Blog

Last year, Ellie — a cockapoo puppy — became our family dog as a birthday gift to our young son. She became his best companion and filled our home with joy and laughter. Ellie started to accompany me to the office, and in no time the office atmosphere became warmer and more affectionate. Ellie became the star attraction for my child clients, whom I represented in the family courts. Having a puppy around during interviews was the most effective ice breaker, as the children relaxed quickly around a furry friend. It made me curious about the new trend and effects of having trained dogs around children who are engaged in the justice system.

We have come a long way in understanding the profound effects of violence against children.  Children who witness violence or are victims of abuse are at risk for long-term physical and mental health challenges. The Canadian legislature took seriously the  various harmful effects of involving children in the legal process and  passed the Testimonial Support Provisions for Children and Vulnerable Adults Act (Bill C-2) requiring that a child “shall” be permitted to testify via closed circuit television or from behind a screen.  The Parliamentary debates leading to the enactment of Bill C-2 suggest that the accommodation of closed-circuit television is intended “to make it easier for child and youth witnesses to testify.” In the 1980’s in Ontario, this technology brought a wave of change by creating distance between the witness and the child victim via close-circuit television (CCTV) and privacy screens. Since 2014, children, youth, and vulnerable adult witnesses in criminal courtrooms now have the additional support of the courthouse facility dogs. From the use of technology to the companionship of animals, we have witnessed a profound shift in the judicial system, driven by various innovative child-focused justice system partners.

Since 2014 there has been a steady increase in the use of support animals by young and vulnerable witnesses in courtrooms across the country. Presently there is no specific provision in the Criminal Code for seeking testimonial aid, but the applications for a court facility dog to support a witness are made under s. 486 and s. 13 of the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights. Progress has been similar in the United States. In 2015, Arkansas became the first state to pass legislation allowing child witnesses to be accompanied by a certified facility dog while testifying, and half a dozen other states followed suit soon after.

In 2014, Hawk from the Calgary Police Victim Services Unit became the first dog to officially support a young witness while testifying. One year later, in a decision of the B.C. Provincial Court, R. v. J. L. K., (2015) B.C.J. No. 1055, Judge Oulton allowed an application to have Caber, an accredited assistance dog, to become the Province’s first in-court therapy dog.  Judge Oulton noted in his decision that, “it is unusual that a dog come and be a support person to this young complainant,” but allowed the application as “the spirit and intent of the testimonial accommodation legislation was meant to ensure that witnesses who could be perceived as more vulnerable, were provided with support so that they could give full and candid accounts of what they were being asked to testify about in court.” As a result, Caber the therapy dog supported a nine-year-old complainant by sitting at her feet while she testified.

In Ontario, Brampton court invoked s. 13 of the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights, which states that “every victim has the right to request testimonial aids when appearing as a witness in proceedings relating to the offence”  in the case of R. V. C.W [2016] O.J. No. 5647. The court allowed Gordon, a Golden Retriever and support dog from the organization “Therapeutic Paws of Canada,” to sit as a “testimonial aid” beside a young victim of human trafficking as she gave a highly emotional statement to the court.

Rachel Braden, Child Witness Project Coordinator at the London Family Court Clinic (“LFCC”), discussed the use of support animals in an interview for this article.  She noted that there are currently 45 courthouse facility dogs working across Canada, and 11 of these dogs work in Ontario courts, including at London Courthouse Facility Dogs Project. Braden explains that a courthouse facility dog is a professionally trained assistance dog, suitable for providing quiet companionship to vulnerable individuals in legal settings without causing any disruption of the proceedings. Braden noted the distinct terminology of “facility dog” used by the London Courthouse Facility Dogs project, rather than other widely used interchangeable terms such as service dog or court support dog, etc., as these and other terms could suggest that the witness is suffering from a condition caused by the accused.

The London Courthouse Facility Dog Project uses professionally trained and accredited dogs to ensure that the dogs are not obstructive in the courtroom and are able to remain still and calm for long hours. The dogs should not react when a witness becomes emotionally distressed. Child witnesses meet the courthouse facility dog at least once before the court date, and the facility dogs typically sit at the feet of the witness during testimony. Their handlers are professionals in the justice system, who receive special training for this role and are skilled in working with vulnerable victims. They are also familiar with the legal system and courtroom behavioural norms. This differs from other examples of support animals in which dogs  are required to be on leash while at work, and require the presence of their “civilian” handler who may be excluded from the courtroom.

