Battered Women’s Support Services presents…

When Child Welfare Intersects with Violence Against Women

A One Day Workshop that will offer a framework for understanding and supporting women who have experienced violence & have come to the attention of Child Welfare Systems

Detailed review of the Child, Family, and Community Services Act
– the origins, guiding principles, service delivery principles
– rights of children in care and the obligations to report to Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD)

Basic mechanics of the court process
– the different documents, players & stages in a child protection court process

MCFD Best Practice Guidelines for Child Protection and Violence Against Women
– review and strategizing on how to use this document in client cases

Advocacy strategies
– working with social workers at MCFD & women’s lawyer
– writing effective letters on women’s behalf

Systemic action
– discussion of how to work for systemic change outside of individual women’s cases

Facilitated by Lobat Sadrehashemi

Lobat Sadrehashemi is a lawyer at Pivot Legal Society. She holds degrees in law and social work from the University of Toronto. Lobat co-authored a report on the child welfare system from the perspective of low-income parents entitled Broken Promises: Parents Speak about Child Welfare in B.C. Lobat practices primarily in the areas of immigration & refugee law and child protection. A great deal of Lobat’s immigration and refugee legal work focuses on women who have experienced violence. Lobat is currently working on the Jane Doe Legal Clinic at Pivot, which is an initiative that seeks to provide greater access to legal services for women who have experienced violence.

Date: Friday, September 26, 2008
Time: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Location: TBA
Fee: By Donation Cash or In Kind
To register: Call Heidi at 604-687-1868 or finance@bwss.org

For more information on BWSS training workshops email strategicinterventions@bwss.org