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Family Law Services for Women Who are Victims of Violence:

What Can Be Done?

Issues and Options for BC

Paper prepared by Linda Light

for BC Association of Specialized Victim Assistance

and Counselling Programs

April 2005

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge those participants in this project who generously gave of their time, experience and knowledge in the development of this paper. Participants are listed at the back of this paper. We also express our gratitude for the ongoing work of the member organizations of the Association and to those individuals who regularly provide important feedback to the Association about what is working and not working in the communities they serve. We also acknowledge the websites of the Legal Services Society, the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General and the Ministry of Attorney General, from which some of the information in this paper is taken. Finally, we would like to acknowledge the courage and tenacity of the women who are victims of violence and who have needed to use the family law system in British Columbia. It is as a direct result of your experience and your efforts to keep yourselves and your children safe that this paper was initiated.

Nevertheless, the BC Association of Specialized Victim Assistance and Counselling Programs and the author take full responsibility for the contents of this paper. It is not intended to reflect a consensus of the opinions of the key informants.

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The BC Association of Specialized Victim Assistance and Counselling Programs is a provincial association representing 150 community-based programs specializing in sexual assault, violence in relationships and child abuse. Funded in part by Victim Services and Community Programs Division of the BC Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General and the BC Ministry of Community, Aboriginal and Women’s Services, the Association plays an active role in facilitating high quality, client-centred front-line service delivery for victims of family and sexual violence in BC.

Family Law Services for Women Who are Victims of Violence: What Can Be Done? 1 BC Association of Specialized Victim Assistance and Counselling Programs March 2005

Foreword Note Recent Announcements Affecting Family Law

Legal Services in BC

On February 1, 2005 the BC Government announced a $4.6 million funding increase to the Legal Services Society for legal services for “families in crisis”. The Government news release states that this funding will go towards “additional family legal services in cases involving domestic violence; the provincial family duty counsel program; a new Supreme Court family duty counsel program; and a limited Supreme Court Family Referral program.” The release also states: “These programs support government’s plan to provide alternative methods to resolving disputes and encourage people to work together to solve their problems collaboratively.”

This Issues and Options Paper was prepared before this funding announcement. The Association would like to acknowledge the new funding, however, a decision was made not to revise the content of this paper as a result of the announcement. While the funding is welcome, it does not substantially change the central messages of this paper.

The funding cuts made in 2002 resulted in cutbacks of almost 40% to a Legal Aid system already seriously inadequate. These and preceding cuts disproportionately affected the family law system. An increase of $4.6 million to the family law area, while greatly needed, does not come close to addressing the severe shortages of Legal Aid funding for family law legal services, particularly for women who are victims of violence and abuse.

The Association is pleased to note that the proposed allocation of the $4.6 million is consistent with some of the recommendations made in this paper. Legal Services Society has announced that “the new family program funding will cover continuing the current Provincial Court family duty counsel services and developing three new programs: extended family services for clients at greatest risk and whose issues cannot be resolved through mediation because of the high level of conflict involved; limited Supreme Court family referrals for clients who have no alternative to litigating in Supreme Court; and Supreme Court family duty counsel services.”

LSS announced that some of the increased funding will be directed toward increasing financial eligibility limits for family law representation services, extending family services to provide lawyers with an additional 40 hours for court attendance and preparation time to help clients in high conflict cases, and developing a limited referrals program for eligible clients who are forced to use the Supreme Court. These enhancements address, to a limited extent, Recommendation 1 in this paper for funding for adequate family law services at both the Provincial and Supreme Court levels, and for eligibility criteria that allow women who have a genuine need for Legal Aid to access it.

LSS also announced that it will continue the Provincial family duty counsel services and extend duty counsel services to Supreme Court. These announcements are consistent with Recommendation 5 in this paper to continue and enhance the availability and accessibility of family duty counsel in both Provincial and Supreme Court locations.


Another announcement made since the preparation of this paper is the establishment of the Unbundling Task Force of the Law Society of British Columbia. Already this Task Force has reached out to advocates for their input. The establishment of this Task Force and its involvement of advocates are welcome developments, given the continuing inadequate levels of funding for Legal Aid in BC and the increasing numbers of unrepresented litigants. However, unbundling of services (lawyers offering clients the option of limited legal assistance in certain areas of their case rather than full representation in every aspect of their case) will not adequately address the fundamental problem of a lack of sufficient funding for Legal Aid for those who need it.

Refer to the Legal Services Society website (http://www.lss.bc.ca) and the Law Society of BC website (http://www.lawsociety.bc.ca) for further information and updates on how these announcements may affect the information and issues discussed in this paper.


Summary of Recommendations

A full list of recommendations and their rationale begins on page 13.

a. Legal Aid

Provide adequate funding for Legal Aid to cover legal advice and representation for abused and at-risk women as their cases proceed through the family law system at both court levels.

Take appropriate steps to clarify LSS eligibility guidelines for Legal Aid.

Consider expanding the use of staff lawyers and family law Legal Aid clinics for the delivery of Legal Aid services.

Consider ways to provide flexibility in intake services to meet the needs of, for example, working women, women with children, women who live in poverty or women who speak languages other that English.

b. Victim Support and Legal Advocacy

Develop and fund an approach to providing technical, practical and emotional support to women as they proceed through the family law legal system, parallel to and in conjunction with the support that is available to abused women as they proceed through the criminal justice system.

c. Collaboration with Family Justice Counsellors

Develop strategies for facilitating closer collaboration among Family Justice Counsellors and other players in the family law system, including family law lawyers, family law advocates, victim services, women-serving agencies, immigrant-serving agencies and Violence Against Women in Relationships Coordinating Committees.

d. Information for Women on their Rights, Obligations and Opportunities

Develop strategies to help ensure that abused women, including women whose first language is not English and women who face other communication challenges, are informed about their legal rights in the family justice process, including print as well as web-based resources, resources in languages other than English, grants for PLE events at the local level, and use of innovative approaches to disseminate information to those who need it.

e. Family Duty Counsel

Continue and enhance the availability and accessibility of family duty counsel at both court levels.

f. Revised Use of Supreme Court

Take steps toward a long-term goal of simplifying and restricting the use of Supreme Court in family law matters.

g. Multi-disciplinary Service Approach

Establish a multi-disciplinary working group, including representatives from government, LSS, women-serving agencies, diversity groups, the Bar Association, the Law Society, provincial anti-violence organizations, provincial educational institutions and potential funders to explore the development of a multi-disciplinary approach to family law services.

h. Effective Intake Function

Whatever the family law service, incorporate effective intake procedures so that women are directed to the most appropriate service from the outset, starting with the most appropriate and cost-effective service.

i. Training

Facilitate opportunities for high quality specialized training on violence against women that includes an analysis and practical information on conducting risk assessments as well as on relevant family law issues for all those working in the family law area. This specialized training would be provided to family law lawyers, law students, family justice counsellors, family law legal advocates, victim service workers and intake workers.


A. Introduction

1. Objectives of the Paper The objective of this paper is to identify issues and develop options for addressing abused women’s need for family law services in BC. While input from all participants in this project was carefully considered, it was not the purpose of this paper to reach consensus among all respondents. Such a task would have been impossible, given the range of participants and the complexity of these issues. The purpose of this paper is to present, from the perspective of the BC Association of Specialized Victim Assistance and Counselling Programs (the Association) and its members, issues and options for developing an effective approach to providing comprehensive family law services. The perspective of the Association and its members that the issue of family law services for abused women is an issue of access to justice was confirmed by most participants in this project.

For the purposes of the paper, family law services include:

legal representation;

legal advice;

family law legal advocacy;

legal information; and

victim support.

The paper will explore some options for how abused women’s family law needs might best be met within an environment where “the bottom line” has become increasingly important.

This paper builds on the work of several recent reports. These reports have analyzed the impacts on women of the cuts to Legal Aid services in BC over the past decade and made recommendations on how to remedy the current situation with respect to women’s access to Legal Aid in BC. These reports include:

Access to Justice Denied: Women and Legal Aid in BC, by Penny Bain, Shelley Chrest and Marina Morrow, (2000);

Where the Axe Falls: the real cost of government cutbacks to legal aid. Final Report to the Access to Justice Committee of the Law Society of BC, by Vicki Trerise, (2000).

BC Provincial Cuts to Legal Aid: Anticipated Impact on Women Who Experience Violence, by the BC Institute Against Family Violence, BC Association of Specialized Victim Assistance and Counselling Programs and the BC/Yukon Society of Transition Houses, (2002); and, most recently,

Legal Aid Denied. Women and the Cuts to Legal Services In BC by Alison Brewin with Lindsay Stephens (2004).

It is hoped that the recommendations made in this paper may be useful to the Family Justice Reform Working Group of the BC Justice Review Task Force as it continues with its work.


2. Definitions For the purposes of this paper, the following definitions of terms will apply.

Family law issues include all matters related to family breakdown, including separation and divorce, child custody and access, family maintenance, property division and protection orders.

Family law legal advocates, called family law advocates by the Law Foundation, refers to paralegal workers who work in the area of family law, providing legal information, assistance with administrative tasks such as filling out forms, preparing affidavits, accompaniment, and knowledgeable support to both the woman and, where appropriate, her lawyers, both within and outside of the court process. Family law legal advocates must work under the supervision of a qualified lawyer. Currently, there are a small number of family law legal advocates funded through the Law Foundation who work out of community agencies with direction from supervising lawyers working in the community, as well as some general legal advocates who include family law among their responsibilities

Family law legal services refers to legal advice and representation provided by family law lawyers through publicly funded Legal Aid.

Family law services refers to the full range of services that may be utilized by women as they deal with family law matters in their lives, including legal advice and representation, Legal Aid, family law advocacy, legal information and victim support.

Legal Aid refers to the Legal Services Society program funded to provide legal services to eligible clients.

Self-represented clients or unrepresented clients refers to those clients who are forced to represent themselves in court because they are not eligible for Legal Aid or their Legal Aid has run out and they cannot afford a lawyer. In this paper, the term unrepresented client is used to emphasize the fact that these women have no representation in court.

Victim service workers or victim services refers to victim services funded through the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General to provide information, practical and emotional support, accompaniment and referral to victims of crime. Specialized community-based victim service programs focus primarily on services for women and children who are victims of family or sexual violence, while police-based programs serve all victims of crime. Community-based programs are funded in all communities with a population of 20,000 or more. As victim services are currently not funded to provide services to women going through the family law system, in certain contexts the term victim support worker is used in a more general sense, as opposed to Ministry-funded victim service workers.

3. Background The problems faced by abused women seeking solutions to family law problems in British Columbia are not new.

