Page 9 – BC Hear the Child Society

Vancouver Course a Success!

More than 50 participants gathered to hear the latest on child participation at a continuing legal education program co-led by the Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia and the International Institute for Child Rights and Development (IICRD). BC Hear the Child Society president Ron Smith co-chaired the session with Suzanne Williams (IICRD) while several other members of the Society contributed to the program.

Recent legal developments make it clear that children have a right to have their views heard when their best interests are determined in family law decisions. ”It’s no longer about whether to hear from children but rather, how to best hear from children” said David Dundee who together with Trudi Brown presented the law underpinning a child’s right to participate. Options to hear from children were highlighted on Day 1 of the program including “hear the child” interviews that are privately funded, “views of the child” reports that are completed by a family justice counsellor and paid for by the Province, expert s. 15 reports prepared by a psychologist, and a mediator listening to children’s views and bringing them into the mediation. Judge Gallagher from the BC Provincial Court noted how helpful it is for judges to have someone else listen to the child and bring forward their views for consideration when the court decides the best interests of the child.

Renowned expert, Dr. Joan Kelly, led Day 2 that focused on skills required to interview children. She outlined the recent research base and emphasized the importance of providing information to children about what is going on, “the more appropriate information you have in a crisis the better you cope with it”. Dr. Kelly led the group through the 6 stage interview process and a series of experiential activities.

Thank you to all who contributed time to present or participate! This was the third bi-annual CLEBC-IICRD Child Participation program and we look forward to the fourth in 2013.

Best Interests of the Child from Social Science and Jurisprudential Perspectives

This research paper was presented at the July 2012 Childhood Global Conference at Oxford. Its focus is to better understand the notion of best interests of the child (BIC) from two perspectives: a social science perspective which explores the meaning of the concept imputed by human services professionals and policy makers and a jurisprudential perspective which examines the understanding of BIC through relevant case law.

https://www.inter-disciplinary.net/probing-the-boundaries/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/clarckechpaper.pdf

Online Voice of the Child Course August 20, 2012

This may be of interest to you:

The Voice of the Child in Family Law (Live Webcast Replace with Live Chat)

This exciting, interdisciplinary program focuses on the complex issues that arise when dealing with and hearing from children involved in the litigation process. Our dynamic and often controversial panels of experts will include judges, lawyers, academics, social workers, therapists, and doctors. For more information, visit:

https://ecom.lsuc.on.ca/cpd/product.jsp?id=CLE12-0080200

Hosted by the Law Society of Upper Canada, Monday, August 20, 2012 (9:00 AM – 4:30 PM)

Location: View this webcast-only program from your home or office computer

Chair(s): The Honourable George Czutrin, Superior Court of Justice ; Lucy McSweeney, Children’s Lawyer for Ontario Ministry of Attorney General

Presenters:

The Honourable Susan Lang, Court of Appeal for Ontario

The Honourable George Czutrin, Superior Court of Justice

The Honourable R. John Harper, Senior Family Justice, Superior Court of Justice

The Honourable Heather McGee, Superior Court of Justice

The Honourable June Maresca, Ontario Court of Justice

Professor Nicholas Bala, LSM, Faculty of Law, Queen’s University

Dr. Rachel Birnbaum, Associate Professor, King’s University College at University of Western Ontario

Dr. Jean Clinton, B.Mus, FRCP (C), Associate Clinical Professor, McMaster University, Child Psychiatrist, Offord Centre for Child Studies, Chedoke Site

Francine Cyr, Ph.D. (Psychology), Université de Montréal

Daniel Goldberg, Office of the Children’s Lawyer

Joanna Harris, Wilson Christen LLP

Joan Kelly, Ph.D.

Alfred Mamo, C.S., McKenzie Lake Lawyers LLP

The Honourable Justice Donna Martinson, (retired), Supreme Court of British Columbia

Martha McCarthy, Martha McCarthy & Company

Lucy McSweeney, Children’s Lawyer for Ontario, Ministry of Attorney General

The Honourable Ellen Murray

The Honourable Anne-Marie Trahan, Q.C., (retired), Superior Court of Quebec

Nancy Webb, Provincial Manager of Clinical Services, Office of the Children’s Lawyer

Victoria Launch Roster Event a Success!

We are delighted that 15 people officially launched the BC Hear the Child Society’s Roster of Child Interviewers on May 10, 2012 at the offices of Brown Henderson Melbye in Victoria.

