Deployment of the Montreal Alliance framework program on neglect: Evaluation of four territorial experiences
Ten years ago, the ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux [Ministry of Health and Social Services] specified, in its orientations, that each region of Québec should be covered by an intervention program targeting parents who are neglectful or at-risk of being neglectful, as well as their children, through collaborations between partners from public institutions (CSSS and youth centres) and community organizations networks. This article presents an analysis of the first phase of deployment of the framework program on neglect, called “Alliance,” which was implemented in the Montréal region. More specifically, it aims to present the experience of implementing Alliance in four territories contrasted in terms of geography ethnocultural diversity, and their previous history of partnerships in family services offerings. Analyses were conducted by territory on data from three sources: a group interview, a post-mortem of the implementation activities, and a local actualization plan. An intra- and inter-case analysis based on a data triangulation strategy was used to define the dynamics at play in each of the territories under study. Two sensitive issues at the core of the territorial experiences of implementing Alliance were thus explained: the appropriation of the framework program by the actors and their mobilization with the view of its implementation. A comparison of the territorial narratives also made it possible to grade the territories in terms of these two issues and to propose recommendations for optimizing the deployment of Alliance.