…reports commissioned by the BC government over the last twenty years…have unanimously recommended measures to improve legal aid eligibility and family law coverage. Yet, the government has failed to act on these recommendations. Instead, it has drastically cut funding to the Legal Services Society, resulting in significantly fewer BC women receiving legal representation for urgent, complex family law matters. (Bain et al, 2000)


In 1992, the BC Law Society report, Gender Equality in the Justice System concluded that gender inequality was pervasive in the justice system in BC and that the family law system did not meet the needs of women and their children when marriages broke down. In that same year, the Report of the BC Task Force on Family Violence, Is Anyone Listening? identified family law Legal Aid services to abused women as an area of particular concern. That report pointed out that lack of availability of family law lawyers in small communities, low tariffs, and lack of sufficient hours for Legal Aid lawyers to adequately represent women in family law cases presented serious problems for women and children. The Vancouver YWCA’s submission to the Task Force asked:

“What is the cost both in human and dollar terms if we continue not to deal realistically with these issues?”

And yet, in the interest of short-term cost savings, successive governments in BC have continued to ‘not deal realistically with these issues’.

When the most recent cuts were imposed on Legal Aid in 2002, government was cutting back by almost 40% a system that was already seriously inadequate. Those cuts, disproportionately in the family and civil law area, significantly worsened a situation that already was biased against women. While there is no question that male users of the Legal Aid system are also suffering from the cutbacks, the impact has been disproportionately felt by women, who are the primary users of the family law system. (Bain, et al, 2000; Brewin, 2004; Trerise, 2000). See especially Bain, et al for a detailed history of the complex interplay of changes and cuts to Legal Aid funding and to the Legal Services Society (LSS) over the past 25 years that have seriously impacted women.

Revenues from the Canadian Health and Social Transfer (CHST) are provided to the province without any requirement that a certain portion be spent on civil legal aid. In addition, a 7.5% provincial tax is imposed on legal services, ostensibly to help defray the costs of Legal Aid. While exact numbers are almost impossible to access, it is very clear that the provincial government takes in substantially more money for Legal Aid than it expends, particularly in the case of civil Legal Aid.

The so-called “private” nature of family matters provides an explanation as to why the family law area has been so disproportionately impacted by cuts to legal services. Two decades ago women-serving agencies were struggling to bring “domestic violence” into the public arena – to have “wife assault” defined as a serious crime just like any other assault. This same analysis applies to the family law area, as women-serving agencies are engaged in a struggle to bring family law matters out of the realm of the private - a matter that each couple must resolve on their own - to the forefront as an important public policy issue.

4. Legal Aid Cuts Impact Safety of Women and Children We know that when they take steps to leave an abusive relationship, women and their children become more rather than less at-risk. The abusive partner’s control over the woman may be threatened by actions that she takes to increase her independence: leaving the relationship, seeking custody of the children, seeking maintenance for children or half the family assets, or re-establishing close contact with her family. His reaction to that loss of control is often to become more rather than less violent and controlling. He may be trying to “punish” his wife for leaving him. His behaviour may become more extreme because he feels he has less to lose.


Often, the abusive power and control tactics adopted by the man take the form of ‘litigation harassment’, a term used to describe an abusive man’s continual use of the family law system to harass and control his ex-partner. Often such behaviour escalates when the man has legal counsel and the woman is unable to retain counsel because she cannot get Legal Aid and cannot afford to pay for a lawyer. ‘Litigation harassment’ can also take the form of opting for use of Supreme rather than Provincial Court, in order to make things more difficult for the unrepresented woman.

Many cases where the woman is taking steps to leave an abusive man result in tragedy. Rajwar Ghakal had left her husband Mark Chahal before he killed her, seven members of her family and himself in April, 1996 in Vernon, in one of the worst mass murders in Canadian history. Sonya Handel was trying to leave her husband Jay before he killed their six children and burned their bodies in a house fire in Quatsino in March, 2002. Sherry Heron of Mission was in the process of separating from her husband, Bryan, in May, 2003 when he walked into the hospital where she was lying in bed, and killed both her and her visiting mother.

It is crucial not to under-estimate the danger that may result for abused women when they make the difficult decision to leave their abusive partners. While intervention by skilled family law lawyers may not, in isolation, avert such tragedies, timely support, advice and representation by a family law lawyer who understands the dynamics of violence against women in relationships and who is trained to conduct a thorough risk assessment, may be a central component of a coordinated response that can help keep women safe. Without that legal support, women may remain in an abusive relationship, or leave their children with an abusive man, putting themselves and their children at risk.

Domestic violence is a crime that is different from other crime in two ways: 1) the likelihood of repeat violence is common and at most times predictable; 2) the victim is known in advance. (Hadley Inquest, 2002)

5. Time for Change Since the cuts to Legal Aid, BC Association of Specialized Victim Assistance and Counselling Program members have identified this issue as the major issue facing abused women. Increasingly, community-based victim services are being called upon to assist women who are trying to deal with the family law system. However, these victim service programs, whose mandate is to assist victims of crime through the criminal justice process and whose funding has, in many cases been recently reduced, have neither the expertise nor the staff resources required to assist women in this way. These victim service workers tell us that the situation has become critical.

As more time goes by, more and more women and their children are being put at risk because of their inability to negotiate the family law system or to represent themselves in family law court proceedings. Women who face additional challenges such as poverty, immigration or refugee issues, language or literacy limitations, or disability, are particularly placed at risk by the lack of services to support and represent them through the process. The safety of abused women and their children is being compromised because women are choosing to stay with abusive partners rather than try to navigate a complex family law system on their own, or because their efforts to represent themselves are met with abusive utilization of the system by their ex-partners who have legal representation.


The voices of those who work with women who are victims of violence and the excellent reports on the impact of cuts to legal aid over the past several years have raised awareness both within and outside of government of the consequences of these cuts for women. As awareness grows of the impact of these cuts on women’s safety, and since government has announced a significant anticipated budget surplus for the current fiscal year, hope rises that “something will be done” to address this very serious situation.

6. Methodology To quote Vicki Trerise in Where the Axe Falls, “These are large questions, and this is a small study.”

a. Data Gathering Interviews, two focus groups and several staff group discussions were held, for a total of 45 key informants. Informants included staff of Legal Services Society, Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, Ministry of Attorney General, and the Law Foundation; staff of women-serving agencies and the Association; practicing lawyers; legal advocates; victim service workers, and others working in the area of family law, both in BC and elsewhere.

In addition, the Association gathers information and receives input from advocates and service providers province-wide on an ongoing basis. This information and input has also been a source of data for this paper.

A number of key documents were also reviewed, including recent reports that have detailed the nature and impacts of cuts to family law legal services for women. Since these reports have done an excellent job of addressing the issues of funding cuts and impacts, no effort was made in this study to obtain further information in these areas.

Assurance was given to all informants that, while a list of informants would be included in the paper, no remarks would be attributed to any individual person without their specific permission.

Lists of key informants and documents reviewed are included at the end of this paper.

b. Conclusions and Recommendations Options for consideration in this paper focus on specific practical actions that can be taken to address some of the issues identified. Unless they were essential for this paper (such as the recommendation to increase family law Legal Aid to adequate levels), recommendations are not made that have already been made in other papers cited above. Many of the conclusions and recommendations made in the above cited reports were supported by respondents in this study. No purpose would be served by duplicating them here.

c. Limitations This paper is a discussion paper rather than a research paper. Data gathering was largely

unstructured and systematic data analysis was not undertaken.

Data gathering for this paper was restricted by both time and funds. There were other key informants who undoubtedly should have been included and unsuccessful attempts were made to contact some of these people within the time-frame of the project.

While careful consideration was given to the input provided by all participants in this project, not everyone’s opinions and preferences could be reflected here. Quite naturally, there were


disagreements among some participants with respect to the nature of both the challenges and the solutions discussed during the course of the project. The results reflect the combined analysis of participants and the perspective of the BC Association of Specialized Victim Assistance and Counselling Programs.

7. Key issues A number of issues are key to improving family law services in British Columbia and providing protection to abused women.

a. The central element of an effective family law service for abused women is an adequately funded Legal Aid system utilizing lawyers who are well-trained in the family law area. Many women are caught in situations where the power imbalance between the two partners is such that women have little or no chance of achieving justice or fairness without legal assistance and, ultimately, legal representation. An adequately funded Legal Aid system means that eligibility requirements, number of legal aid hours provided for, legal tasks covered, and tariffs, must all be considered.

Legal information, family law legal advocacy, legal advice and victim support are not a substitute for legal representation throughout the justice process in those cases that require it, and particularly in those case where violence in involved.

b. Safety and justice must come before short-term cost savings. Adequately addressing the safety and legal issues of women who have been abused in their relationships is more cost-effective in the long-term than compromising these in the interest of cost savings in the short-term.

c. Legal Aid should continue to be delivered through LSS. d. The arena in which abused women are most disadvantaged is the Supreme Court. Adequate

Legal Aid coverage for Supreme Court matters is central to an effective family law system. Additionally, however, in the long-term, major changes and updating are required to make the Supreme Court process more user-friendly and less dependent on official paperwork.

e. The most effective (and cost-effective) family law system will be one that includes an array of services, from intake workers to duty counsel to Legal Aid for legal representation to alternative remedies such as mediation to family law legal advocates to victim services to self-help information options.

f. Self-representation is not a viable option for most family law litigants, particularly women who are vulnerable or subject to abusive power and control dynamics in their relationship, who are immigrants or do not speak English fluently, have literacy limitations, live in poverty or face other additional challenges, and particularly in Supreme Court matters.

g. Alternatives such as mediation are usually not appropriate in situations where the woman and/or her children are unsafe because of violence or abusive power and control dynamics in the relationship.

h. However they are delivered, family law services for abused women need to be client-centred, based on an understanding of the dynamics of violence against women in relationships, and focused on safety.


i. Whether violence is considered to be only one of several possible criteria for Legal Aid eligibility or whether the definition of violence is broadened, women’s need for safety should be an important consideration for determination of eligibility and/or priority for legal aid. If the current requirement for violence as an eligibility criterion for Legal Aid results in abused women being inadvertently disqualified, then that eligibility criterion is not serving its intended purpose. Any redefinition of eligibility must include safety at its core.

j. Investing in high quality, specialized training for all those who work in the family law area, including lawyers, family law legal advocates, Family Justice Counsellors and victim service workers, is essential for an effective (and cost-effective) system.

k. Expanding on or supplementing existing services wherever possible is generally more cost-effective and constructive than developing new, stand-alone services.

l. A collaborative model of service delivery is the most effective one, ensuring that:

service is coordinated, with effective referrals and seamless service delivery;

service gaps and overlaps are minimized;

the needs of the whole person are addressed; and

the service builds on the strengths of existing services.

A case management approach may be an effective way to achieve coordinated, seamless service delivery.


B. Overview of Existing Family Law Response Existing family law services to abused women include an array of private practitioners, system-based and community-based services working together. Some of these services are funded by government, some by the Law Foundation, some by other funders and some through fee-for-service. Some were designed to fill gaps left by cuts to family law legal services. For a listing of these services see Inventory of Family Justice Services in British Columbia, November, 2003, included in Appendix C.

