come as no surprise that, on the other side of the fence, when they exit from placement, they have less favorable indicators. »

In a way, the Youth Qualification Program therefore achieves its objective, since it makes it possible to offer support to young people who are most at risk. The PQJ is an absolutely essential interventioninsists Martin Goyette.

However, it notes the urgency of finding other solutions, because the PQJ, on its own, cannot meet all the needs in terms of housing, schooling or employment for these young people who are already struggling.

The PQJ fails to provide a home for all the young people leaving the PQJ. To believe that the PQJ can do that is a bad thing, because it is not possible, given the means it has, to achieve this objective.says Mr. Goyette.

Create new programs

Recently, the Minister for Health and Social Services, Lionel Carmant, promised to offer a better transition to adulthood for young people in the DPJ.

Mr. Carmant wants to make the Youth Qualification Program accessible to as many young people as possible and improve it by adding services. However, this is not the right solution, according to Professor Goyette.

Based on the recommendations of the Laurent commission, Professor Goyette believes that Quebec must create new programs to help young people find housing, schooling and finding work when they leave the DYP.

” We really need to develop, as in other jurisdictions, major programs called extended post-placement support programs. »

Each year, around 2,000 young people leave the DYP system because they have reached the age of majority.