The appearance of youth protection workers, accompanied by police, at a chassidic educational institution on June 1 was not connected to any investigation by the Quebec education ministry, the director of youth protection at Batshaw Youth and Family Centres says.
In an exclusive interview with The CJN on the issue, Assunta Gallo said the assumption made in many media reports that Batshaw intervened because the institution is an “illegal” school is inaccurate.
The intervention involved several police cruisers coming on the scene with a team of social workers at a commercial building on Park Avenue, near Beaubien Street, where the Vizhnitz Talmud Torah, opened a year ago. It has been decried by the chassidic community as unnecessary and an excessive use of force.
Gallo stressed that she could only speak in the most general terms about what happened that day due to confidentiality requirements, but reiterated that the Youth Protection Department (YPD) only calls in police as a last resort.
She confirmed that the YPD was not there on behalf of the education ministry, which had told media that no permit exists for the operation of a school at that address, but little more.
“Determining whether a school is operating legally is not my domain at all,” Gallo said. “It’s not my role to see if a school is abiding by the Education Act.”
READ: CHASSIDIM OBJECT TO ‘OVERKILL’ IN SCHOOL RAID
Her role is the application of the Youth Protection Act. YPDs are obligated to look into any “signalement,” or report, that the “security” or “development” of a child is in question, she said. That can include physical, sexual and psychological abuse, as well as neglect, including of the child’s education.
“All children in Quebec have the same rights to live in a safe, secure environment and to develop,” she said.
A report can be made equally by an institution or a professional or any individual. While the party making the report must give their name and co-ordinates, their identity is never disclosed by law, Gallo said.
“We assess if there is a risk [to the child] and, if needed, see the child to make an evaluation,” she said.
“We take all means necessary to obtain the collaboration [of the family, school, or others responsible for the child.]”
If that fails, the YPD, in rare instances, seeks a judge’s approval to intervene and requests a police presence, if access may be blocked.
“All 16 YPDs in the province try to use the least intrusive means,” Gallo said. “It’s very exceptional circumstances in which we ask police to accompany us. It’s only when every other avenue has been exhausted.”
Since the implementation of Bill 10 last year, Batshaw is part of the new CIUSSS de l’Ouest-de-l’Ile de Montréal. As it has since its founding in 1992, Batshaw provides services to children and their families on the Island of Montreal who wish to receive them in English, as well as fulfils a specific mandate to the entire Jewish community whether in English or French. The agency took over some of the previous responsibilities previously of Jewish Family Services, including youth protection.
Hersh Ber Hirsch, a member of the Vizhnitz Talmud Torah board of directors, has said that the institution does not require a permit from the government because it is a place of religious instruction, and not a regular school that must teach the mandatory curriculum. About 60 boys, apparently under age 18, were at the school at the time of the intervention – a weekday morning.
On June 7, Hamodia, which describes itself as “the daily newspaper of Torah Jewry,” based in Brooklyn, carried a lengthy article on the matter.
The author, Chaya Eigner, wrote that the administration of the Talmud Torah was first contacted by the YPD in April because of concerns about the children’s development and wanted the administration to act as an intermediary with the parents.
“Subsequently, the administration met with the [YPD] in lawyers’ offices and shared concerns voiced by parents with regards to the testing [of the children], asking for certain conditions to be met.”
The Talmud Torah understood the meeting to have ended in a spirit of co-operation, and were shocked when “as many as 15 police vehicles surrounded” the school on June 1 and instituted a “lockdown.”
The administration categorically refused to have testing under these circumstances, which they described as “traumatizing” to the students. The administration called in its lawyers, and it was agreed with the YPD that its workers would return at a later, pre-arranged date to see the students, the article relates.
The Vizhnitz leaders do recognize that parents have the responsibility to see that their children receive the education required by law, and are exploring the possibility of homeschooling, as the Satmar community has begun under the supervision of the English Montreal School Board.
Gallo said that Batshaw’s interactions with the schools and its parents continues and “is advancing in a better way.”