See Appendix A for a discussion of the following key services currently available in BC: Legal Aid; Legal Aid staff lawyers and clinics; the private bar; Family Law Duty Counsel; other LSS legal advice services; legal information services; student legal clinics; pro bono clinics; Family Justice Centres; family law advocates; and victim support services.

It is important to reiterate that, while many participants in this study indicated the value of a full range of legal, paralegal and community-based family law initiatives, participants emphasized that the biggest gap in existing services is legal representation throughout the family law process for women who cannot afford a lawyer. Most participants agreed that an admirable job is being done by LSS and others to provide legal information, advice and other supports in the absence of legal representation, but that these are not sufficient.

Many participants also pointed out that the most critical need is for representation for women whose cases are going through Supreme Court. Participants also pointed out the need for simplification of Supreme Court procedures and for reconsideration of rules respecting the use of Supreme Court. It was suggested, for example, that rules be changed to restrict use of Supreme Court, including the restriction of all custody matters to Provincial Court.

Most participants also agreed that alternatives to court for some clients in some situations are welcome. However, for abused women, where abusive power and control dynamics and violence put them at risk, mediation – particularly without legal representation – is usually not appropriate.


C. Addressing the Gaps: Options for Consideration 1. Key Elements of an Effective Family Law Service The vision that emerged from this study is that of an adequately and securely funded family justice system in BC that adopts a coordinated, multi-disciplinary, client-centred and safety-centred approach to meeting the legal and related support needs of abused women taking steps toward separation or divorce, whether that woman lives in an urban centre or a rural or isolated area, whether she is aboriginal, an immigrant who is not fluent in English, or a white English-speaking citizen who was born and raised in Canada. This approach envisages a partnership among LSS, the provincial government, the private bar, the Bar Association, the Law Society, women-serving agencies, diversity groups and the Law Foundation.

Such a coordinated approach would incorporate legal and support services in all areas emerging from the break-up of a family, including not only family law issues, but also legal issues relating to child protection, on-reserve issues, immigration, refugee status, mental health issues and poverty. It would provide an array of client-centred services, including legal representation, legal advice, legal information, family law legal advocacy, victim services and referral. It would also ensure that all those providing these services are well trained and knowledgeable not only in the legal aspects of family law but in safety issues and in the nature and dynamics of violence against women in relationships.

Whether such a service is provided in the form of a “one stop shop” or a coordinated approach to the delivery of services from different disciplines in different locations, its effectiveness (and cost-effectiveness) will depend to a large extent on a strong triage process. An effective intake and referral process will help ensure that a woman’s issues and needs are carefully identified and that she is well-matched with available services. A strong triage process is most easily managed within an integrated service that is delivered under one roof. However, similar outcomes can be achieved if services are committed to working together to develop consistent policies, procedures, protocols and services and to develop ongoing strategies for ensuring continued day-to-day coordination.

An array of services delivered in a coordinated way is the most effective approach to ensure that abused women receive the services they need in a way that is cost-effective - closing service gaps, avoiding duplication of services, and ensuring that women receive adequate service starting at the least expensive end of the spectrum and ending up at the more expensive end only where that is appropriate to her situation. Central to developing such a coordinated approach is the development of a culture of collaboration and partnership among all the players in the family law system.

What we are proposing addresses the following key components: adequate funding; coordination and collaboration; family safety; diversity; education, training, legal information; and cost-effectiveness.

a. Adequate Funding for Family Law Legal Aid These options are based on a recognition that the cuts to legal services over the past decade “went too far” in relation to women’s access to family law Legal Aid and that concrete steps must be taken toward establishing an adequately funded family law Legal Aid system in which


those who can demonstrate their need for family law Legal Aid services will receive these services. This need is particularly acute for those who must deal with Supreme Court.

b. Coordination and Collaboration The importance of coordination cannot be over-emphasized. Particularly with the current situation of scarce resources, maximum use must be made of all available services. Coordination, effective referral and information-sharing are all essential components of an empowering response to women who are victims of violence. (Russell, 2002). Effective triage or intake procedures and effective case management also constitute elements of a well coordinated approach.

There are many models for coordination. The following comments illustrate some of these models as well as the central role played by coordination in the delivery of effective family law legal services.

It should be emphasized that while these overall outcomes [of the evaluation of the Expanded Duty Counsel Project] are very positive, part of the success of the EFDCP is that it works closely with and/or builds on the contributions of other organizations and services. Thus, not all the credit for successful resolution of the cases can be attributed to the EFDCP. Other significant actors noted in the report are the FJCs, Parenting After Separation (PAS) Workshops, and legal aid (upon referral from EFDCP). (Focus Consultants, 2004) A common service model operating with the collaboration of stakeholders and service providers will also through these efforts provide greater continuity of service to SRLs [self-representing litigants] with less risk of duplication. (Reid et al, 2004) …a truly transformative approach requires…commitment to true collaboration amongst all the players including a partnership with the battered woman. (Rose, 2001)

I’m a big fan of coordination committees. We need a range of related services, an array of services, working together. A collaborative model is key. (Forrest Nelson, Managing Lawyer, Victoria Regional Centre, LSS)

In small rural or isolated communities, a coordination committee may not be possible. Good communication and collaboration are key and may fit the community needs and options. One advocate or coordinator with a good relationship with the nearest police station or officer and a good knowledge of resources, can make a significant difference. Collaboration can also be enhanced, for example, through establishment of social justice networks, social service co-operatives, family law and child protection provincial “lists” (Povnet model) or regional representation on women’s councils. (Carol Ross, Nelson Advocacy Centre, BC Association of Specialized Victim Assistance and Counselling Programs.)

c. Taking a Client-centred Approach Taking a safety-centred approach means developing a service that responds to what families need: to keep themselves safe and to achieve a fair outcome. It means taking a problem-solving approach rather than an approach guided first and foremost by limitations of mandates. It means taking a coordinated, holistic approach that tries to address the needs of the whole person rather than narrowly defined issues that fit neatly into a definition of “family law legal problem”. And it means taking account of the power and control dynamics of relationship violence and keeping a focus on safety.


d. Meeting the Needs of Diverse Women

While all abused women face significant difficulties accessing legal services in the family justice system, women with specific needs relating to cultural diversity, language, or ability face even greater barriers. A family justice system that does not respond to the needs of all women, is not a just system. Abused immigrant women or aboriginal women who are not comfortable speaking English require qualified interpreters in order to access justice and safety. Immigrant women or aboriginal women, in order to access justice, need bi-cultural workers and justice system personnel who understand the cultural pressures they may be under. Women who are disabled may require interpreters and personnel with knowledge of their particular disability, in addition to accessible court facilities. Immigrant women, aboriginal women, lesbians, transgender women, older women and women with mental health issues require service providers, legal advocates, lawyers and judges who understand not only how family law may apply to them but also the specific laws that may apply to them in their particular circumstances. Services and service delivery modes have to take account of the needs of rural and isolated women.

Staffing initiatives, training of all service providers in the family law area, and all public information resources must address these important issues of access to justice for all, not just some, abused women.

e. Staff Training Education and training were raised by many respondents and many of the documents reviewed, to address concerns about service quality, risk assessment, availability of appropriate personnel to provide needed services, needs of members of a wide range of diversity groups, and awareness amongst service providers of the safety issues inherent in abusive power and control dynamics in relationships. The need for comprehensive and quality training for all service providers in the family law area was highlighted. This training should take a multi-disciplinary approach and should include not only family law but immigrant, refugee, poverty, disability, aboriginal and child protection law. A safety-centred perspective should be central to all training in this area.

f. Legal Information Information for the women themselves is also key to providing effective family law services to abused women. Victimization surveys routinely identify information as one of the greatest needs of victims of crime. Whether the woman has legal counsel or is unrepresented she has a need for clear, concise and accurate information about the legal process, her rights and options, some of the dangers and pitfalls that she may encounter, and where she can go for help. Women have a need for this information to be delivered in ways that are accessible to them, including plain language print resources, web-based resources, and in-person delivery of information. For immigrant women or aboriginal women who are not fluent in English, such information is useful only if it is in their own language or interpreters and bi-cultural workers are easily accessible. The need for legal information is particularly problematic for women whose cases are heard in Supreme Court.

g. Cost-effectiveness Cost-effectiveness is central to the sustainability of any family law service delivery approach, particularly given current fiscal realities. Coordination of services, clear mandates, effective


triage and referral systems, workable accountability strategies, and an array of services from least expensive to more expensive will all contribute to the cost-effectiveness of a comprehensive family law approach.

2. Recommended Actions The components that comprise the primary “building blocks” for an effective family law legal system for abused and at-risk women include:

adequate Legal Aid;

victim support and legal advocacy as a woman’s case proceeds through the system;

effective intake or triage so that women get to the services they need and appropriate use is made of existing services;

effective training for all players in the family law system;

legal information and advice services, particularly for unrepresented and under-represented women;

duty counsel for unrepresented women, in both Provincial and Supreme Courts;

a multi-disciplinary approach;

revised use of Supreme Court; and

alternatives to the court system, with adequate safeguards to ensure women’s physical and emotional safety;

It is to these nine “building blocks” that the following recommendations are directed. The intention is that everything recommended here will work in conjunction with the existing family law system to address perceived gaps in the system in order to help ensure safety for all family members.

a. Legal Aid Recommendation i. Adequate Funding. Provide adequate funding for Legal Aid to cover legal advice and

representation for abused and at-risk women as their cases proceed through the family law system, at both court levels, using funds collected for Legal Aid from provincial Social Services Taxes and from the Canadian Health and Social Transfer, including:

appropriate tariffs so that family law lawyers are able to provide adequate services at both the Provincial and Supreme Court levels throughout the legal process, including trial, and receive adequate compensation for their services; and

eligibility criteria that allow women who have a genuine need for Legal Aid to access it.

Rationale The rationale for this recommendation is reiterated throughout this paper. Abused and at

risk women are at heightened risk because of their lack of access to Legal Aid to pay for lawyers to advise and represent them through the legal process. This is increasingly true as more and more men use the family law process to harass and control their ex-partners who cannot afford legal representation and are not eligible for Legal Aid or whose Legal


Aid has run out because of inadequate coverage provided by Legal Aid even when a woman is eligible. Women’s needs for representation are particularly acute at the Supreme Court level.

Many women – particularly women who are immigrants or refugees, live in poverty, have low literacy skills, have disabilities, or face other difficult challenges – are overwhelmed by the prospect of negotiating the family justice system on their own, without support or legal representation. As a result, these women may stay in abusive relationships or leave their children with the abuser, placing themselves and/or their children at risk.

Recommendation

ii. Eligibility Guidelines. Take appropriate steps to clarify LSS eligibility guidelines for Legal Aid and ensure that all its intake staff are well trained in:

the appropriate and consistent application of the guidelines;

the complex dynamics of abuse of women within intimate relationships; and

interview skills to determine whether women are at risk of violence or abuse within their relationship, taking account of cultural and individual differences in the ways that women may or may not disclose the abuse.

