» In 1997, the organizational structure of the
Family Justice Services Division with the
Corrections Branch was established;

» Resources allocated to producing custody and
access reports were transferred to family
mediation and other dispute resolution
SELVICES;

» Approximately 90% of family justice services
resources were focused on alternative dispute
resolution; and

» The remaining 10% were devoted to custody
and access report preparation.

Given the emphasis on dispute resolution,
family justice counsellors were required to
complete 80 hours of mediation/conflict
resolution training. A two-day course—through
the Justice Institute’s Centre for Conflict
Resolution—was added to prepare family
justice counsellors for certification by Family
Mediation Canada,

At the end of 1998, certification was completed
for almost all practising family justice
counsellors. Newly hired family justice
counsellors were also required to obtain
certification to successfully complete training.

Focusing resources on lowet income
families

Guidelines came into effect that assisted family
justice counsellors and ensured lower income
persons would be given service priority.”
Family Justice Services Division also prioritized
setvices to low-income clients, particularly if

the Legal Services Society (LSS) referred

42
them.

The Ministry of Attorney General and LSS
established two initiatives to focus dispute
resolution resources on family legal aid
referrals. First, a pilot project made LSS
responsible for one year of all custody and
access reports ordered in Kelowna and
Nanaimo. In exchange, LSS increased referrals
to family justice counsellors for dispute
resolution regarding custody, access and
maintenance issues.

Second, the availability of parent education
programs and dispute resolution services for
legal aid referrals was increased. This was
intended to increase opportunities to resolve
matters of custody, access and maintenance.

In another development following amendments
to the B.C. Benefits Aet,® individuals on income
assistance could no longer access family justice
counsellor dispute resolution services for family
maintenance.

Family justice reform

In 1998, two complementary events led to
sweeping changes in family justice in British
Columbia,

First, the chief judge of the B.C. Provincial
Court produced a report™* that recommended
an integrated approach to resolve family
disputes. This approach used non-adversarial
and adversarial dispute resolution methods.

41 ADM Directive 99:04, April 1999.

42 Family cases contributed significantly to the overall legal aid costs. This was supported by a document released
by the Ministry of the Attorney General entitled Strategic Reforms of British Columbia’s Justice System (1998).

43 Amendments were introduced on Sept. 15, 1997.
44 Metzger, 1998.

260

Corrections in British Columbia