$26.8-million gift from Alberta Law Foundation to transform family justice

The University of Calgary is set to make a groundbreaking shift in family justice. A historic $26.8-million philanthropic gift from the Alberta Law Foundation will fund two new research chairs and a Centre for Transformation at UCalgary, focused on improving outcomes for families involved in the family justice system. 

The initiative will prioritize long-term well-being, reduce toxic stress, and provide crucial supports for children, youth and families navigating the family justice system. 

“This gift presents a generational opportunity to make change for those who historically have faced systemic barriers in achieving family justice,” says Dr. Ellen Perrault, dean of the Faculty of Social Work.

“As a national leader in community-based, social work research, we are uniquely positioned to support this initiative and reduce the often-intergenerational stress that the current adversarial family justice system contributes to.”

The new research chairs and the Centre for Transformation will work closely with the community-based Re-imagining Alberta's Family Justice System (RFJS) initiative in identifying innovative approaches and actions that will help transform the family justice system from an adversarial, court-centric model to one that focuses on helping families thrive. 

This work will create opportunities for research collaborations with the social and family justice systems, post-secondary institutions, governments, foundations, community organizations and professionals.  

“Supporting initiatives of this magnitude is unprecedented for us, but incredibly exciting,” says Byron Chan, executive director, Alberta Law Foundation.

“We are grateful for the opportunity and ability to collaborate with the University of Calgary and RFJS and are excited for the positive impact it will have on families and, in particular, children in Alberta.”

Diana Lowe, KC, is a lawyer with 35 years of experience which includes legal practice, research and reform of the civil and family justice systems in Canada. Lowe has led RFJS since it was convened in 2013. Over the last 12 years, RFJS — whose co-convenors are Alberta Justice, the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta, the Alberta Court of Justice, the Law Society of Alberta, Native Counselling Services of Alberta and Family and Community Services in the County of Strathcona — have already made substantive progress in their mission to create well-being for families in contact with the family justice system. 

As Lowe explains, in Common Law countries like Canada, couples essentially begin at the “dispute stage.” As lawyers for each side make their case for their client, it is the courts who decide most issues through the adversarial process. Research has shown that this process creates trauma — often intergenerational trauma — for children and their families. The central mission of RFJS is a paradigm shift that moves separation and divorce away from legal adversarial processes to family wellness. 

The RFJS has helped to support and encourage many new innovations including the use of online tools such as the coParenter app, Divorce Magazine, divorce resource groups and an online Divorce Symposium. In the community of Grande Prairie, a community-wide open-source case management software has been funded to enable multiple organizations to seamlessly support families.

Reducing reliance on legal, adversarial processes

“This landmark initiative continues our faculty’s tradition of creating positive disruption within the legal system,” said Dr. Evaristus Oshionebo, PhD, interim dean of Law.

“We envision a future with better outcomes in Alberta’s family justice system, easing the burden on both families and the courts.”

Family law cases account for 35 per cent of all civil cases in Canada, with significant time and resources dedicated to parenting time, child support, family violence and child welfare cases. A court-based pilot in Grande Prairie, initiated by a Notice to the Profession and Public from the Court of King’s Bench, is reducing the number of cases before the courts and reducing stress for families.  

Families are being encouraged (and empowered) to consider the real causes of their dispute, be it rooted in social, relationship, parenting, financial or health challenges, and they are supported to engage with programs to build resilience. 

“It helps families build supports and skills,” says Diana Lowe, “and reduces what people think of as a dispute requiring legal determination. If there are legal issues that remain unresolved, families are encouraged to use non-adversarial approaches such as mediation, collaborative and restorative practices.”

Investment will help prevent Adverse Childhood Experiences

In the end, the benefits from this transformation will be in the reduction of conflict, trauma and toxic stress associated with separation and divorce, essentially removing it from the list of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and reducing the impact of other ACEs on family well-being in separation, divorce, domestic violence and child welfare matters. This is especially important given our evolving understanding of how Adverse Childhood Experiences correlate with adverse mental and physical health outcomes throughout an individual’s lifetime. 

The transformative initiative will also address the unique needs of Indigenous peoples. By collaborating with Indigenous communities and incorporating culturally informed practices, the new Centre looks to build trust and deliver meaningful support to those who are often disproportionately impacted by current systems.

The Centre for Transformation will also help improve outcomes for equity-deserving families, including those with disabilities, facing economic hardship, or for whom English is a second language. By focusing on resilience, the Centre aims to reduce reliance on the family justice system in cases where alternative solutions can better serve families’ needs. Fittingly, this change will be driven by the communities being served. In Grande Prairie there have already been 50 to 60 community-led meetings, ensuring that culturally appropriate resources that build skills and resilience are in place for everyone. 

With this unprecedented gift from the Alberta Law Foundation, UCalgary faculties of Social Work and Law are poised to make a lasting contribution to the family justice system, improving the outcomes for families, children and communities across Alberta for generations to come.