Five-year-old Dydy has several special needs. He is now looking forward to a family that is ready to take care of him and give him all the love he deserves.
No, Dydy is not a dog or a cat, but a little boy who has been entrusted to child protection. In a “small ad” posted last week on the CISSS Chaudières-Appalaches Facebook page, Dydy describes himself as a “smiling and laughing” child looking for parents without children.
This post, which was shared more than 8,000 times, sparked several reactions. Sometimes indignation, sometimes hope of finally having a child to love. At the end of the publication is the number of the director of the youth center, Josée Pelletier.
“We have received around 80 calls from families interested in taking in the child. Whether we like it or not, our goal was to find an environment for this child, an environment that meets his needs, which I could not find in our database,” explained Ms. Pelletier in an interview with QUB Radio.
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These personalized portraits, often used to find families for young people, allow us to discover the “human” and emotional side of potential host parents.
Ethical issues
The publication sparked strong reactions on social media and in the child protection community.
“I understand that these releases are more attractive, but what concerns me is that people call about this child and we tell them that he is no longer available. In the end we will tell them no and redirect them elsewhere,” emphasized Geneviève Rioux, president of the Federation of Host Families and Intermediate Resources of Quebec (FFARIQ).
She fears that parents will view this publication as “wrong” and become discouraged.
“Starting a relationship based on a lie is never ideal,” she added.
Personalized advertising
Youth center youth who learned of the publication are now hoping to write their own personalized portrait to attract a family. A practice that worries the president of FFARIQ.
“It's about making a promise to the children, which unfortunately has already received many promises that have never been kept,” she said.
The head of the Chaudière-Appalaches youth center, Josée Pelletier, disagrees. She emphasizes that the children are accompanied and psychologically cared for at all times.
“This doesn't happen overnight, but it is a way for them to identify their needs and even if we don't find anything, we will continue our research until we find it,” Ms Pelletier said.
A “shock” awareness campaign
In order to raise awareness among parents without creating too weak a glimmer of hope in the child, Geneviève Rioux suggests that the CISSS de Chaudière-Appalaches transform these publications into an awareness campaign.
Each post would represent a group of children, girls or boys, toddlers or teenagers and not an individual child.
By speaking with the “I” we attract the attention of potential host families who can identify with a certain type of child without necessarily expecting to have a specific child.
“Of course, it should be made clear that these are fictional and not real cases,” Ms. Rioux added.
The CISSS de Chaudière-Appalaches says it is open to this possibility, adding that it is constantly looking for new ways to reach families in the face of severe shortages.