Working together as a multi-tasked, multi-disciplinary team, the members of the Family Justice Services Implementation Team have led the way in developing, piloting and implementing a new Family Justice Services Model for the Province.

This model has resulted in a new province-wide, client-centred dispute resolution mechanism for family law cases. As a result of changes in the rules of court, which the team and the judiciary were involved in developing, all cases are now examined and those meeting the appropriate criteria, are assessed utilizing a multi-disciplinary team of professionals such as social workers, educators, health officials and court staff, before proceeding to a court hearing. The model focuses primarily on counseling, mediation, education and alternate dispute resolution of all aspects of family law disputes.

The new model, with its multi-disciplinary team approach to conflict resolution, has streamlined the process of dealing with family law disputes. It has increased client and participant satisfaction with the dispute resolution and judicial processes. This has positively affected the experiences of the individuals and their families who have found themselves in the midst of some challenging times.

Through the development of the Family Justice Services Implementation Team, existing working relationships among court-based staff have been enhanced, and new employees, social workers and health-related staff have been integrated into the model framework. As a result, a new holistic team approach has been introduced to resolving family law disputes. The team has been extremely effective in building the kinds of relationships necessary to support and implement this program.

Considering the many diverse players necessary to successfully deliver a program that profoundly changes the way family justice services are delivered in the province, the team exhibited superior problem solving abilities in reaching out to those involved in child, youth and family related services. They incorporated approaches and expertise from stakeholder groups into this new approach toward resolving family law related disputes.

Since its inception, the method developed by the Family Justice Services Implementation Team has greatly reduced the number of cases requiring adversarial court hearings on a province-wide basis. Their work has been called one of the most significant positive steps forward in this field in the last 25 years. The team’s vision and dedication have resulted in an improved family law system which will have a lasting benefit for our society and those, including vulnerable groups and persons, such as children, who become involved in family law disputes.

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