The BC Hear the Child Society is a non-profit Society formed in late 2009 to support opportunities for children to share their views and be heard when their best interests are determined in family justice decision-making.

The current priorities of the BC Hear the Child Society are:

1. Developing a roster of non-therapeutic interviewers who can interview children in family justice matters;

2. Providing ongoing training and education for those who listen to children; and

3. Building a community of people who want to create opportunities for children to share their views in family justice decision-making.

The Society builds on past work in the Province including that of the International Institute for Child Rights and Development (IICRD) between 2003-2009 on Meaningful Child Participation in Family Justice Processes, funded by the Law Foundation of BC that highlighted gaps in hearing BC children, as well as promising practices.  This included piloting a non-therapeutic interview practice in Kelowna in 2005-2006 with involvement from the bar, bench and families with children 8 years of age and older whose best interests were being determined in separation and divorce proceedings.  The “Hear the Child” non-therapeutic child interview practice was continued by several people involved in the pilot, and has been used and adapted by additional interviewers in Kelowna and elsewhere in BC.

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The BC Hear the Child Society’s Current Board of Directors are:

Ronald J. Smith, lawyer, Smith Peacock, Kelowna (Chairperson)

Trudi L. Brown, lawyer, Brown Henderson Melbye, Victoria

Robert Colby, registered psychologist, Colby Gallagher and Associates, Vancouver

John-Paul E. Boyd, lawyer and mediator, Aaron Gordon Daykin Nordlinger, Vancouver

Arlene Henry, lawyer and mediator, Arlene H. Henry Law Corporation, Vancouver

Dr. Derek Swain, registered psychologist

David Dundee, lawyer, Kamloops

Suzanne Williams, lawyer, serves as an advisor to the Board and leads some of the Society’s work in partnership with IICRD.