Psychosocial Assessment for Tutorship or a Protection Mandate: How It Works

Why two assessments?

Since November 1, 2022, the Civil Code of Québec provides that a protection mandate takes effect only once incapacity is established by medical and psychosocial assessment reports and the court homologates it. For tutorship, the court considers the medical and psychosocial evidence, the person’s wishes and preferences and their degree of autonomy. We explained the difference between these two measures in our article Tutorship or protection mandate: what is the difference?

Who carries out the psychosocial assessment?

The psychosocial assessment of a person in these processes is an activity reserved by the Professional Code. The Curateur public’s official forms specify that it is reserved to social workers and to persons authorized under the Professional Code. The medical assessment is carried out by a physician. For a mandate homologation, the forms state that incapacity must be established by the physician before the psychosocial report is produced.

What the assessment looks at

The Curateur public publishes the forms used for these reports. The psychosocial assessment form covers, among other things:

• the circumstances of the request;
• the living environment and psychosocial situation;
• the financial situation;
• the person’s faculties and autonomy;
• the opinion of the person and of their loved ones;
• the opinion of the professional carrying out the assessment.

The Curateur public also states that mandatory training must be completed to use these forms.

The place of the person concerned

The person concerned is not just the subject of an assessment. According to the official forms, they must be informed of the conclusions and have the opportunity to respond. During the court process, they are also met by the judge, the special clerk or the notary, and have the opportunity to be heard.

Public network or private practice?

According to the Government of Québec, the assessment can be carried out in the public health and social services network or in private practice, for a fee. The whole process can take several months. For tutorship, the court also sets time limits for reassessment.

Which documents to prepare for the file?

For a mandate homologation, official sources mention the following documents, among others:

• the protection mandate, ideally the original;
• the medical and psychosocial assessment reports;
• a sworn statement from a witness to the signing of the mandate;
• a search certificate from the registers of wills and mandates;
• the person’s birth certificate.

The complete steps are described in our article Homologating a protection mandate: the steps.

Psychosocial assessment at Clinique Octobre

At Clinique Octobre, the psychosocial assessment for tutorship or the homologation of a protection mandate is carried out by a social worker, in Laval or online, in French and English. We support the family with respect for the person concerned, from the first contact to the report.

FAQ

Sources: Curateur public du Québec, Tools and forms · Government of Québec, Having a protection mandate homologated · LégisQuébec, Civil Code of Québec, art. 2166. This article is informational and does not replace legal advice.