The launch event participants included a BC Provincial Court Judge, and a Nanaimo participant.

Six Victorians are on the Launch Roster list and now available to be called upon to conduct non-evaluative child interviews:

Trudi Brown
Kay Melbye
Crystal Buchan
Mary Mouat
Bobbi Poushinsky
Eugene Raponi

The non-evaluative child interview has been a valuable tool for those who have used it to date. A couple of examples that were shared:

the non-evaluative interview served as an ”ice-breaker” in re-establishing relationships between a child, father and grandparent that was a critical event in the grandparent’s life as relayed on his death bed; and
the mere act of listening to a child in a dispute can make a positive difference to the child’s well-being as attested to by a parent who made a point of calling the child interviewer after the proceeding to relay this message.

Situations where it may not be appropriate to interview a child are where the child is too young, or when the issue in dispute between the parties does not affect the child.

There was some great discussion about the Roster and how it will work. One participant asked, “how can we make sure there is the perception of neutrality when dealing with lay litigant cases? For example, is there some arrangement to pay the chlid interviewer’s fees into court, and then the court can pay the interviewer so the interviewer does not know which party paid for the child’s interview?”. Another idea is for a Roster member from a different firm who is not acting as the interviewer to receive the funds “in trust” for the child interviewer so the interviewer does not know who paid for the interview.

The BC Hear the Child Society Roster of child interviewers is a complement to the services provided by the Province’s Family Justice Counsellors. For those who have the ability to pay for this service, non-evaluative child interviews and reports can be completed as quickly as a few days. It was estimated that interviewing one child can cost anywhere between $500 and $1000.

The Society is beginning with the Launch Roster to get things up and running. An application will be available on the Society’s website sometime in June for others who are interested in joining the Roster. Successful applicants will be added on a rolling basis. A Victoria practice group will be established to continue to share and develop the practice.

A recent BC Court of Appeal decision was raised at the session: Stav v. Stav, 2012 BCCA 154 (CanLII) also available at: https://canlii.ca/t/fqvv9. The case involved mobility and addressed the views of a 14 year old boy, collected through a private non-evaluative child interviewer in Vancouver.

Thank you to all who helped celebrate the launch of the Society’s Child Interviewer Roster in Victoria!

Children’s Voices in Cases of Sexual Abuse

How Children’s Voices Were Heard ‘Above the Din’ in Family Court Proceedings in Cases Where There Were Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse: The Importance of Judicial Orientation and Professional Evidence in the Discernment of the Child’s Voice (2011, Australia)

This article examines how children’s voices can be heard in Family Court hearings when there are allegations of child sexual abuse.

Using a case study approach, three judgements are examined to see how judicial determination centralised the information from and about children. In these three purposively selected cases the voices of children was identified from conflicting evidence presented by professional assessors and counsellors. These three cases were selected because of the primacy given to evidence that was presented from and about children. In these cases allegations were not assumed to be artifacts of a parental dispute, instead, the Judge who heard them worked actively to discern the child’s voice within the conflicting evidence. Further, these three cases were also distinguished by the range of evidence available that included family reports and assessments from professionals as a result of Court Orders, but also evidence from those who had ongoing involvement with the children in counseling roles.

These counsellors were located outside the Family Court, in the child protection sector. The evidence from counsellors was preferred by the Judge as it provided a higher level of detail about the children and their allegations.

The ‘voice of the child’ was constructed by the Judge in their interpretation of professional evidence.

Foote-2011-Children-in-law-proceedings

Family law: New act puts children first during divorces

SANDRA MCCULLOCH / TIMES COLONIST  MARCH 29, 2013

When Victoria lawyer Mary Mouat was called to the bar in 1988, she thought the best place for divorcing couples was in a courtroom, duking it out before a judge.

“I truly believed that was the best thing for families, and I was not alone — that’s how we practised,” Mouat said this week.

Read the article.

Jeffrey J. Peterson

Jeffrey J. Peterson Family Lawyer

205 – 1630 Pandosy Street
Kelowna, BC

T: (250) 861-5294
E: jeffrey@jpeterson.ca

Fee: $350 per child plus taxes

University of British Columbia
History Degree 1979 / Law Degree 1986

Jeffrey started doing Hear the Child Reports on an informal basis in the mid-1990s upon the request of either Judges or fellow counsel. This was followed up with participation in the Hear the Child Pilot Project in Kelowna as well as more formal training through continuing education and attendance of other seminars. He presented at the 45th annual conference of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts in Vancouver and at a Provincial Court Judges’ Conference on the importance of hearing the child.

