Dispute Resolution Office

Background
In British Columbia, the Child, Family and Community Service Act (CFCSA) is the law that describes what steps must be taken if a child is not living in a safe environment or there are concerns about a child's safety or health. The CFCSA gives social workers with the Ministry of Children and Family Development responsibilities and powers to take action if a child is not safe. This can sometimes include removing children, for their own protection, from their families.

In most cases, once a child is removed, the Provincial Court of British Columbia becomes involved in the child protection case. The social worker has a responsibility to appear in court within seven days of a child's removal, and a judge will decide if the removal was appropriate. The CFCSA describes other steps in the court process that may be necessary if the parents and the ministry cannot agree on ways to make sure a child lives in a safe and healthy environment.

Mediation
With mediation, disagreements can often be resolved more quickly and in a less adversarial manner than in the court system. Mediation is a process whereby a neutral third party with no decision making power - the mediator - helps people to negotiate a settlement to their dispute. In B.C., mediation is used to resolve many kinds of legal disputes, including small claims disputes in the Provincal Court and motor vehicle personal injury cases in the Supreme Court, as well as family disputes that occur when parents separate.

The Child Protection Mediation Program has been available in B.C. since 1997. The Child Protection Mediation Program Bulletin provides basic information about the program. Every year there are more parents and social workers who choose to use mediation to try and resolve disagreements. About 70 per cent of the cases that go to mediation result in the disagreements being either completely or partly settled.

Click here to see the brochure for parents: What is Child Protection Mediation?. For more detailed information, see the document Child Protection Mediation - Questions & Answers. [PDF]

Click here for translated versions of the What is Child Protection Mediation? brochure.

If the disputing parties decide to participate in mediation, they select a mediator from the Child Protection Mediation Roster and then work with the mediator to settle the dispute. Click here for a list of child protection mediators.

Facilitated Planning Meetings
Another kind of mediation opportunity - a Facilitated Planning Meeting - is available in some areas of the province. In these cases, a mediator meets with the parents and the social worker and helps them negotiate an agreement. Before the planning meeting starts, the mediator meets separately with the parents and the social worker for an orientation session, in order to:

• Talk about their side of the dispute,
• Help them list the things they would like to discuss at the planning meeting,
• Explain how the planning meeting and mediation work, and give them other information about the process.

The Facilitated Planning Meeting Backgrounder [PDF] describes the step by step process of a Facilitated Planning Meeting.

For information about referring cases from Langley, Guildford, Surrey North, or Newton, please see the Surrey Court Project Information Sheet. [PDF]

For information about referring cases from Burnaby, New Westminster, Maple Ridge, or Tri-Cities, please see the Fraser Service Information Sheet. [PDF]

For information about referring cases from Abbotsford, Mission, Chilliwack, or Hope, please see the Upper Fraser Service Information Sheet. [PDF]

The Surrey Court Project was run as a pilot program in 2001/02. See Surrey Court Project - Background. [PDF] If you would like to know more about the evaluation of this pilot, you can read the Executive Summary [PDF] or the entire Final Report. [PDF]

For Mediators
If you are a mediator, and you would like to know what qualifications are required in order to be on the Child Protection Mediation Roster and what is involved in the selection process, see the information sheet Mediator Qualifications.[PDF]

For Parents and Guardians
If you would like to know more about mediation in general see the Dispute Resolution Office web site. If you are thinking about using mediation for a case involving your child, be sure and look at the What is Child Protection Mediation? [PDF] brochure and you may want to look at Child Protection Mediation - Questions and Answers. [PDF] You can also talk to your social worker or you can talk to a child protection mediator about your case - see the Child Protection Mediation Roster to find a mediator in your area.