Rationale There appears to be inconsistency both in the wording of LSS eligibility guidelines and in

the way they are being interpreted in practice. A number of participants in this project indicated that, in practice, eligibility is sometimes based on physical violence only, and that some women are being asked to provide ‘evidence’ of the abuse.

LSS staff confirmed that eligibility is not based only on physical violence but also takes account of abusive power and control dynamics and threats to the safety of women and their children and promised to take appropriate action to clarify the guidelines. LSS staff also confirmed that ‘evidence’ is not required to ‘prove’ violence, and that they would look into ways to further clarify this for LSS staff.

Some participants also pointed out that some women, particularly women from diverse cultures, will not disclose abuse without sensitive and skillful questioning about violence and safety issues in their relationship. For this reason, LSS staff should be trained to ask these questions in ways that will maximize opportunities for disclosure of violence and therefore maximize safety for women and their children.

Recommendation

iii. Staff Lawyers. Consider expanding the use of staff lawyers and family law Legal Aid clinics for the delivery of Legal Aid services, with:

appropriate safeguards to ensure cost-effectiveness in family law cases,

language interpretation for immigrant women and aboriginal women who are not fluent in English, as well as bi-cultural workers;

flexibility to accommodate the needs of working women, women with children, and women who live in poverty; and


program evaluation as part of such an expansion in order to examine the advantages, disadvantages, challenges, and cost-effectiveness of the staff lawyer and clinic model of family law Legal Aid service delivery as a way to enhance abused women’s access to family law legal services and increase choice for abused women.

Rationale In a well managed situation with an effective intake and referral function, the use of staff

lawyers is likely to be cost-effective in the delivery of Legal Aid services.

A more effective problem-solving approach could be used in a situation where staff lawyers do not have to be dependent on going to court to make a living.

The former Family Case Management Program was apparently effective in ensuring appropriate use of Legal Aid services and that only cases ‘with merit’ were funded through Legal Aid.

Interpreters and bi-cultural workers are necessary to ensure justice for immigrant women and aboriginal women, especially in Supreme Court, where language interpreters are not supplied.

Recommendation iv. Flexibility. Consider ways to provide flexibility in intake services to meet the needs of, for

example, working women, women with children, women who live in poverty, rural women and women who speak languages other that English, including:

evening or weekend office hours to accommodate working women;

telephone access to accommodate rural women and others who have difficulty getting to an office location;

provision of child care for women with children who can not afford baby-sitters; and

intake sessions at community-based locations or out of women-serving, immigrant- serving or aboriginal-serving agencies where women already go for service (and where, in the case of immigrant, refugee or aboriginal women, interpreters and bi-cultural workers are available).

Rationale

Women who live in poverty or on low income, who have low paid jobs, and who have young children often do not have flexibility in working hours, financial arrangements or child care arrangements.

Flexible arrangements for making application for Legal Aid would go some way toward increasing access to justice for such women.

b. Victim Support and Legal Advocacy Recommendation

LSS, Victim Services and Community Programs Division and the Law Foundation, in cooperation with the Law Society and the Bar Association, collaborate to develop and fund an approach to providing information and technical, practical and emotional support to women as they proceed through the family law legal system, parallel to and in conjunction


with the support that is available to abused women as they proceed through the criminal justice system.

Services would include: provision of information, help filling out forms and preparing affidavits, court preparation and accompaniment, emotional support, assistance in considering available legal options, safety planning, liaison between the family and the criminal justice processes, and referral and follow-up. Such a system should build on the existing models of providing systemic support and assistance to abused women, combining the roles and responsibilities of existing family law legal advocates and victim services. Important elements of such a family law victim support and legal advocacy service would include:

legal supervision by a local practicing family law lawyer;

close working relationships with local practicing family law lawyers, to whom cases would be referred when legal representation is required;

high-quality specialized training in family law issues, violence against women issues and the particular needs of marginalized women;

close coordination with other existing services, at both the provincial and local levels, including FJCs, LSS, the private bar, child protection services, diversity groups, and other community-based groups;

liaison with services that could facilitate other, non-litigious civil remedies stemming from family law matters, such as wills, representation agreements, and Crime Victim Assistance;

the capacity to meet the needs of all women, including immigrants and refugees, those who are not fluent in English, those belonging to a marginalized group or community or women with special needs. This may include attaching family law legal advocates to immigrant-serving and aboriginal-serving organizations where appropriate;

capacity to respond to the unique needs of different communities;

practice standards and codes of ethics;

protocol development to guide coordination and collaboration at the local level; and

the capacity to refer to skilled and knowledgeable family law lawyers for representation where required. This is particularly crucial in complex, high risk cases. These lawyers could be independent lawyers practicing in the community or could be lawyers attached to community agencies, such as women-serving, immigrant-serving or aboriginal-serving agencies.

Rationale

Women dealing with family law matters need practical and technical assistance and emotional support as they proceed through the family law system, in the same way that victims of crime need practical and emotional support as their cases proceed through the criminal justice system.

Women who are victims of violence do not compartmentalize their needs into family law, civil law and criminal law matters. Abused women have need for assistance and support


as they face the legal system challenges emanating from leaving an abusive relationship, whether those challenges are associated with the family, civil or criminal justice system. Seamless service delivery between these systems would provide a valuable and cost-effective support service for abused women facing legal proceedings.

Legal advocates funded by the Law Foundation have been used effectively for many years in a number of locations. Some of these work in the area of family law. While no formal evaluation has been done, anecdotal evidence regarding their effectiveness and value to the community is positive.

Victim services have become an established service in BC and across Canada and have proven their value, their effectiveness and their cost-effectiveness as an essential component of the criminal justice system and a valuable tool to assist not only the victim of crime but the other players in the justice system.

Communities where both specialized community-based victim services and Law Foundation funded family law advocates work together to assist and support abused women proceeding through the family law system report that the system works effectively and that the two services complement each other in a way that provides optimal service to the women.

Communities that do not have a community-based victim service could be served through a regional model which includes liaison with police-based victim services and a supervising lawyer acting on a regional basis.

Existing family law legal advocates, victim service programs, LSS, Victim Services and Community Programs Division, the Law Foundation, and the Justice Institute of BC have accumulated a body of experience, knowledge and training that will be invaluable in expanding these systems.

Formal links and cross-training among the legal advocate system, victim services and FJCs would ensure that each group would benefit from the accumulated expertise and specific training of the others.

As these legal advocates and/or victim service workers could be attached to existing community agencies which are already part of a victim services framework, infra-structure costs could be minimized.

The role of family law legal advocates or victim service workers in assisting women as they negotiate Supreme Court will be particularly valuable as that is where the most serious gaps have been identified.

Victim support by persons who are knowledgeable about the nature and dynamics of violence in relationships is also particularly important for abused women who choose to utilize alternative options such as mediation.

Lawyers provide feedback that a well supported and informed victim is a more effective participant in the court process and that when assistance and support is provided to abused women by well trained and highly qualified support workers or legal advocates, it saves them significant time and effort. Victims confirm that they feel more competent and experience a greater sense of success when they have been well informed and supported.


c. Collaboration with Family Justice Counsellors Recommendation

Develop strategies for facilitating closer collaboration among Family Justice Counsellors and other players in the family law system, including family law advocates, victim services, women-serving agencies, immigrant-serving agencies and Violence Against Women in Relationships Coordinating Committees, in order to facilitate:

mutual understanding and appreciation of each other’s roles and responsibilities;

understanding of the particular needs of women who are victims of violence, whether they to go through the court process or choose alternatives to the court process, such as mediation;

understanding of the opportunities offered by various forms of mediation and the safeguards that have been built into that system; and

enhanced opportunities for service provision to abused women who are dealing with the family law system.

Such strategies might include the development of coordination and referral protocols and participation in local VAWIR committees.

Rationale Changes over the past decade have resulted in what some describe as “marginalization”

of the role of Family Justice Counsellors and a mistrust on the part of some women-serving agencies with respect to FJCs’ understanding of the nature and dynamics of violence against women in relationships.

To the extent that such mistrust is outdated and based on historical factors that have been addressed, closer collaboration will help correct such misperceptions;

To the extent that such mistrust is based on any lingering realities, closer collaboration will enhance FJCs’ understanding of the nature and dynamics of violence against women.

Closer collaboration among all players in the family justice system can only result in better understanding of the particular circumstances and risks of women who are victims of violence in relationships and more effective service delivery to these women.

d. Information for Women on their Rights, Obligations and Opportunities Recommendation

Develop strategies to help ensure that abused women, including women whose first language is not English and women who face other communication challenges are informed about their legal rights in the family justice process, including:

designating formalized access points for the dissemination of legal information in communities and training agency staff in provision of legal information. These access points could include women-serving agencies, immigrant-serving and settlement agencies, native friendship centres, etc;

developing, widely promoting, and delivering a course, in partnership with women-serving agencies, to assist abused women with the post-separation legal process so that


they know: their rights and obligations; what legal assistance, advice and support is available to them; and what questions to ask of their lawyers and other helpers. Courses should be available in languages other than English, where required, and content should include information about legal rights and obligations with respect to not only family law, but also immigration and refugee law, poverty law, child protection, aboriginal law, and mental health law. Course content should be developed from a safety perspective, keeping in mind the dynamics of violence against women in relationships;

developing accompanying educational materials (in print as well as online) to explain these rights and opportunities in plain language and in languages other than English, and updating existing public legal education materials to include information on these legal rights, obligations, and opportunities.

This workshop and related educational materials should be developed by a partnership of organizations with expertise in the area, such as LSS, the Justice Institute of BC, Victim Services and Community Programs Division, Continuing Legal Education Society of BC, the Law Foundation, front-line and provincial women-serving organizations, multi-cultural and aboriginal organizations, and organizations serving other diverse groups of women. Consideration should be given to pro-active referral strategies and other methods for ensuring that women who could benefit from these workshops access them;

educating family law lawyers about the rights and opportunities available to litigants in family law matters, as well as with respect to immigration and refugee law, poverty law, child protection issues, and aboriginal law to ensure that abused women who are their clients can take advantage of them; and

reinstating PLE grants at the local level to provide workshops and other public events to inform victims, agency staff, advocates and the general public about issues related to family law.

Rationale While much useful information has been/is being produced for women dealing with

family law matters, there are gaps in that information and in how it is being accessed.

These gaps and problems with access are particularly acute for immigrant and refugee women, women who live in poverty, women with low literacy skills, rural or isolated women, women with mental health problems, and women who do not have access to computers or to the Web.

Making print resources available through a variety of organizations already utilized by women may help address this issue. The utilization of these organizations as formal access points to provide legal information could ensure the provision of information to significant numbers of women who need it, at relatively modest cost.

