History

In 1991, An Act respecting health services and social services identified a certain number of rights specific to users of the health and social services network. The Act established various measures to promote and protect the rights and interests of the users of the network with the ultimate goal of improving the quality of the services. One of these measures was to designate and mandate a community organization within each region of Quebec to assist and accompany users who wish to file a complaint.

Hence, on December 16, 1993, Services conseils aux usagers des services santé et sociaux de l’Outaouais (SCUSSSO) was created and received it’s letters patent from the Inspector General of Financial Institutions under the authority of Part III of the Companies Act (R.S.Q., c. C-38, a. 218). It opened its doors on February 1, 1994.

On February 11, 1999, SCUSSSO became Centre d’assistance et d’accompagnement aux plaintes-Outaouais (CAAP-Outaouais) – (Companies Act – R.S.Q., chap. C-38, art. 21). The purpose was to harmonize the designations throughout Quebec. This standardization eventually led to the creation of the Regroupement provincial des organismes communautaires d’assistance et d’accompagnement (RPOCAA) which we joined. On August 13, 2007, RPOCAA became the Fédération des centres d’assistance et d’accompagnement aux plaintes (FCAAP).

November 2003, all the Centres d’assistance et d’accompagnement aux plaintes (CAAPs) adopted a common toll-free telephone number (1-877-767-2227) which connected users to a regional point of service anywhere in the province of Quebec.

Pooled resources also led to the development of a commonly shared software known as « Cupidon » which was used during many years by each CAAP to gather statistics. Afterwards, a newer version known as Mantor was adopted.

In 2006, important modifications to An Act respecting health services and social services broadened our mandate.

The annual subsidy provided by the Community Organization Support Program (COSP) remained the sole source of financing. Since the fiscal year 2007-2008, all the CAAPs obtain their financing directly from the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux.