Improving Access to Justice through Safeguards in Parenting Assessments

Written by Gina Addario-Berry and Magal Huberman

Funded by the Law Foundation of BC, this project was conducted between June and December 2023. This project sought to identify potential options for creating these safeguards, and to make recommendations to the Ministry of the Attorney General, which is currently undertaking the Family Law Act Modernization Project.

Parenting reports in BC are often ordered under section 211 of the Family Law Act when there are court proceedings about parenting issues. The purpose of these reports — commonly referred to as section 211 reports — is to provide evidence to the court about the views and needs of the children, and the ability and willingness of each parent to meet these needs.

Our recommendations fall under four main themes:

• evaluators’ training and experience,

• practice standards,

• financial barriers, and

• judicial gatekeeping and oversight.

  Since the recommendations are interrelated and complementary, they would ideally form part of a coherent framework of requirements and oversight. Unless indicated otherwise, we recommend implementing these measures through regulations to the Family Law Act, so that they apply to all section 211 reports regardless of court level or the professional designation of the evaluator.

Editing by Naomi Pauls

Graphic design by Nadene Rehnby