Workshops available as a resource to which women-serving agencies or the courts can direct abused women may offer an effective way to inform women about their rights and options.

Workshops and print resources available in a variety of languages and that deal with the links between family law, criminal law, poverty law, aboriginal law, and immigrant and


refugee law will help to inform all women about what they need to know when dealing with the family law system.

PLE events at a local level are in a particularly good position to gauge and respond to family law issues of importance to members of that community.

e. Family Duty Counsel Recommendation Continue and enhance the availability and accessibility of family duty counsel by:

continuing to fund family duty counsel on an ongoing basis;

expanding availability of family duty counsel in Provincial Courts to meet the demand;

making family duty counsel available in all Supreme Court locations in the province on an ongoing basis and facilitating interpretation services for non-English speakers; and

implementing the expanded family duty counsel model where circumstances permit.

Rationale

The introduction of family duty counsel into Provincial Courts across the province has been generally well received.

Criticisms have included the time-limited nature of the funding and the fact that duty counsel is often hard to access because of their limited availability and high demand for their services.

The limited role of traditional duty counsel is such that advice beyond first appearance, extended or multiple appointments for advice and assistance, and assistance with preparing documents is not possible, as is with the Expanded Family Duty Counsel project.

The evaluation of the expanded family duty counsel project at the Robson Street Court House was a positive one (see Appendix C: References, Focus Consultants).

Unrepresented women forced to use the Supreme Court because of the nature of their legal problem or because their partner (or his lawyer) has chosen this route (often in a deliberate attempt to place her at a disadvantage) face serious difficulties. The nature of Supreme Court proceedings is such that services provided by duty counsel, and especially by duty counsel with an enhanced mandate as per the expanded family duty counsel project, could make a difference to an unrepresented client in understanding the process and her rights and options for resolving her legal problems.

Given the limited availability and role of duty counsel, a problem-solving approach taken by skilled duty counsel could be helpful to some women.


f. Revised Use of Supreme Court Recommendation Take steps toward a long-term goal of simplifying and restricting the use of Supreme Court in family law matters by:

advocating for revision of the rules governing use of Supreme Court to restrict its use to matters involving division of property and to change the rules to allow custody and access matters to be heard only in Provincial Court; and

simplifying requirements in Supreme Court to make it more user-friendly and in line with requirements of Provincial Court.

Rationale Participants frequently raised the issue of the complexities of Supreme Court and the fact

that unrepresented clients have much more difficulty dealing with the requirements of Supreme Court than they do in Provincial Court.

Some family law matters, such as custody and access, can be heard in either Provincial or Supreme Court.

As a form of “litigation harassment”, abusive men who are represented by counsel are apparently increasingly opting for Supreme Court in order to cause greater difficulty for their estranged partners.

g. Multi-disciplinary Service Approach Recommendation Establish a multi-disciplinary working group, including representatives from government, LSS, women-serving agencies, diversity groups, the Bar Association, the Law Society, provincial anti-violence organizations, provincial educational institutions and potential funders to explore the development of a multi-disciplinary approach to family law services that:

builds on and links with existing services;

utilizes the least expensive services (community-based information, support and legal advocacy services) first, and the most expensive services (lawyers) last;

utilizes an effective intake function to direct clients to appropriate services and to make pro-active referrals to services both within and outside of the service delivery model;

takes account of risk factors in determining priority for service;

provides flexibility in the provision of services to meet the needs of working women, women with children, women who live in poverty, and women who speak languages other than English;

provides for effective ways to meet the needs of a range of diversity groups and women with special needs, including consideration of, for example, the provision of services out of existing multi-cultural or immigrant-serving agencies;


considers way to provide provincial coverage through web-based services and interactive online options (such as, for example, the Povnet model); and

utilizes an effective case management approach that ensures cost-effective use of resources.

Rationale

A multi-disciplinary approach is fundamental to making the best use of existing services to meet the full range of abused women’s needs. Such an approach can be adopted whether or not all the services are gathered together under one roof.

The use of family law legal advocates and/or victim services to work with family law lawyers to provide assistance and support to abused women proceeding through the family law system utilizes a multi-disciplinary approach to service delivery. However, the issue of developing a stand-alone multi-disciplinary model under one roof requires study beyond the scope of this paper. BC has much to learn from jurisdictions where stand-alone multi-disciplinary models have been developed, including Ontario, Manitoba, and some US states, such as Hawaii.

A multi-disciplinary model operating under one roof has the potential for building awareness and expertise in family law and related areas on a local, regional or provincial basis by serving as a “centre of excellence”. Such “centres of excellence” could provide training, consultation and even services to other areas of the province.

A working group could address the “specialized centre debate” that always accompanies consideration of specialized approaches requiring concentration of funding and expertise in one or a few locations. There are persuasive arguments that focusing efforts and funding on a small number of specialized “legal centres” will funnel attention and funds away from the province-wide need for adequate family law services for all women or all abused women in BC and adequate training for all family law practitioners in BC. The argument against such specialized centres includes concern that such centres are always located in urban areas, leaving rural and isolated areas under-served or un-served.

Similar arguments were advanced some years ago in response to the idea of a specialized family violence court in BC. There are many who now believe that the decision not to go forward with a specialized family court was a mistake, and that, as a result, BC lost an opportunity to provide a focal point for innovation, specialization and excellence that could have had a ripple affect on developments throughout the province.

Resolving this debate is beyond the scope of this paper. However, a Working Group to examine this issue in greater detail will be a positive step towards determining the most effective multi-disciplinary approaches for BC.

h. Effective Intake Function Recommendation Whatever the family law service:

incorporate effective intake procedures so that women are directed to the most appropriate service from the outset, starting with the most appropriate and cost-effective service; and

ensure that staff in all family law services are well-trained in intake or triage functions. Family Law Services for Women Who are Victims of Violence: What Can Be Done? 25 BC Association of Specialized Victim Assistance and Counselling Programs March 2005

Rationale

Effective intake services will make the most cost-effective use of existing services and minimize frustration for the woman and for service providers.

However, effective intake services depend also upon having adequate and appropriate services to which to refer, including legal representation and services that can meet the needs of immigrants, others with language challenges, and other diversity groups.

i. Training

Recommendation Ensure high quality specialized training for all those working in the family law area, including family law lawyers, law students, family justice counsellors, family law legal advocates, victim service workers and intake workers. Such training should be incorporated into all levels of training for all those who work in the family law area, including curricula at professional schools and continuing professional education. In addition to the appropriate levels of knowledge about family law, training should include:

the nature and dynamics of violence against women;

risk factors for women who are victims of violence;

assessing risk and creating realistic safety plans

particular needs of aboriginal people, immigrants or refugees, people with disabilities, those who live in poverty or those with other special needs;

the intersections between family law and immigration, refugee, aboriginal, poverty, disability and child protection law; and

effective triage and referral procedures.

Develop and deliver this training through a partnership that includes the women-serving, victim-serving, aboriginal-serving and immigrant-serving communities as well as LSS, the Law Foundation, Continuing Legal Education, the Bar Association, the Law Society, the law schools, the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, the Ministry of Attorney General, and the Justice Institute of BC. Rationale

The need for all those working in the area of family law to be well trained, not only in family law matters but in violence issues, assessing risk, and in other areas of the law impacting on family law, was raised over and over again throughout this project.

How this training is developed, delivered and encouraged will depend on a number of factors, including the discipline to which the training is directed. However, where a multi-disciplinary service approach is a goal, at least some of that training should be developed and delivered within a multi-disciplinary context.

There is already a great deal of expertise in the field about the needs of abused women dealing with family law matters. This expertise should be utilized in the development and delivery of any new or enhanced training for family law service providers.


3. Summary In summary, the recommendations of this paper suggest that government, Legal Services Society, family lawyers, community-based service providers and funders:

• focus increased effort and funds on the most serious gaps in the legal system for women seeking help in family law matters, including legal representation for those cases where alternative strategies are not sufficient or appropriate;

• do more of what works, starting with the most cost-effective strategies, including increased use of family law legal advocates, with designated lawyers for supervision; increased use of victim services; enhanced family law duty counsel, and simplified use of Supreme Court;

• continue to educate women and their advocates about what is available to them so that they can take advantage of existing rights and services;

• explore the development and enhancement of collaborative, multi-disciplinary approaches and multi-disciplinary centres in order to provide a range of options to abused women facing family law issues; and

• make every effort to ensure that all those working in the field of family law are knowledgeable and well-trained not only in the area of family law, but in issues relating to violence, child protection, and to immigration and refugee, aboriginal, poverty, mental health and disability law.


Appendix A Key Existing Services

1. Legal Aid a. Current Situation While some Legal Aid still exists for abused women in BC, the cutbacks to Legal Aid over the past decade have resulted in significant difficulties for abused women in obtaining representation from a Legal Aid lawyer in family law matters. There are 28 offices LSS offices in the province where women can apply for Legal Aid in a family law matter. Family law referrals have substantially decreased as a result of recent cuts. In 2003/04, referrals totalled 4,410, compared to 11,112 in 2001/02 (see Legal Services Society Annual Service Plan Report, 2003/2004).

The Legal Services Society website states that, in addition to financial eligibility requirements, Legal Aid is available in cases of “serious family problems” if:

• you need a restraining order or a change to your current custody or access order because you or your children are at risk of physical violence;

• you need a supervised access order because your children are at risk,

• the other parent is threatening to take your child out of the province permanently, or

• the Ministry of Children and Family Development has taken, or threatens to take, your child away from you.

The website also states that: You may also be eligible for legal aid for a serious family problem if one of the following circumstances applies to you:

• You cannot represent yourself due to a serious condition or disability and your family matter must be resolved to avoid further harm.

• There are references in your court documents to past sexual, physical, or emotional abuse and the offending parent or partner is back in the community.

• The parent with access has kidnapped your child and there is an existing custody order or separation agreement.

• You are the respondent in a maintenance enforcement committal proceeding and will be sent to jail as a result of your failure to pay maintenance.

• There has been complete denial of access for three months or more in breach of a court order or separation agreement.

• Other unusual or extenuating circumstances have arisen. and

• Your case is approved by an LSS field operations manager. There is also an Exceptions Review Process at LSS which allows for flexibility in some cases. The manager of the Exceptions Review Process works out of LSS Head Office; in regional centres appeals of coverage not based on finances are handled by managing lawyers.

Representation services for family law problems are usually limited to one emergency referral to obtain a consent or interim order on a variety of issues, including custody, access, maintenance orders and restraining orders. The tariff allows eight hours for preparation, plus additional Family Law Services for Women Who are Victims of Violence: What Can Be Done? 28 BC Association of Specialized Victim Assistance and Counselling Programs March 2005

blocks of time for additional categories of work, including preparing for a hearing (Legal Aid will fund only one hearing) plus the actual time a lawyer spends in court. The LSS tariff will pay counsel up to three hours to prepare a client for mediation. b. Limitations

Eligibility for Legal Aid: requirement of violence

Most participants felt that family law Legal Aid eligibility guidelines are too restrictive for women who are victims of violence or at risk. In addition, not every woman who is in an abusive relationship is in a position to articulate the abuse. At the very least, specific questions should be asked about women’s safety – questions that take account of different situations and cultural contexts so that they maximize a woman’s opportunity to disclose any risks to her safety.

