The goal of the toolkit is to assist lawyers in helping parents transform their relationship from being a couple to being partners in successful parenting. It is written in plain language so that lawyers can direct parties to certain portions to assist on particular issues. It further notes that parents will particularly benefit from the first section of the toolkit, which includes general and comprehensive material about parenting after separation.
While the toolkit is designed to assist family law lawyers and their clients, its focus is on parenting, not the law. It provides an overview on all the resources (programs, books, online sites) available to assist on the issue of successful parenting.
We recommend that anyone dealing with parenting issues and seeking additional non-legal assistance go through the successful parenting toolkit and access the resources available.
Here is a breakdown of the toolkit’s content:
- Parenting apart – general information and comprehensive guides
- Children’s experience of separation and conflict
- Communication and decision-making
- Developing effective parenting plans
- Hearing the views and voices of children
- Accessing mental health supports (supports for adults/supports for children)
- Mediation, arbitration, collaborative settlement processes and parenting coordination
- Navigating the court system
- Family Violence
- Indigenous perspectives on family law
- Family law information and resources (by province or territory)
- Family law legislation (by province or territory)
The CBA press release about the successful parenting toolkit can be found here.
The toolkit itself can be found here.