Merel was the first facility dog to be placed in a courthouse setting in Ontario, and she  was trained for London Family Court Clinic by National Service Dog (NSD), a not-for-profit organization in Cambridge, Ontario. Merel is a black Labrador/Bernese cross and she likes to sit on the feet of the child witnesses, laying her head on their lap. Since 2016, Merel has been supporting children who have testified about  sexual abuse, human trafficking, or other crimes. Merel’s calm presence and helping paw have a positive impact on child witnesses, as clearly expressed by one 12 year old victim:  “Without Merel, I would have never been able to talk about what happened to me”.

Via LFCC, Merel and Rachel have supported over 200 child witnesses and victims who have made statements, testified, or delivered victim-impact statements. Merel’s services are made available to all of those under 18 in the London region who have witnessed or been victims of a crime.  Merel now has a friend to work alongside as Yzer  has recently joined the team.

The calming effects of trained dogs on human health and well-being—both physically and psychologically—are largely supported by scientific studies. For example, see: Wells, D. L. (2009), “The effects of animals on human health and well-being”.  Journal of Social Issues, 65, 523-543.). As such, the number of courthouse facility dogs across Canada is quickly growing.  Many organizations are waiting for dogs to complete their training and become part of the support team. Courthouse facility dogs have helped numerous children deal with the fear of testifying in court and have enhanced their ability to tell their story to the court. These dogs are indeed an innovative way of allowing children to use their voices.

Archana Medhekar, Certified Family Law Specialist and Family Mediator practicing in Toronto, Ontario. Archana was a member of PPC and is a current AFCC-O Board Member and Newsletter Committee member.

On 22 May, 2018, the Liberal government introduced Bill C-78 to Parliament. This Bill will, if enacted, amend the parenting provisions of the Divorce Act, the first significant change to this part of the legislation since it came into effect in 1986.

There have already been similar statutory changes to the parenting laws in a few provinces, as well as appeal court decisions in Ontario that have encouraged moves towards the use of “parenting plans” and have abandoned the archaic and proprietary terms “custody” and “access.” While Bill C-78 should have only limited impact on those family justice professionals who have already adopted child-focused collaborative approaches to family dispute resolution, it is hoped that the amendments will have a significant impact on the courts and on practitioners who have a more adversarial approach to family law, as well as on self-represented litigants who may look to the Divorce Act for guidance.  It is already important for lawyers, mediators, and judges to be aware of these proposed amendments, as there may be retrospective effects from these amendments: most notably, the proposed legislation will give more weight than the present law to clauses that restrict relocation with a child.

Bill C-78 will affect the making of Orders and Agreements concerning children and parenting, and it includes provisions that will:

• abandon the “custody” and “access” terminology now in the Divorce Act, introducing the more child-focussed concepts of “parenting time” and “parental responsibilities,” that are to be incorporated into “parenting plans”;
• encourage parents and professionals to settle disagreements outside of the court process using mediation or other collaborative processes, though parents will not be required by Bill C-78 to use such alternatives to the courts;
• encourage recognition of the importance of one parent supporting their child’s relationship with the other parent;
• specifically address issues of family violence, requiring courts to consider the effects of spousal abuse on both the immediate victim(s) and the children, and requiring judges in divorce proceedings to make inquiries about whether there are other concurrent proceedings;
• provide that the views and preferences of children should be considered by decision-makers: children must have a voice, but not necessarily a choice; and
• change the law governing cases where one parent wishes to relocate with a child.

Many of the changes proposed by the Bill related to post-divorce parenting are similar to reforms already introduced in Alberta, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia, for post-separation parenting.  In theory, at present in those provinces, the terminology and concepts of the current federal Divorce Act are applied to married partners who are divorcing, while parents who never married are governed by the provincial statute.  In fact, practice and terminology for both married and unmarried partners who are separating in those provinces were significantly affected by the reforms to provincial law.