Many participants said that, in practice, women have to provide ‘evidence’ of violence or risk, which creates difficulties for women who, because of fear or shame or because they have not defined themselves as victims of violence, have not disclosed the violence or threats to health care professionals, police, friends or family. Participants’ experience of clients’ eligibility on the basis of documented violence sometimes differed from the official LSS position that the violence does not have to be “proven” and that a woman’s history of violence is often based on her word only.

Some participants pointed out that women who are victims of violence but who have no documented history of violence are open to accusations of fabricating the abuse in order to be eligible for Legal Aid.

Many participants said that, in practice, violence is interpreted as physical violence where a restraining order is required, and does not take account of abusive power and control tactics or other forms of abuse. Participants’ experience of clients’ eligibility on the basis of physical violence sometimes differed from the official LSS position that the violence does not have to be physical.

Many participants said that decision-making around Legal Aid eligibility is inconsistent. These participants said that some decision makers interpret the criteria more liberally than others; for example, some decision makers reportedly allow coverage on the basis of abusive power and control dynamics in the relationship that threaten the safety of the woman, while others do not.

While some have argued that the violence requirement should be abolished and that Legal Aid eligibility should be on the basis of need, others argue that abused women should continue to get priority for Legal Aid, but that the definition of violence should be broadened to include abusive power and control issues and that the woman’s identification of violence in the relationship should be adequate “proof” that violence is an issue.

Many participants pointed out that LSS Legal Aid guidelines need clarification to eliminate confusion and inconsistency in their interpretation for Legal Aid eligibility and that LSS staff need adequate training to ensure that they thoroughly understand the continuum of violence from abuse of power and control through to physical and sexual violence, that staff are skilled at questioning women about their safety, and that there is consistency in the way eligibility guidelines are applied.


There is concern among some that if violence is eliminated as a criterion for Legal Aid eligibility women who are abused and who are therefore in urgent need of Legal Aid may not get the priority services that are needed to enhance their safety.

Eligibility: financial criteria

Allowable income levels are too low; the financial eligibility level excludes the working poor who cannot afford to hire a lawyer. The gap between who is eligible for Legal Aid and who can afford to pay for a lawyer is significant and widens with every cutback.

The criteria are too inflexible, allowing little room for discretion of the intake worker.

Eligibility is not based on need and does not take account of women’s life circumstances.

Limitations of what legal aid will cover Legal Aid applies to emergency situations only, allowing for only initial coverage, including

one hearing. It does not cover trial or procedures after the initial crisis.

Eight hours is too limited for lawyers to adequately prepare to represent women in most family law matters, including many emergency situations. Thus, women are left without legal coverage a short distance into their case.

The biggest gap for abused women is where there is conflict and the abuser keeps using the legal system and goes to trial or wants to vary an order. It is increasingly recognized that some abusers are using the legal system to continue to harass and control their ex-partners, particularly where he has counsel and she cannot afford counsel.

Availability of quality services Increasingly, family law lawyers will not take on Legal Aid cases because there is not

enough money or time to do them adequately or ethically. Family law lawyers who take on Legal Aid cases face financial issues as well as liability issues for not providing adequate services where the woman is vulnerable or at risk.

There may be only one Legal Aid lawyer in a town who may be working for the other partner. Legal Aid will not pay travel costs to another community to access a lawyer.

There is a lack of training for Legal Aid lawyers in gender issues in family law matters, including violence, abusive power dynamics, and risks to women’s safety.

Quality control and accountability mechanisms related to Legal Aid services are often inadequate.

2. Legal Aid Staff Lawyers/Clinics a. Current Situation While there are fewer LSS staff lawyers and legal clinics providing family law services than there were prior to cuts, there is still a small number remaining. There is a LSS family law clinic in Vancouver and LSS family law lawyers or teams in Kamloops, Prince George, Terrace and Victoria Regional Centres.

LSS staff lawyers are generally guided by the terms of the retainer set out in the Tariff. In other words, they provide the same service as the private bar – representation.


There is no definitive answer as to whether the clinic/staff model of providing Legal Aid services is preferable to or more cost-effective than the private bar model. The current Tariff pays family law lawyers $72.00 an hour and the hours are capped. Staff lawyers cost more per hour but are able to provide a broader range of services. Studies have shown that the mixed model, including staff lawyers and the Private Bar, is preferable because clients can be streamed to different services depending on their needs.

b. Limitations

There are significantly fewer family law Legal Aid clinics and LSS staff lawyers than there have been in the past, substantially reducing choice for abused women in need of family law Legal Aid services. In most areas of the province, women do not have access to LSS staff lawyers or Legal Aid clinics.

3. Private Bar a. Current Situation

Abused women who need family law legal services but are not eligible for Legal Aid or who do qualify for Legal Aid but discover that Legal Aid cannot cover all their legal needs must either represent themselves or hire a private lawyer. Some abused women can afford to hire their own lawyer. Others may find a combination of Legal Aid and contracted legal representation or advice to be financially possible. Lawyer Referral (a program whereby a lawyer provides a half hour of legal advice for ten dollars) is also a limited option. In some infrequent instances a lawyer may take on all or part of a case pro bono as part of their contribution to the community.

b. Limitations

Cost Full representation costs a high hourly rate (varies across the province) and usually the client must come up with a retainer of several thousand dollars in advance.

Not all lawyers are willing to work within a woman's limited budget and to be creative about the pieces of work she and/or her advocate can do to cut costs.

While Lawyer Referral costs only ten dollars for half an hour of legal consultation, lawyers consulted under this program cannot provide representation.

Understanding of the issues Not all family law practitioners understand the dynamics of violence or abusive power and control within relationships.

Not all lawyers understand the need for a holistic approach to family law problems or are willing to include advocates or victim service workers in planning or interviews.

4. Family Law Duty Counsel a. Current Situation Family duty counsel services are now available in the Vancouver Supreme Court and in 45 provincial courts across BC. According to the Inventory of Family Justice Services in British Columbia (see Appendix C: References), the projects provide two duty counsel on family list


days (first time court appearances for Family Relations Act and Child, Family and Community Service Act matters) primarily to those who meet the LSS income test for advice services. Duty counsel can give up to three hours of advice and speak on the client’s behalf in court on simple matters, including interim and ex parte orders, such as restraining orders. They can provide help preparing consent orders for family agreements and uncontested custody, access or support hearings.

In Vancouver, Surrey and Port Coquitlam, counsel can take appointments for advice as well as see clients on a drop-in basis. At other locations, family duty counsel is a drop-in service and people are helped on a first come, first served basis. Counsel first help people who have matters in court that day, but assist others once they are not needed in court.

The expanded Vancouver model is co-housed with Family Justice Counsellors, permitting for easy referrals and a close working relationship. Co-housing provides greater flexibility for clients as lawyers are available five days a week. Significantly, a Family Justice Services staff member acts in a triage capacity to meet clients and refer them to the proper resource. Because that staff is exempt from conflict rules, she is able to store and maintain client files at the duty counsel office for all the lawyers providing duty counsel service, improving continuity of service to clients.

In an evaluation done in fall 2003, clients, judges, and lawyers found the services of the expanded duty counsel project valuable and were very supportive of them. b. Limitations Family Duty Counsel were praised by many participants. However, the primary weaknesses of the Duty Counsel Project are that: duty counsel provide legal advice but cannot take on the whole case or provide legal representation; they can provide only up to three hours of advice; the demands on duty counsel’s time far exceed their availability; and the service focuses on Provincial Court clients, leaving most Supreme Court clients without service. Supreme Court is the legal arena where rules and matters are most complex..

Additionally, women do not have a choice about who they can go to for advice in this situation. Even if duty counsel do not have a good understanding of the gendered nature of family law matters or of the nature and dynamics of violence against women in relationships, the woman has little choice about seeking free advice elsewhere.

Currently, these services are time-limited, scheduled to run until March, 2005.

The Expanded Family Duty Counsel service (also currently time-limited) is available only at the Vancouver Robson Square courthouse. The lack of availability of this expanded model in other areas reinforces inequities between urban and rural locations in BC.

5. Other LSS Legal Advice Services a. Current Situation Other legal advice services offered by LSS that can provide advice on family law matters include: the LawLINE, the Family Advice Lawyers Project, and the Supreme Court Advice Lawyer Project.

LawLINE is a service for people who cannot afford a lawyer and do not qualify for Legal Aid. It is a toll-free line where lawyers and paralegals provide information, assistance, referrals and Family Law Services for Women Who are Victims of Violence: What Can Be Done? 32 BC Association of Specialized Victim Assistance and Counselling Programs March 2005

legal advice that may include written opinions and advice, correspondence, help writing documents, and contact with third parties, but does not include representation in court or any other hearing.

The Family Advice Lawyers Project can provide up to three hours of free legal advice about custody, access, guardianship, child support, property (limited), tentative settlement agreement, and court procedures to women meeting the eligibility criteria for FJC dispute resolution services (although according to the Inventory of Family Justice Services, the advice lawyers provide service to those who are referred, even when they are outside the strict eligibility requirements, including those involved in Supreme Court matters, or where violence is an issue.)

This service is a joint project of LSS and the Ministry of Attorney General’s Family Justice Services Division. It is available in family justice counsellors’ offices in Kamloops, Kelowna, Prince George, Surrey, Vancouver and Victoria. Clients must be referred by a family justice counsellor or child support officer. The Supreme Court Advice Lawyer Project may provide up to three hours of free legal advice to low income parents experiencing separation or divorce. Project lawyers can provide advice about custody, access, guardianship, child support, property (limited), tentative settlement agreements, and court procedures. This project operates in Supreme Court in Kamloops, Kelowna, Prince George, Terrace, Vancouver, and Victoria.

b. Limitations These services are advice services only. Those providing the advice cannot take on the whole case or provide representation.

Except for the LawLINE, which is available province-wide, these advice services are available only in certain locations.

While there is no eligibility test for LawLINE legal information and referral services, eligibility for legal advice is based on income, as are Family Advice Project services. Income levels for eligibility for these services are too low.

Services are time-limited. Advice Lawyer Projects can provide only up to three hours of advice. Most LawLINE callers who qualify for legal advice can receive up to three hours of help, depending on the circumstances of the case.

Respondents reported that long wait times made the LawLINE difficult and frustrating to access. Additionally, this service is accessible only to those who have a phone and the language skills and comfort level for talking on the phone, especially when the subject is highly sensitive and legally complex. The LawLINE advice services also depend upon the lawyer or paralegals on the other end of the line being well trained and highly skilled in providing family law legal advice over the telephone.

