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Child Custody and Access

98.4EM CHILD CUSTODY AND ACCESS

Whereas, experiencing separation or divorce in the family can have a prolonged negative impact on children, with studies showing a high incidence of depression where there is disrupted or diminished parenting by one or both parents; and

Whereas, contact with abusive parents or parents with serious mental illness may not be in the best interests of the child and may indeed put the child/children at risk, or may require supervised access; and

Whereas, abuse is not always obvious and may not be easily recognized; and

Whereas, female-led single families have a tremendously high rate and depth of poverty, compared with families where there are two parents; and

Whereas, mediation and other alternatives to court litigation have a high rate of success in helping parents to recognize their on-going roles and responsibilities for providing a nurturing environment for children; and

Whereas, the court system is often costly and may result in an escalation of hostilities between parents which in turn may increase the psychological and sometimes even physical risk to the children; and

Whereas, there is a small number of cases where mediation is neither practical nor recommended, especially where there is abuse or severe mental illness; and

Whereas, the effects of depression are lessened where children feel they have some control over their own lives, particularly with respect to custody and access decisions; and

Whereas, father’s rights groups are increasing their demand that access be tied to support payments, giving, as their rationale, the fact that they have been denied access; and

Whereas, hostile parents have been known to use custody and access as a pawn in the conflict with ex-spouses, to the detriment of the child/children’s well-being; and

Whereas, judges are predominantly male and often unaware of the dynamics of abuse and control, and guidelines for the training of mediators are not fully developed; and

Whereas, contact with grandparents can add an important dimension to children’s lives, but contact can also result in escalated hostilities in the family; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the National Council of Women of Canada urge the Government of Canada to ensure that legislation relating to custody and access of children in cases of separation or divorce of parents:

  1. Be based on the best interests of children which, in most cases, includes regular and on-going contact with both parents; and
  2. Consider shared parenting as a serious alternative where appropriate; and
  3. Develop a careful procedure for investigating the possibility of abuse and/or severe mental illness in cases where custody and access is an issue; and
  4. Make the safety of children the priority in cases where there has been, or there is, the possibility of abuse and assume that, as a matter of course, it is not in the child’s best interests for custody to be granted to abusive parents or those who are severely mentally ill; and
  5. Ensure that provisions are made for supervised access and exchange, where indicated; and
  6. Continue to ensure that the payment of adequate support payments by non-custodial parents is a priority; and
  7. Promote the use of mediation and other alternatives to court litigation for settling family disputes; and
  8. Develop guidelines where mediation is contra-indicated; and
  9. Ensure that children of 12 and over have an important voice in determining outcomes on matters of custody and access; and
  10. Seek effective ways of ensuring access for a non-custodial parent, where the custodial parent is in contravention of an access order; and
  11. Ensure that custody and access are kept entirely separate from support payments; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the National Council of Women of Canada urge the Government of Canada to urge the Provincial and Territorial Governments to mandate:

  1. That all family court judges, prior to their sitting on the bench, be given extensive training on the dynamics of family abuse, particularly abuse against women and children; and
  2. That upgrading courses dealing with family dynamics be offered at regular intervals in order that judges be kept up to date with costs shared by both levels of government; and
  3. That training for mediators be standardized to include training on the dynamics of family abuse, particularly abuse against women and children; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the National Council of Women of Canada urge the Government of Canada to urge the Provincial and Territorial Governments to provide resources for counseling, where appropriate and particularly in cases where there is suspicion of abuse or severe mental illness, to be offered without charge to parents on a separate basis; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the National Council of Women of Canada urge the Government of Canada to undertake a study to determine the suitable ways of facilitating contact between grandparents and their grandchildren, while protecting the well-being of the grandchildren.