Similarly, it is to be expected that if the federal Divorce Act is amended, this will likely affect practice regarding unmarried parents in Ontario, who in theory are regulated by the provincial Children’s Law Reform Act which has not yet been amended. For the sake of clarity, it is to be hoped that the Ontario government will enact similar reforms to Bill C-78.  It will also be important for Ontario to undertake procedural and programmatic reforms to help further the emphasis on non-court family dispute resolution that is emphasized by Divorce Act reforms.

The Justice and Human Rights Committee of the House of Commons heard from witnesses and received briefs in November. A number of advocates for “equal shared parenting,” such as the Canadian Equal Parenting Council, appeared before the Committee to propose enactment of a statutory presumption that “equal parenting time” is in the best interests of children. Although these advocates asserted that the enactment of such a presumption is supported by social science research and has been introduced in a number of jurisdictions, in fact only Kentucky has enacted a presumption of equal parenting time. Further, there is a significant body of social science research, including articles in the October 2017 issue of the Family Court Review, that raise serious concerns about a legal presumption of equal parenting time.

Advocates for abused women, such as the National Association of Women and the Law, made submissions to the Committee expressing concerns that the new law’s encouragement to reach out-of-court resolutions could force victims of family violence into accepting unfair settlements or dangerous situations, and proposed amendments to ensure the safety of women and children.

Visit AFCC-O’s Recent Initiatives webpage to view their letter sent to the Minister of Justice regarding the proposed changes included in Bill C-78, and Professor Nicholas Bala’s (AFCC-O Board member) presentation made before the Committee on November 28, its last day of public hearings. While Bill C-78 is clearly a progressive measure, there are concerns that governments will not provide sufficient resources to allow for proper implementation and for the kind of “cultural changes” intended by the new law.

There are other provisions in Bill C-78 that will affect family justice. For example: dealing with such issues as preserving the priority of spousal property claims in bankruptcy, improving access to financial information and tax returns to help establish and enforce support obligations, and facilitating international enforcement of parenting rights and child support obligations.

The Bill must complete the House of Commons Committee, receive 3^rd reading, and then go to the Senate. There is never certainty with the legislative reform process, and there may be some relatively minor amendments as a result of the hearings, but the government seems to support the individualized approach to determination of a child’s best interests, rather than support a presumption of equal time, an approach supported by the briefs submitted by the AFCC-O and others.  It seems likely that the Bill will complete the legislative process in the Spring, and come into force before the Fall. The delay between Royal Assent and the amended Act coming into force will allow time for governments and professionals to prepare for implementation of the new law.  The AFCC-O will be undertaking various projects to provide education for professionals and parents about the new law.

Authored by: Nicholas Bala is a Professor of Law at Queen’s University, and an AFCC-O Board member.  bala@queensu.ca

This article was written for and published in the AFCC-O Special Edition Fall 2018 Newsletter.

Click here to download a copy of this article

In April of this year, Debra Rodrigues, Dr. Dan Ashbourne, and Dr. Kim Harris presented a comprehensive three-day training entitled “Meeting and Interviewing Children for ADR”.   The three trainers have extensive experience working with children and families involved with the family and child protection legal systems.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Canada is a signatory, underscores that hearing from children is not just something that is respectful of children or that enhances decision-making; children have a right to be given an opportunity to express their views in all matters affecting them, and to have those views given due weight in accordance with their age and maturity. Ontario’s new Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017, which came into force on April 30, 2018, entrenches this right in child protection matters, requiring that all decisions that are made “in a child’s best interest” include consideration of “the child’s views and wishes, given due weight in accordance with the child’s age and maturity, unless they cannot be ascertained”.  Finally, there is a growing awareness among family law professionals that children’s participation in family law decision-making needs to be better enabled and supported.

From our perspective, a key barrier to children’s involvement in family law and child protection processes has been a lack of training for professionals on how best to include children. To this end, Debra Rodrigues initiated and prepared training that not only teaches interview skills but provides a thorough framework from which to complete the process of obtaining the Voice of the Child for ADR processes. She developed a 12-step Voice of the Child Report (VCR) process to teach professionals how to bring children’s voices into ADR processes, including mediation, collaborative law, parenting coordination, Family Group Conferences, etc. Indeed, the participants in our training reflected this broad range of professional experience and, as a result, we had enriched discussions regarding the many challenging topics associated with this work.