These advice projects are currently time-limited projects. Their extension beyond the end of March, 2005 depends upon the availability of funding.


6. Legal Information a. Current Situation A number of legal information resources have been developed both before and after the most recent cuts to legal services in BC. These include the Ministry of Attorney General Family Justice Enquiry Line and Website, LSS Family Law Website, and information resources for unrepresented litigants.

b. Limitations

Usefulness of information resources While these were considered useful resources for some people trying to navigate the family law system in BC, including both clients and their advocates, they are not substitutes for real people providing in-person assistance, support and, where necessary, representation. The drawbacks of these resources are particularly acute for women who have limited or no English language skills, have limited literacy skills, or are not familiar with the Canadian justice system. Information services that are increasingly web-based also are not useful to women who do not have computer skills or access to the web.

The information currently being developed and piloted for unrepresented litigants is particularly worthy of comment. Participants felt that this information may be more valuable for advocates and service providers than for most abused women themselves. One comment was indicative of the attitude of most participants towards this initiative:

I appreciate what they are trying to do, to make things better for people, but this initiative is trying to make mini-lawyers out of clients. People go to law school for years to learn how to represent people in court and they are trying to do this in a matter of hours. It just doesn’t make sense.

Gaps in information and access Respondents pointed out that access to available information is often a significant problem for abused women, particularly as resources become more web-based. There are many obstacles to use of the internet as a source of family law information, including lack of availability of materials in languages other than English, lack of access to computers, lack of familiarity with computers or web-based resources, and the complexity of the materials. As web-based materials increasingly become the norm, print resources become correspondingly scarce. This results in a serious lack of resources for women who speak languages other than English, poor women, and women who, for one reason or another, cannot access the web.

A further disadvantage of web-based materials is the fact that community agencies are often forced to print out lengthy informational resources for the women who use their services, placing a further strain on agencies’ dwindling resources.

Although web-based information is helpful for some women who are computer literate and have access to a computer (and may be especially helpful for advocates and support workers), it does not replace a conversation with a lawyer. For example, women may need to make decisions about using the court process or mediation. They may need to make a decision about signing a separation agreement or getting a consent order from the court. The information they obtain from a conversation with a lawyer in order to make these decisions cannot be provided by a website.


Furthermore, cuts to LSS Public Legal Education (PLE) grants to local communities have resulted in the loss of an important source of legal education at the local level for clients, agencies, advocates and the general public.

7. Student Legal Clinics a. Current Situation Legal clinics utilizing law students operate out of both the University of Victoria Law School. and the University of BC Law School. University of Victoria operates the Law Centre which works out of one clinic location in downtown Victoria. UBC operates the Law Students Legal Advice Program (LSLAP) through a non-profit society run by law students. It currently staffs more than 25 legal clinics across Greater Vancouver, operating out of such locations as community centres and neighbourhood houses.

Students in both clinics, supervised by a lawyer, provide advice, assistance and representation in certain areas of the law to clients who are not eligible for legal aid but who can not afford a lawyer. Both clinics also serve public education functions.

LSLAP does not currently provide any assistance in family law matters. The U Vic Law Centre will assist with simple, uncontested divorces where custody, access, maintenance and property division have already been settled. It will also assist unrepresented persons with document preparation in Family Court with respect to support, custody, access and Family Relations Act orders. Students are trained in the nature and dynamics of violence against women in relationships, the legal options available to protect at-risk women, and other options such as appropriate referrals.

b. Limitations LSLAP provides no family law services. U Vic Law Centre students are able to provide service only in relatively low risk situations. Family law services are limited to legal advice, some document preparation, and representation on simple matters. Students are not able to represent clients in custody and access proceedings or in Supreme Court matters, including judicial case conferences or in Chambers.

While students at the U Vic Law Centre receive training on the nature and dynamics of violence against women in relationships, they are not trained to question women in the interview process about the presence of violence in the relationship. The intake form does not include a question about whether violence has been present in the relationship.

If students may be assisting women in situations where violence is an issue, they need to be able to identify those situations and be well trained and supervised to both ask women about the presence of violence in the relationship and to facilitate appropriate safety measures for these women, including appropriate legal safeguards and effective referrals.

Additionally, student clinics are restricted to very limited law school locations. Women in the rest of the province have no access to this service, reinforcing urban-rural inequities in the province.


8. Pro Bono Clinics a. Current Situation The Western Canada Society to Access Justice (“Access Justice”) and the Salvation Army have established approximately 52 pro bono legal clinics in BC, where some 600 lawyers provide free services to eligible clients. Eligible clients include those who cannot afford a lawyer and who are not eligible for legal aid. Clinics operate mostly out of social agencies, churches and synagogues, usually for two hours a week. A pro bono group offers duty counsel assistance in New Westminster Supreme Court.

Depending on the clinic, clients can make an appointment for a half-hour or longer session of legal information, advice and referral. Follow-up appointments are available.

b. Limitations Pro bono lawyers provide information and advice only. They do not prepare legal documents and do not provide legal representation. They may not have any special training in family law or in family law situations where violence is an issue. The lack of consistency may also present a problem for some women, as a returning client may not get advice from the same lawyer whom she saw on an earlier visit.

Pro bono clinics are also not widely available in small communities.

9. Family Justice Centres a. Current Situation Family Justice Counsellors (FJCs) work out of Family Justice Centres around the province. They are accredited family mediators who provide dispute resolution services to help separating and divorcing parents resolve issues of custody, access, guardianship and child and spousal support. FJCs also provide a limited number of custody and access reports upon order of the court. Priority for custody and access reports is given to situations where one or both clients are unrepresented or represented by counsel appointed by Legal Aid and one or more of the following factors are present:

safety of children is in question;

violence is or has been a factor in the relationship;

repeated and extended denial of access is alleged; and

another jurisdiction is required to complete the report.

FJCs make referrals to Legal Aid, other legal services, as well as community resources for families facing separation and divorce. They are trained to identify safety issues within family relationships and will refer individuals to emergency services and other resources when violence has occurred. As part of their dispute resolution services, FJCs provide emotional support and short term counselling related to issues arising out of separation and divorce. FJCs also provide assistance and support to women seeking ex parte orders (orders instigated without the other party having had notice of the application, often in an emergency situation.)

Initial contacts with both partners are conducted separately and mediation or conciliation is offered only if both parents can commit themselves to the process without coercion and can


cooperate in equitably settling issues. The policy is that dispute resolution services are not offered if any of the following factors could interfere with reaching a fair agreement: power imbalances, safety issues relating to family violence, substance abuse or mental illness. Family Justice Services Division offers an array of dispute resolution services, including conciliation whereby the parties do not meet in person. FJCs will also work with just one client in assisting them toward a resolution of their family law issues.

Family Justice Services Division provides Parenting After Separation sessions and Supervised Access and Access Exchange services through contracts with local community service providers. Parenting After Separation Programs are three-hour sessions that are offered to separating parents to help them understand the impact of separation and divorce on children, how they can best help their children and conflict resolution alternatives for parents. In ten BC communities, attendance is mandatory for provincial court applicants/respondents. In eight other communities, attendance is voluntary. In Supreme Court, judges can mandate attendance as part of a judicial case conference.

b. Limitations

Mandate of Family Justice Counsellors Both the number of Family Justice Centres and the number of FJCs working out of the Centres are limited. The services provided by Family Justice Centres are therefore not available in all communities in the province. In smaller communities that offer Parenting After Separation Programs, the number of offerings per year is limited.

The role of FJCs has been changed in recent years to focus on assistance for families of modest means and on mediation and conciliation services. Where there is violence, after an emergency situation has been dealt with, they are able to provide little service beyond information and referral. Their role with respect to providing custody and access reports to the court is limited.

A number of respondents commented that changes in the role of FJC’s over the past eight years or so have resulted in marginalization of the FJCs in providing support to women in the family justice process, and a significant loss to the system.

Understanding power and control dynamics Significant efforts have been and are being made in Family Justice Services to address issues of violence and abusive power and control dynamics in relationships, including extensive training to address these issues. However, concern remains amongst many community-based service providers that not all FJCs are equally knowledgeable about these issues or equally cognizant of the risks to women’s safety of mediating in situations where violence or imbalance of power is an issue. Concern was also expressed that not all FJCs are equally knowledgeable about inequalities based on gender, race, class and other sources of social inequality.

There is a perception problem among many women-serving agencies that FJCs can work only with both partners, even in an abusive relationship; that FJCs only do mediation; and that, in providing mediation, they do not effectively screen out violence. It may be that many of these perceptions are based on historical concerns, which the Family Justice Services Division has addressed. However, these perceptions continue, in some situations, to create misunderstanding about the role of FJCs.


10. Family Law Advocates a. Current Situation The Law Foundation of BC funds 45 legal advocates whose work may include some family law matters and four who focus on family law work exclusively. These advocates work out of community agencies. Their primary focus is to help women “navigate” the family law and child protection systems. They assist women to identify and prioritize their legal needs, to choose realistic and fair legal solutions to their problems, and to strategize effective ways to build their case. Family law advocates provide clients with legal information, practical support, assistance with forms and legal documents, some accompaniment to legal appointments and to court, and referral to lawyers for legal advice and representation. Legal supervision – a requirement of both the Law Foundation and the Law Society - is provided by lawyers practicing in the community.

While there are no formal training requirements, annual training opportunities are provided to Law Foundation legal advocates in their continuing programs. Advocacy training provided to legal advocates by LSS and the Law Foundation was praised by legal advocates who had taken it.

b. Limitations

Availability of quality services Where they exist, legal advocates appear to work well – in some cases extremely well - to provide valuable family law services and help fill gaps left by service cuts, but there are not enough of them and very few focus on family law work.

Skill levels There are no formalized training requirements for Law Foundation funded advocates. Combined with a lack of consistency in agency hiring practices, the result is significant inconsistencies among skill levels of legal advocates.

Collaboration with victim services Some advocates point out the value of a collaborative working relationship with victim services, preferably within the same agency, to provide a fuller range of services for abused women going through the family law system. It was argued by some participants that the effectiveness of the family law advocate role depends upon that collaborative relationship and upon cross-training between the two disciplines so that family law advocates understand their roles and responsibilities from a victim perspective. However, currently victim services are not formally mandated to work within the family law context and do so only by assuming some flexibility with their mandates.

Agency mandates There are inconsistencies among agencies regarding roles and responsibilities of advocates, resulting in some advocates working within relatively limited mandates and others working within broad mandates.


11. Victim Support a. Current Situation There are over150 victim service programs in BC, including approximately 60 community-based programs specializing in services to women and children who are victims of family and sexual violence. Where community-based victim services exist (in communities over 20,000), they have the mandate to provide services to abused women. Victim services’ role is to provide victims with information, emotional support, assistance with forms, support and accompaniment through the justice system, safety planning and referral.

