The research program of the Chair is a continuation of research activities currently conducted by the holder in close collaboration with other researchers from other Quebec and foreign universities regarding the transition of young people to adulthood (youths placed in foster care and Aboriginal youths) and the evaluation of public policies. The work included in the programming of the Chair will help consolidate and expand an already extensive expertise in evaluation.
In addition, the research strategy adopted by the chair holder turns out to be both original and innovative in that it reverses the momentum behind the implementation of public actions. This strategy type of ‘bottom-up’ arises directly by individuals implicated in public actions and aims, in collaboration with managers, politicians and professionals that are mandated to renew social practices, to develop and validate tools and mechanisms for the potentially improvement of public actions. The research Chair’s activities will provide testimony on a particularly weakened group affected by the organizational changes of government, namely the young.
The general framework for evaluating public policy for young people is rooted in a comprehensive look of the recent transformations of the state and its work. An original strategy can then be transferable to other types of people placed in vulnerable situations in the general population. In the background of this research perspective is the resolutely innovative profile that will therefore contribute to a better orientation of the interventions and mechanisms to support vulnerable people.