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Abstract

Over the past twenty years, numerous community social pediatrics centres (CSPCs) have been established in Quebec. Because the needs of the children followed are so complex, collaboration with organizations in social services and public and community health networks is paramount. The purpose of this study is to document CSPCs’level of integration into these networks and the issues and challenges involved in such collaborations. Telephone surveys were conducted with 75 respondents from public and community networks and with representatives from CSPCs that have been open for at last one year. Two questionnaires were used to document the depth and quality of connections and an open question helped identify certain collaboration-related issues and challenges. CSPCs perceive a higher level of collaboration with the social services and public health network than with the community network. Similarly, CSPCs want to collaborate more with the public network than with the community network. With respect to the quality of collaborations, the climate is more positive and the level of joint coordination is higher between CSPCs and the public network. Although they are similar, the issues related to collaboration can be seen differently in terms of challenges, depending on the stakeholders' network. Results are discussed in light of challenges that characterize the collaborations between CSPCs and the networks, which include the recognition of their identity and the funding of the organizations.