In addition, transition houses, Stopping the Violence Counselling Programs, women’s centres and police-based victim service programs may play an integral role in assisting abused women who are dealing with family law problems.

The Family Law Resource Manual for Community-based Advocates Assisting Women Dealing with Violence Issues was produced by the BC Association of Specialized Victim Assistance and Counselling Programs in conjunction with the BC/Yukon Society of Transition Houses. Training based on this manual was also provided to community-based victim services and advocates in 14 sites around the province. Participants who had received the manual and/or the training considered both to be very useful resources for those working with abused women dealing with family law matters.

b. Limitations

Mandate of victim service workers The mandate of victim services in BC has always been to provide assistance to crime victims as they proceed through the criminal justice process. However, increasingly, particularly as cuts to LSS have eroded the level of support provided to women in the family law area, victim services – and especially community-based victim services - have been called upon to support women as they proceed through the family justice system.

In 2003-04, the victim services contract was changed to take out the word “criminal” to allow for liability coverage when services were provided in the family law area. The intent was not to encourage increased victim service work on family law matters, but to acknowledge programs’ current realities and to provide appropriate liability coverage.

Providing service to abused women through the family law system may be appropriate for community-based specialized victim service programs, but it is generally not a service considered appropriate within the mandate of police-based programs, and, in particular, RCMP-based programs. Therefore, any community under 20,000, with only a police-based program, will generally not receive this additional service, whether or not victim services contracts are changed to enable this service.

Workload issues Even though their contract has now been altered to cover victim services providing support in family law matters, most victim service programs do not have staff or available hours to do this work. Most victim service programs were already over-extended before funding cuts were made in 2002. After these cuts, many programs were left with significantly reduced staff hours. As family law matters can be complex and traumatic, the amount of time required to inform, assist


and support these women can be substantial. Victim service programs are not in a position to provide these additional services without additional funding.

Training Although the Family Law Resource Manual and accompanying training have recently been provided to victim service workers, victim service worker training to date addresses issues of family law only as they relate to criminal proceedings.


Appendix B

Key informants Shashi Assanand, Executive Director, Vancouver and Lower Mainland Multicultural Family Support Services, Burnaby

Penny Bain, Executive Director, BC Institute Against Family Violence, Vancouver

Morgen Baldwin, Regional Coordinator, Community Coordination for Women’s Safety, BC Association of Specialized Victim Assistance and Counselling Programs, Prince George

Dave Boychuk, A/Senior policy Analyst, Legal Access Policy Division, Ministry of Attorney General

Alison Brewin, Program Director, West Coast LEAF, Vancouver

Lorraine Cameron, Status of Women Canada, Vancouver (brief contact)

Jane Coombe, Policy Analyst, Victim Services and Community Programs Division, Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, Victoria

Cameron Cowper, Research Officer, Legal Access Policy Division, Ministry of Attorney General, Victoria (brief contact)

Heather Cunningham, Family Law Lawyer, Vancouver, BC

Roz Currie, Policy Analyst, Victim Services and Community Programs Division, Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, Vancouver

Susanne Dahlin, Executive Director, Victim Services and Community Programs Division, Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, Vancouver

James Deitch, Manager, Tariff Services/Audit & Investigation, Legal Services Society, Vancouver

Nancy Drewitt, Vancouver Custody and Access Support and Advocacy Association, Vancouver

Gail Edinger, Regional Coordinator, Community Coordination for Women’s Safety Project of the BC Association of Specialized Victim Assistance and Counselling Programs, 100 Mile House

Freda Ens, Victim Services and Community Programs Division, Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, Vancouver

Glenn Gallins, Director, Victoria Law Centre, Victoria

Kasari Govender, Law Student, Victoria Law Centre, Victoria

Cindy Holmes, BC Association of Specialized Victim Assistance and Counselling Programs, Vancouver

Ranjit Kanda, Vancouver & Lower Mainland Multi-Cultural Family Support Services, Burnaby

Hirome Kase, Vancouver & Lower Mainland Multi-Cultural Family Support Services, Burnaby


Wynn Lewis, Barrister and Solicitor, Legal Officer, Seconded to Dispute Resolution Office, Ministry of Attorney General, Victoria

Heidi Mason, Legal Services Society, Vancouver

Carol McEown, Manager, Information Services, Legal Services Society, Vancouver

Sherry MacLennan, Coordinator, Service Projects, Legal Services Society, Vancouver

Cheryl Meyers, New Westminster Police-based Victim Services, New Westminster

Shauna Morgan, Justice Services Branch, Victoria

Marilyn Morrice, A/Director, Manitoba Justice, Victim Services, Winnipeg

Daphne Morrison, Program Coordinator, Law Foundation of BC, Vancouver

Elaine Morton, Co-coordinator, .Spousal Assault Victim Support Program, Victoria

Forrest Nelson, Managing Lawyer, Victoria Regional Centre, Legal Services Society, Victoria

Kathyrn Platt, Program Analyst, Justice Services Branch, Victoria

Tracy Porteous, Executive Director, BC Association of Specialized Victim Assistance and Counselling Programs, Vancouver

Shahnaz Rahman, Coordinator of Children’s Services, BC/Yukon Society of Transition Houses, Vancouver

Gayla Reid, Consultant, Burnaby

Carol Ross, Nelson Advocacy Centre and BC Association of Specialized Victim Assistance and Counselling Programs, Nelson and Vancouver

Shelley Rivkin, Director, Centre for Leadership and Community Learning, Justice Institute of BC, New Westminster

Irene Robertson, Senior Policy Analyst, Dispute Resolution Office, Ministry of Attorney General, Victoria

Wayne Robertson, Executive Director, Law Foundation of BC, Vancouver

Jennifer Rose, Director of Legal Services, Domestic Violence Clearninghouse and Legal Hotline, Hawaii

Kelly Roulette, Legal Advocate, Atira Women’s Resource Society

Gisela Ruebsaat. Issues Analyst, Community Coordination for Women’s Safety Project, BC Association of Specialized Victim Assistance and Counselling Programs, Victoria

Olatz Sagarduy, Legal Advocate, Battered Women’s Support Services, Vancouver

Lois Shelton, Legal Services Society, Vancouver

Ram Sidhu, Legal Advocate, South Fraser Women’s Services Society

John Simpson, Manager, Community and Poverty Services, Legal Services Society, Vancouver

Karen Stone, Executive Director, BC/Yukon Society of Transition Houses, Vancouver

Diane Turner, Barrister and Solicitor, Turner and Kelliher, Victoria


Appendix C References

Bain, Penny, Shelley Chrest, and Marina Morrow. (2000). Access to Justice Denied: Women and Legal Aid in BC, for the Women’s Access to; Legal Aid Coalition, Vancouver, BC.

Sagarduy, Olatz. (2004). Legal Advocacy at BWSS. Vancouver, BC: Battered Women’s Support Services.

Brewin, Alison. (2004). Legal Aid Denied: Women and the Cuts to Legal Services in B.C. for Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF), Vancouver, BC.

BC Association of Specialized Victim Assistance and Counselling Programs in partnership with BC/Yukon Society of Transition Houses. (2004). Family Law Resource Manual for Community-based Advocates Assisting Women Dealing with Violence Issues, Vancouver, BC.

BC Association of Specialized Victim Assistance and Counselling Programs. (2002). Restorative Justice, Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault in Canada: A Summary of Critical Perspectives from British Columbia. Vancouver, BC.

BC Institute Against Family Violence. (in process). Aid to Risk Assessment and Safety Planning (ASAP). Vancouver, BC.

BC Justice Review Task Force. (2003). Family Justice Reform Working Group. Terms of Reference.

Coombe, Jane. (2004). Update on Civil/Family Law Implications for Victim Service Programs: April 22, 2004, for Victim Services and Community Programs Division, Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, Vancouver, BC.

Coombe, Jane. (2004). Civil Family Justice Issues, Draft for Discussion, for Victim Services Division, Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, Vancouver, BC.

CS/RESORS Consulting, Ltd. (2004). Public Legal Education and Information, Community Profile and Needs Assessment, Results from Phase 1, prepared for Legal Services Society, Vancouver, BC.

Dispute Resolution Office. (2004). Ministry of Attorney General, Notice to Mediate (Family), Consultation Paper, Victoria, BC.

Echols, Robert and Julia Gordon. (undated). Recommendations and Thoughts from the Managers of the Hotline Outcomes Assessment Study Project, based on the Hotline Outcomes Assessment Study conducted by the Center for Policy Research, Denver, Colorado.

Family Justice Reform Working Group. (2003). Inventory of Family Justice Services in British Columbia, Draft. Vancouver, BC.

Focus Consultants. (2004). Evaluation of the Expanded Family Duty Counsel Project (Robson Street Court House) Final Report for Legal Services Society of BC, Vancouver, BC.

Hadley Inquest. (2002). Hadley Inquest Jury Recommendations, Ontario


Legal Services Society. (2004, 2005)

Family legal aid services enhanced. Announcement. February 28, 2005

Guidelines for Legal Aid. Vancouver, BC.

Intake Policies and Procedures, Family Coverage. (200http://ipp.lss.local/pp_fam_cov_guidelines.asp

Legal advice services. http://lss.bc.ca/legal_aid/legalAdvise_services.asp

Legal aid funding increase to help most vulnerable. Announcement. February 1, 2005

Legal aid information and advice projects extended. Announcement. March 1, 2005

LSS Tariff Review – Phase 1 Report. Vancouver, BC.

Legal Services Society Annual Service Plan Report 2003/2004. Vancouver, BC.

More people to qualify for legal aid. Announcement. February 9, 2005

What legal problems are covered by legal aid? http://lss.bc.ca/legal_aid/problems.asp

Law Foundation. (2003). Annual Report 2003, Vancouver, BC.

Ministry of Attorney General, Province of British Columbia (2005). Province Boosts Family Legal Aid Funding, News Release. February 1, 2005.

McLachlin, Beverly, Right Honourable. (2002). Chief Justice of Canada, Reaction and Pro-action: Bringing Family Law Advocacy Into the 21st Century, paper presented at the Family Law Dinner, Ontario Bar Association, Toronto, ON.

Reid, Gayla, Donna Senniw and John Malcolmson. (2004). Developing a Coordinated Service Model for Self-Representing Litigants, Proposed Service Vision, Model and Elements. Vancouver, BC.

Rose, Jennifer A. (2001). Civil Legal Intervention Strategies: The Role of the Attorney as Advocate. Paper presented at the BC Association of Specialized Victim Assistance and Counselling Programs Conference on transformative Strategies in Anti-Violence Work, Vancouver, BC.

Russell, Mary. (2002). Measures of Empowerment for Women Who are Victims of Violence and who Use the Justice System, research report prepared for Victim Services Division, Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, Vancouver, BC.

Trerise, Vicki. (2000). Where the Axe Falls: the real cost of government cutbacks to legal aid, Final Report to the Access to Justice Committee, The Law Society of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.


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