Family Law

PROJECT SUMMARY & ROLE OF STUDENT VOLUNTEERS:

Students will be required to remotely attend a mandatory Clinic orientation session at an arranged time before their Clinic placement begins.

The Family Court Support Program is funded by the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services. Ordinarily Clinic staff are Court-based 4 days per week (M/T/Th/F). Each day, clients may drop in, may be attending court, or may have appointments by phone. Court Support Workers provide legal information, referrals, safety planning and support at the three Toronto family courts (311 Jarvis St., 361 University Ave, 47 Sheppard Ave). The Clinic administers the English-language Court Support Program in Toronto and makes referrals to the French language Court Support Program (OASIS). The Family Court Support Program staff work with family lawyers, duty counsel, Legal Aid Ontario, shelters, Victim/Witness Assistance Workers, and court staff and other external service providers. Court accompaniment is also sometimes provided.

PBSC students will assist the BSCC Court Support Workers in direct client service provision, including intakes, assessments, and safety planning. Students will complete other tasks under the direct supervision and guidance of the BSCC Court Support Workers, including:

• Completing client intakes;

• Assisting with follow-up calls to clients;

• Supporting Family Court Support Workers with writing up and organizing client notes;

• Researching referrals to specialized services and community supports; and,

• Supporting Family Court Support Workers with client court accompaniments, including, where appropriate, meetings with lawyers.

At the beginning of each semester, students will provide their availability for attending an in-person 3-5 hour weekly shift between the hours of 9AM-5PM to correspond with the hours at the four Toronto courthouses. To be accepted into the program, you must confirm your availability by signing the accompanying “In-Person Shift Availability Agreement” Form as part of your application.

TYPE:

Client Services

AREA(S) OF LAW:

Family law, with some intersecting issues in immigration and criminal law.

COMMUNITIES SERVED:

Domestic Violence Survivors, Women, and Racialized communities

NUMBER OF STUDENT VOLUNTEER POSITIONS:

1 student - 2L or 3L 

COMMITMENT:

Expected to work one shift per week of 3-5 consecutive hours - In Person.

The project is designed for students to attend the Toronto Family Courts with Court Support Worker Staff. While most of the work will be in-person at the courts, there is the possibility of some remote work at the discretion of the program. Students are expected to be present for a minimum of two in-person shifts at a Toronto family court each month (Requests for accommodation will be considered on a case-by-case basis).

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:

Family law knowledge is preferred, but not necessary. Past work with survivors of violence would be an asset.

PROJECT SUMMARY & ROLE OF STUDENT VOLUNTEERS:

Component 1 – Mandatory

Accompaniments to Court and Note-Taking at Lawyer Appointments: Students will accompany woman to their lawyer appointments. The student’s role will be to provide support and to take detailed notes which will be provided to woman after her lawyer appointment.

Component 2 – Optional

Courthouse support and Court Accompaniments. Students may (depending on demand and their availability to attend in-person) have the opportunity to attend our courthouse office in Oshawa, Ontario with one of our family court support workers to assist with (i) intake and referrals for woman who drop in to our courthouse office and (ii) to accompany woman to their court appearances (depending on demand) to act as a note-taker. Students would then provide their detailed notes to woman after her court appearance.

Component 3 – Optional

Legal research and resource creation (only to take place if direct service work with woman is limited): Students will assist in preparing case law summaries and/or brief legal informational handouts for family court support workers across Ontario to help them better understand a particular family law legal issues. Students may also be asked to prepare brief legal memos on an assigned topic in family law for internal use by the staff team.

Students will assist with client support under the supervision of a lawyer or family court support worker and may complete some legal research. Students may also assist with the creation of informational resources on a particular family law issue. Depending on the needs of the organization and the nature of the assigned task, the students may work together collaboratively.

TYPE:

Client Services 

AREA(S) OF LAW:

Family Law 

COMMUNITIES SERVED:

Domestic Violence Survivors, Women, Self-represented litigants

NUMBER OF STUDENT VOLUNTEER POSITIONS:

1-2 students (preferably upper year students in either their second or third year).

Hybrid - PBSC students will be providing client assistance, attending meetings and appearances online. Students may also be given the option to provide in-person client assistance at Luke’s Place courthouse office in Oshawa.

COMMITMENT:

3-5 hours per week. Students volunteers must be available virtually to attend lawyer appointments which take place Monday to Friday between 9:00AM to 4:30PM. The lawyer appointments last around 1 hour and 15 minutes and so students need to have some availability during the week in order to sign up and attend these appointments.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:

Background and interests in working with women who have been subjected to intimate partner violence would be an asset. Volunteers are required to complete a Vulnerable Sector Check (organization will reimburse costs).