Dr. Rachel Birnbaum was our guest speaker on the first day and she provided an academic perspective on the issue by sharing her Ontario-based research on the Voice of the Child.  On the third day, Carolyn Leach joined the training team, offering insights and practical interviewing techniques from the perspective of child’s counsel.

Our belief is that family law professionals working directly with children must have a solid understanding of children’s development, how children are impacted by separation and divorce, and the steps we can teach to parents to support their children through this difficult transition. We discussed other ways that children can be supported when their parents’ capacity to attend to the needs of their children is diminished by the issues of separation and divorce.  As such, the first segments of our workshop focused on these topics, and Dr. Dan Ashbourne and Dr. Kim Harris provided information about children’s development across the social, emotional, cognitive, and language areas. They discussed how these developmental changes must be evaluated in order to develop good interview techniques for children (including young children) as well as how to adjust them for children with special needs.

We then moved to the actual process of meeting and interviewing children, beginning with a discussion of both the benefits and the risks of including children in the process.  This discussion informed two critical aspects of the process, which we then explored in detail: assessing parental readiness to hear from children, and techniques for meeting with and interviewing children. Parental readiness is an essential, often overlooked aspect of the process and requires careful consideration.

In our view, meetings and interviews with children must be approached from the perspective that children should fully understand the purpose of the meeting or interview, what will happen to the information they share, and how it may or may not form part of the decision-making process. They should retain control over their participation and the information to be shared by being offered a fully confidential process (subject to the professional’s duty to report child abuse). We also focused on interview techniques that yield information from children that is rich in detail and most accurately reflective of a child’s true views.

The workshop included a practical framework for professionals to use involving the 12-Step VCR file management system, suggested templates for contracts, intake forms, consent forms, and the report. We developed best practice guidelines for the VCR and for interviewing children. As well, a completed sample of the VCR and a recorded demonstration are being prepared and will be distributed to all participants.

After three long days of active discussion and learning, the participants reported that they learned valuable information, very much appreciated the 12-step system, and their feedback about the training was quite positive. One participant emailed back the next business day to say she had already applied the skills she learned in an interview with a child that morning.

Authored by:

Dr. Dan Ashbourne, C. Psych., Director of the London Family Court Clinic.  He can be reached at dan.ashbourne@lfcc.on.ca

Dr. Kimberly Harris, C. Psych, London Family Court Clinic Director of Assessment Services. She can be reached at kim.harris@lfcc.on.ca

Debra Rodrigues, Director, Peel Counseling and Consulting Services. She can be reached at drodrigues@pccs.ca

This article was written for and published in the AFCC-O Spring 2019 newsletter.  Click here to download a copy.

Canada has witnessed ethnic shifts in migration, with 6,264,800 immigrants identifying themselves as a member of a visible minority group (2011 National Household Survey). Of this demographic, 65.1% were born outside of Canada. The Region of Peel is one of the most diverse ethno-cultural populations in Ontario, with a steady flow of newcomers. This reality underlines the need for inclusive community development and for all services to be culturally appropriate. New family models have emerged in Canada and parenting is evolving due to social change and   diverse cultural norms around parenting practices. This diversity and change justified the need for developing educational resources as preventive measures, and socio-legal support in the community, in consultation with community members with lived experience.

Collective Impact is a framework used by many community leaders who, together, are working on impacting systems to enhance community change. The Peel Parenting Collective (PPC) used the Collective Impact framework to work with community stakeholders, including parents, to develop innovative solutions to reduce parental stress. PPC’s goal was to increase healthy family relationships through improved positive communication skills and increased access to credible, consistent, and trusted parenting information and supports.

The PPC began through community conversations and visioning a half-day gathering designed as a “Community Conversation” to examine local parenting research, discuss new regional service maps, and explore new and different ways for agencies to provide parenting education and to work together. The interest and participation in the “Community Conversation” solidified the idea that there was an interest and need in Peel for the PPC to move the conversation forward. It strove to continue the community efforts to move “from fragmented action and results” to “collective action and deep and durable impact,” (Collective Impact framework, by John Kania and Mark Kramer, Stanford Social Innovation Review 2011).

