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Policy Program

PROGRAMS

Policy Program

The cultural adaptation of programs and services is one of the cornerstones of our mandate and is at the heart of our vision. One of our objectives is to increase access to support and prevention services that have been adapted both linguistically and culturally to better suit the needs of the English-speaking Black community in Montréal.

Evidence-based practice demonstrates that working in partnership with community-based agencies from the target community helps reach intended audiences and identify culturally competent strategies.

We believe that community-institutional partnerships are the way that public institutions can improve their service offer by respecting diversity and offering cultural comfort.

In addition, language in the legislation of both the Quebec Health and Social Service Act and the policy document for the “Jeunes en Difficulté” provide a basis for the adaptation of services for ethnocultural communities. It is clear in the law and we are here to support them in achieving it.

Alliance for Community Adaptation

The Alliance for Community Adaptation (ACA) pilot project began in 2018 and is the current demonstration pilot project for community institutional partnerships and culturally adapted programming. We work very closely with CIUSSS ODIM (Batshaw installation) using a co-intervention approach to support English-speaking Black families who have been signaled to youth protection.

We offer our support and our cultural expertise to workers as they intervene with families with whom they may have a hard time connecting.

In an effort to reduce the length of youth protection involvement and to redirect families to community resources when possible, the families are transferred to ACDPN and we make referrals to support services and programs that are offered within the community.

In addition to diverting families out of the system and accelerating the closing of cases, there are many other benefits of this enhanced partnership. As families are able to access culturally appropriate interventions which has shown to improve outcomes, we are also able to work together to offer better continuity of service and improved follow ups which are all beneficial to families and children.

Our hope is to make this innovative approach the model of how public institutions should implement policies that incorporate diversity and culture to better meet the needs of the different communities that they serve.