PROJECT SUMMARY & ROLE OF STUDENT VOLUNTEERS:

This project has two components. Students may choose to engage with either based on their preferences. (1) Preparing and presenting Public Legal Education (PLE) presentations for Toronto area community groups, including shelters for women affected by partner violence. (2) Research and writing materials which may also be published on METRAC’s Ontario Women’s Justice Network

(OWJN) website. These written materials may involve preparing articles, case-comments or blog-style posts on various legal issues in collaboration with METRAC staff.

Examples of past presentation topics include:

• What should a victim of abuse expect during the Integrated Domestic Violence (IDV) Court process?

• Resources to support a victim leaving an abusive relationship

• Workplace Violence and Harassment

• Technology-facilitated gender-based violence

PBSC volunteer students also contributed to many of the articles on the Ontario Women’s Justice Network website.

Students will work with METRAC’s legal information materials, to conduct legal research and to develop and adapt new presentation materials as needed. PLE presentations will explain in clear language, various aspects of the law and legal processes that women are likely to encounter, some of which may be related to information posted on the OWJN and FLEW websites. (www.onefamilylaw.ca). The final outputs of the project may include PLE PowerPoint presentations and/or other written resources, which will be used by student to conduct legal information presentations for the community. Students may also prepare articles, case-comments or blog-style posts on various legal issues in collaboration with METRAC staff.

TYPE:

Public Legal Education

AREA(S) OF LAW:

Family, Criminal, Human Rights, Employment

COMMUNITY SERVED:

Domestic Violence Survivors and Women

NUMBER OF STUDENT VOLUNTEER POSITIONS:

2 students

COMMITMENT:

3-5 hours per week - Virtual

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:

Given the sensitivity of a shelter environment and working with women exposed to violence, this PBSC placement is limited to woman-identified volunteers. Students must have an awareness of and interest in social justice, human rights, feminism, applied anti- oppression/anti-racism practices, and gender-based violence against women, Two-Spirit, Nonbinary and trans issues. Previous experience with plain language communications and/or community presentations is considered an asset. Candidates should have demonstrated ability to work independently.

PROJECT SUMMARY:

The project aims to strengthen the capacity of service providers, legal professionals, and governments to deliver Black-centred, survivor-led, trauma- and violence-informed, culturally grounded, and accessible supports for Black survivors of violence and crime. Guided by the Amourgynoir Framework, the project will be led by Black survivors and informed by a Black-led Stakeholder Advisory Committee composed of community leaders, researchers, practitioners, and subject-matter experts.

ROLE OF STUDENT VOLUNTEERS:

PBSC student volunteers will support the project through legal research, legal information development and knowledge mobilization activities designed to increase the capacity of legal professionals, service providers, community organizations, and government decision-makers to understand and respond to the unique needs of Black survivors of violence and crime.

Working under the supervision of legal professionals and in collaboration with the project team and Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SAC), PBSC students may undertake activities such as:

• Conducting legal and policy research related to the experiences of Black survivors within criminal, family, immigration, housing, employment, child welfare, and human rights systems.

• Reviewing relevant legislation, policies, programs, and complain mechanisms to identify barriers and opportunities for improving access to justice for Black survivors.

• Developing plain-language legal information resources informed by the Community Needs Assessment and the Amourgynoir Framework

• Assisting with environmental scans and jurisdictional reviews of promising practices, legal supports, and community-based responses across Ontario and Canada

• Supporting the development of resource directories and referral tools for services providers and survivors

• Contributing to the creation of educational material that complement the project’s training and capacity-building activities.

TYPE:

Public Legal Education

AREA(S) OF LAW:

Family, Immigration, Child Welfare, Housing, and Human Rights Law.

COMMUNITIES SERVED:

Domestic Violence Survivors, Racialized Communities, Immigrants, Refugees & Newcomers

NUMBER OF STUDENT VOLUNTEER POSITIONS:

1-2 students - Preference for 2L and 3Ls .

COMMITMENT:

3-5 hours per week - Virtual

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:

Students should Given the project’s focus on the experiences of Black survivors of violence and crime, we prefer students who identify as Black, including African, African Canadian, African Nova Scotian, AfroCaribbean, Afro-Latinx, Afro-Indigenous, Black Muslim, Black Francophone, Black newcomer, and other members of the diverse Black Diaspora. At the same time, opportunities will remain open to all students committed to advancing culturally grounded, anti-racist, and trauma and violence- informed approaches to access to justice.