Brenda Forster, M. Ed., R.C.C.

Brenda Forster Registered Clinical Counsellor

214 – 2900 Pandosy Street
Kelowna, BC V1Y 1V9

T: (250) 860-0197
F: (250) 860-0195

E: brenda@forstercounselling.ca
W: www.forstercounselling.ca

Fee: TBD

When you request Brenda to interview your child, this is what you can expect: Brenda takes care and attention to ensure that she understands the issues and concerns before meeting with the child. Recognizing that, as parents, you feel there is a lot at stake, she crafts her questions with care to ensure that issues and concerns are explored from all perspectives. Because Brenda believes it is important for the children’s views to be relayed as accurately as possible, she reports the outcome of the interview by providing a transcribed copy of her questions and the child’s full response to each question.

Brenda has trained extensively with Joan Kelly, Ph. D., an internationally renowned divorce and child custody researcher, clinical psychologist, family mediator, parenting coordinator, child advocate, and author. Topics covered in workshops and trainings Brenda has completed with Joan Kelly include the child interview process, listening to children’s views in divorce processes, developing appropriate parenting plans, parental alienation and child alienation.

In addition, Brenda has training in Collaborative Family Law Practices and is well versed in family systems theories, child development, and the risks and buffers for children whose parents divorce.

Bev Churchill, KC

Bev Churchill Collaborative Lawyer and Mediator

210 – 347 Leon Avenue
Kelowna, BC V1Y 8C7

T: (250) 763-7333
T: (250) 769-7787
E: bev@bevchurchill.ca

Fee: TBD

Hear the Child. The lives of children are affected by decisions that are made for them and about them. Where they live; who they live with; how much time they spend with each parent and their ability to have contact with extended family members.

Do children actually make the decisions? This is a very common question and the answer is “No”. Children do not decide, but children can provide clarity and sometimes simplicity to complex adult disputes. Oftentimes, this is exactly what may be needed to do the following:

Reduce conflict between parents
Lead to better relationships between parents
Lead to better relationships between parent and child
Provide better information
Make better decisions for the child and the family

Children love, and should love, each parent. The parent child relationship is very special. A healthy parent child relationship is critical to the growth and development of a child. It deserves focus and attention. It is unique to each parent and child. Each child will have their own special views on that relationship. How do we get this information if we do not ask, and, equally important, if we do not listen?

Hear the Child Reports — the views of children should be considered when decisions are to be made about children and the rights and interests of children.

I am very proud to be on the Roster of the BC Hear the Child Society.

Carrie McNeely

Carrie McNeely Registered Clinical Social Worker
209 – 220 Fourth Avenue
Kamloops, BC V2C 3N5

T: (250) 819-0268
F: (250) 374-1894

E: dragonflycounselling@gmail.com
W: www.dragonflycounseling.ca

Fee: $250 per hour

Carrie McNeely is a Registered Clinical Social Worker with 30 years of experience providing assessment and counselling services to families in crisis. Her studies specialized in the process of family reorganization brought about by separation, divorce, and remarriage. Her Master of Social Work thesis examined the effects of marital breakup on children and the factors that contribute to the development of resilience during the reorganization of their families. She has been in private practice for 10 years working as a therapist, a trained family mediator, and more recently, as an assessor for court ordered Views of the Child and Section 15 Custody and Access Reports. In addition, she participates in continuing education that has included strategies to use in high conflict mediation, current research on parental alienation, and expressive play therapy techniques for assessing young children.

On a personal note, Carrie is a child of divorce and the mother in a “yours, mine, and ours” blended family of seven children. She is not surprised by research that suggests that children fare better, through their parent’s separation, when they have an opportunity to express their preferences and contribute to the development of the parenting plan that ultimately is the structure for their lives. She is committed to ensuring that a child’s voice is heard through the use of their words and the things that are meaningful in their lives when preparing a report.

The preparation of a typical report includes a brief discussion with both parents prior to the interview, especially for children under 12; an interview lasting approximately an hour with each child individually; the writing of the report; a brief follow up session with the child or children to ensure that she has accurately communicated the child’s views; and an opportunity for the parents to meet with her to review the report prior to it being forwarded to their respective lawyers or court.