Over a six year period, PPC grew from a five member Steering Committee to a collective of 26 member organizations spanning a variety of sectors, including social service, health, education, law (private/corporate), government, and peer-to-peer community based groups.

PPC launched into a local research project and published “Understanding Family Communication and Information Access Among Peel Families.”  The research solidified PPC’s understanding that children and youth are dependent on a loving, positive, knowledgeable, and supportive family environment to thrive, and parents, caregivers, and adult allies play a critical role in the overall development and emotional resilience of their children. High levels of stress experienced by parents and present in families can be an impediment to families thriving. This research also provided the growing PPC with direction for collective action using Human-Centred Design.

The PPC created a tool to support the PPC members in sharing common and consistent messages regarding positive family communication with their clientele. The pilot intervention projects, which included the “Have a Conversation” poster, the development of a PPC website, the PPC Digest, and a PPC Facebook account, provided  PPC members with common and consistent tools to share  positive family communication messages within their organizations and agencies, and measure the impact through a shared measurement tool.

Data was gathered and a report was written that included amazing results and impactful learnings.  PPC members worked together, taking advantage of each partner’s expertise and role in the community, to share evidence-based common and consistent messages within the community. Together, PPC helped build thriving families.

Key learnings from the PPC’s experimental and innovative process to an integrated and collaborative approach included:

• consistent messages being shared in effective, innovative, and relevant ways to diverse audiences on varied platforms;
• breaking down silos, and a collective agreement to work towards one goal to decrease parental stress and improve family relationships;
• being sensitive to the needs of many stakeholders by involving them in each step of the process, using human-centered design; and
• members learning from each other by looking over each other’s fences and sharing ideas and best practices.

The PPC hit a roadblock in 2017 due to lack of funding. Other collectives in the Region of Peel were also experiencing the same dilemma. As of today, there are no known collaborative groups using the collective impact framework in Peel.

The PPC is currently refocusing its efforts and has become a Networking and Professional Development Group, and is eager to continue to sharing ideas to learn from each other and to continue to help families thrive. Hopefully, the PPC experiment will go down in regional history as a revolutionary effort that built cross-sector collaboration to tackle complex parenting challenges.

Authored by:

Archana Medhekar, B. Sc. LL. M., Certified Family Law Specialist and Family Mediator practicing in Toronto, Ontario. You can reach her by e-mail at amlaw@amlaw.ca. Archana was a member of PPC and is a current  AFCC-O Board Member and Newsletter  Committee member

This article was written for and published in the AFCC-O Spring 2019 Newsletter.  Click here to download a copy.

Over the last two decades, I have been working in the field of family conflict resolution as a family lawyer and mediator.  I want to share my journey from local to global-acting locally with my gender equality work, and thinking globally for sustainable development and peacebuilding work.

Mediators Beyond Borders International

When I joined an international not-for-profit organization “Mediators Beyond Borders International” (“MBBI”), I committed to building a more peaceable world, to building local skills for peace, and to promoting mediation worldwide. I was attracted to MBBI for its people-centric approach and emphasis on collaboration and inclusiveness.

Through MBBI, I became part of a global network of peacebuilders. I learned the revolutionary concept of “Positive Peace”: “justice for all” that involves the unfolding of conflict in a constructive way, which is broader than “absence of violence”. Peace is the process of building resilient and just societies.

Consultative Status to United Nations

MBBI invited me to the United Nations (“UN”) Working Group. MBBI has a special NGO consultative status with the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). This led me to participate in activities at the UN platform. In 2018, I was part of MBBI’s delegation for two major events held at the UN Headquarters in New York: Commission on the Status of Women (CSW62), and the High-Level Political Forum 2018 (HLPF).

