How to access Marie-Vincent’s services

Marie‑Vincent is not an emergency service. Children and adolescents, as well as their parents or caregiver, must be referred by a professional in order to receive services at Marie‑Vincent.

As a result, it is not possible to book an appointment directly as a parent, family member, or adolescent, unless services were previously received at Marie‑Vincent.

Before proceeding, the referring professional must:

Verify that the situation meets Marie-Vincent’s referral criteria.
Contact reception to schedule a phone appointment with an access-to-services agent (approximately 45 minutes).
Provide the information required to open the file.

Who Can Make a Referral?

All referrals must come from a professional external to Marie‑Vincent, including:

An intervention worker from Youth Protection Services (DYP), a CISSS or CIUSSS;
a school‑based intervention worker;
An intervention worker from a community or private organization;
a medical professionnal (physician, nurse, nurse practitioner, etc.);
a police officer who conducted a forensic interview for a child or adolescent victim or who participated in a multisectoral agreement.

How to Submit a Service Request

Good to know: Law 25 modernizes the protection of personal information. It imposes obligations on all organizations, whether public, private, community-based, or health-related, regarding transparency, rigour, and caution in the collection, use, storage, and communication of personal information. Law 25 sets out strict requirements regarding consent, which must be freely given, informed, and obtained for each purpose of data collection.

In order to comply with the requirements of Law 25, the referring professional must:

Verify that the situation meets Marie-Vincent’s referral criteria using the “How to Refer a Youth” brochure.
Explain Marie-Vincent’s service offerings to the holders of parental authority and/or the youth being referred, using the “practical guide for referral to Marie-Vincent”.
Have the holders of parental authority, or the youth aged 14 and over, sign the referral commitment and consent form. This form is required to open a file for the child or youth at Marie-Vincent and to collect relevant information.

Good to know: If the referral commitment and consent form is signed by only one holder of parental authority due to a loss of parental rights: also provide proof of the removal of parental attributes, or, where applicable, a certificate issued by a public officer authorizing a single parent to consent to services in a context of sexual or family violence.

Send the referral commitment and consent form to the following email address for a request at the Montréal service point: reception@marie-vincent.org. For a referral to the Montérégie service point, send the form to: reception.monteregie@marie-vincent.org.
Contact the reception by phone to schedule a services intake phonecall with a service access agent to complete the file (approximately 45 minutes).
Provide all required information for file creation during the services intake phonecall, by referring to the document “How to Refer a Youth.”

You wish to refer a child aged 13 or under: find referral support documentation here

You wish to refer an adolescent aged 14 or over: find referral support documentation here

Contact Marie-Vincent’s reception

What information is required at the time of referral?

The following items are not required to accept the referral, but will need to be provided later in order to confirm the child’s or adolescent’s registration on the waiting list:

any relevant reports (DPJ assessment, medical reports, etc.)
the court order, if it recommends follow-up at Marie-Vincent
the IVAC (Indemnisation des victimes d’actes criminels / Crime Victims Compensation) authorization number for psychological or psychosocial services, as well as the date of the event recognized by the IVAC, for children and adolescents who are victims of sexual violence

What information should be provided to the service access agent during the services intake phonecall?

Full contact information for the child or youth and their parents
Interventions already attempted (particularly for children under 12 with problematic sexual behaviours)
General functioning of the youth (symptoms, risk behaviours, history of aggression or violence)
Family context
Professionals involved (names, contact information, roles, and past or current follow-ups)
context of the sexual violence or of the problematic sexual behaviors (PSB), including the disclosure;
information related to the sociojudicial process (police investigation, medical examination, judicial steps, if applicable);
information regarding the IVAC application, including the person responsible, the file number, and the event date, if available.

Who Can Receive Marie‑Vincent’s Clinical Services

Marie‑Vincent offers specialized services to various populations affected, directly or indirectly, by sexual violence. These services are available to:

For a child under 14 to receive services, certain criteria must be met:

A report to the DPJ must have been made, and the sexual violence report must have been recognized as founded by the DPJ or by police services.
Parents or holders of parental authority, even if one of them is the perpetrator, must consent to the process.
Parents or a significant adult must be involved and available to accompany the child, generally once a week.
An IVAC (Crime Victims Compensation) application must be completed before services begin.

See the page “Children With Sexual Behaviour Problems”

A brief assessment of the behaviours is first conducted to confirm that they are problematic and that optimal interventions have already been attempted.

Referral criteria include:

the child’s age at the time of referral (10 years and 364 days maximum; services may nevertheless continue up to age 12)
consent from the holders of parental authority to receive services
the involvement of an accompanying adult (parent or loved one) ready to actively participate in the process
persistence of sexual behaviour problems despite previous interventions

See the page “Children With Sexual Behaviour Problems”

Adolescents may be referred to Marie-Vincent if:

a report to the DPJ has been filed (recognition of the situation as “founded” is not mandatory)
the adolescent consents to receiving services and commits to the process
they are involved and available to attend meetings, usually once a week
an IVAC application is completed before services begin

See the page “Teens Who Have Experienced Sexual Violence”

Young people in Montréal aged 12 to 24 who are being sexually exploited may receive services through the Sphères program.

This concerted program offers voluntary and confidential support tailored to the needs and pace of the young person. It aims to promote safety, harm reduction and personal recovery in collaboration with multiple community, police and institutional partners.

Discover the Sphères program See the page “Adolescent victims of sexual exploitation”

Parents and/or significant adults play a central role in the recovery of the child or adolescent.

Marie-Vincent offers them psychosocial support, parental guidance and concrete tools to better understand the situation, manage their emotions, and support their child throughout the process.

To receive immediate intervention services, the child or adolescent must be on the waiting list.

Parental support services and guidance are available when the child or adolescent is already receiving clinical services at Marie-Vincent, or, in some cases, as prevention or in response to a disclosure.

See the page “Services for families and parents”

Professionals from the school, community, medical, police or social services sectors may receive occasional clinical support to better intervene with youth.

Two types of services are offered:

Advisory services: information and guidance on best intervention practices
Professional consultation: clinical discussions with a psychotherapist to further explore a complex situation

See the page “Services for professionals”