Children and youth gain legal representation in B.C. courts

A new project in British Columbia aims to give children a voice in family law and child protection court cases.

The Society for Children and Youth of B.C. has launched a program to provide independent legal assistance to children and youth who are involved in these cases.

"We feel it's extremely important when children are at the centre of matters, where decisions are being made that could profoundly affect their lives, that their voices and interests are heard," said Stephanie Howell, executive director of the Society for Children and Youth of B.C.

The provincewide advocacy organization has been around since 1974, but until now, there hasn't been a program to give young people a voice in B.C. courts.

"B.C. is definitely lagging well behind all the other provinces in the country when it comes to children and youth having access to legal representation," Howell told On The Coast's Gloria Macarenko.

"Other provinces, for example Alberta and Ontario, have very robust programs that have been built up over quite a number of years."

B.C. lags behind in child legal advocacy

Howell said Ontario's government runs the Office of the Children's Lawyer as a branch of the Attorney General's Ministry, which represents children in cases "including child custody and access disputes, child protection proceedings and civil litigation," according to their government website.

Alberta offers young people the opportunity for representation through the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate.

The Law Foundation of B.C. and the Law Foundation of Ontario are providing much of the funding for this new program, which is assured to run until 2020, according to Howell.

She said as word continues to spread about this new program, demand has ramped up for the organization's services and that gives her confidence that funding will be extended well into the future.

"We're finding that having someone in the mix to bring forward the child's voice really helps that family bring things back to what's important and why they're there in the first place."

The program launched in October, and they're currently building a roster of lawyers from across the province to provide services locally to children and youth in B.C.

To hear the full interview listen to media below:

With files from On The Coast