Sustaining the Peace Agenda

The fundamental shift in the UN’s approach to peace and conflict came in April 2016 with the concept of “Sustaining Peace”, adopted in resolution of the Security Council and General Assembly. This new agenda required a change in  mindset from reactive to proactive. Although conflict prevention and Positive Peace are two sides of the same coin, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres has openly told the Security Council that the UN must be “bold and creative” in harnessing the avenues and capacities available for mediation and make prevention its priority.

Symbols of Peace and Non-Violence

When I stepped into the UN Headquarters in New York, I could feel history breathing through the iconic building. It reminded me why the UN is described as a “Parliament of Nations”, a voluntary forum created to avoid future wars through preventive diplomacy and dialogue amongst nations. The UN is built on three pillars: peace, human rights, and development.

At the public entrance, a sculpture captured my attention.   Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd’s “Non-Violence” was a gift of the Government of Luxembourg to the United Nations. It symbolizes non-violence by replicating the revolver with a knotted barrel, with the muzzle pointing upwards, standing tall for peace.  The “Meditation Room”, a quiet space dedicated to world peace, is known as “a room dedicated to silence in the outward sense and stillness in the inner sense.”

CSW62

The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is a global policy-making body, dedicated exclusively to promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women. The Commission’s mandate is to prepare recommendations on promoting women’s rights in the political, economic, civil, social, and educational fields. Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and NGO’s gathered at the UN Headquarters for the Commission’s annual session.

I attended CSW62 with two other Canadian delegates from MBBI, Mina Vaish and Tricia Morris. At the opening ceremony, the General Assembly Room heard statements from various countries sharing their national policies, legal frameworks, and strategies to accelerate progress on gender equality.

HLPF: Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, the General Assembly agreed on the Global Agenda 2030, with 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are the development targets for 2016 to 2030. The Agenda 2030 pledges “to leave no one behind”.

The Agenda 2030 explicitly recognizes the strong impact of violence and insecurity on development, and vice versa. Particularly, Goal 16 is to “promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels”.

In July 2018, I attended the High-Level Political Forum, which is the main UN platform on SDGs for follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda at the global level.

Canada’s Voluntary National Review (VNR)

On July 17, 2018, Canada presented its first VNR Review report at the HPLF, which highlights Canada’s progress and action plan to achieve the 2030 Agenda. According to the SDG Index and Dashboards Report 2017, Canada ranks 17^th on SDG index ranking. However, Canada’s Voluntary National Review underscores the Canadian government’s commitment to implement all 17 SDGs.

Rule of Law and Women’s Participation

The Rule of Law is the bedrock upon which the UN is built. In 2012, this high-level declaration covered the importance of judicial systems to informal justice systems, and reaffirmed that the Rule of Law is indispensable for upholding peace and security, encouraging sustainable development, and respecting human rights.

The UN has also recognized that certain obstacles prevent women from accessing their legal rights, resulting in discrimination and inequality, which in turn hampers their ability to live free of violence and contribute to society as full and equal citizens.

The UN Security Council has also recognized the importance of increasing women’s participation in resolving conflicts and building peace, particularly at decision-making level, since its landmark Resolution 1325. The Sustaining Peace Agenda recognizes that women’s rights are vital to achieving peace and justice, so that all individuals can fulfill their potential with dignity and equality. New evidence from the Geneva Graduate Institute’s Broadening Participation Project shows that when women’s groups were able to effectively influence the process, a peace agreement was almost always reached and the agreement was more likely to be implemented. The project examined the roles of women’s groups (and other groups) in forty peace and transition processes. New statistical research involving a larger dataset also shows that women’s participation increases the probability that the peace agreement will last longer.

One important lesson I have learned from this volunteer work is that we have to break down the silos amongst various professions and take an integrated approach for sustainable development and peacebuilding.

Authored by:

Peacebuilding-Think globally act locallyArchana Medhekar, B. Sc. LL. M., is a Certified Family Law Specialist and Accredited Family Mediator practicing in Toronto, Ontario. She is a co-chair of the SDG Action Group of MBBI as High Level Political Forum (HLPF) 2019. You can reach her by e-mail at: amlaw@amlaw.ca. Archana is also an AFCC-O Board member, and Newsletter Committee member.

This article was written for and published in the AFCC-O Special Edition Fall 2018 Newsletter.  Click here to download a copy.