Establishing Canada\u27s First Integrated Domestic Violence Court: Exploring Process, Outcomes, and Lessons Learned

The establishment of domestic violence courts has resulted in significant improvements in responses to family violence, but these courts have generally dealt only with criminal cases and do not address the risks that the victim and children may face in family proceedings. In some locations in the USA, courts have been established to deal with both criminal and family proceedings that arise from a domestic violence situation. This paper describes and analyzes the establishment of the first court in Canada that hears both criminal and family cases concerning families where there are domestic violence issues. The authors report on a study of the views and experiences of 21 stakeholders (judges, Crown, criminal and family lawyers, community supports, victims, and offenders) involved in the Integrated Domestic Violence Court in Toronto. The participants generally report that the Court provides a better approach to dealing with domestic violence post separation, though there are some concerns expressed about its operations, especially by lawyers representing alleged abusers. The Integrated Domestic Violence Court is a promising example of how systems can collaborate to better protect victims and advance the interests of children

One Judge for One Family: Differentiated Case Management for Families in Continuing Conflict

Understanding the differences between family cases and other types of litigation is essential for an appropriate response to family disputes. Judges have a role in family cases that markedly differs from the traditional judicial role. The authors argue that an effective and accessible family justice system requires pre-trial and post-trial case management by a single judge, an approach to family justice reflected in the slogan: One judge for one family. Judges should have the necessary knowledge, skills, and training needed to resolve family disputes and to help effect changes in parental behaviours and attitudes, as well as the willingness to collaborate effectively with non legal professionals. A differentiated approach to the way each family case is managed is required, varying with the nature of the case, the nature and level of the conflict, and the stage of the litigation process. The paper includes consideration of Canadian approaches to judicial case management, including analysis of the small body of reported case law on the reasons for judicial managing and monitoring family cases before and after trial, and on recusal—when to stop case management

Addressing Controversies About Experts in Disputes Over Children

There is significant controversy about the use of experts in child-related disputes in family and child protection proceedings in Canada. The 2015 Lang Review of the Motherisk Laboratory at Toronto\u27s Hospital for Sick Children concluded that experts retained by child protection agencies were introducing unreliable expert testimony about parental drug and alcohol use. The recent decision of Ontario Court of Appeal in M. v. F. suggested that evidence from a party-retained expert critiquing the opinion of a court-appointed psychologist is rarely helpful or admissible. This paper addresses these and related controversies about the use of experts in child-related cases. It reviews recent developments in the law governing the admissibility of expert evidence, with a particular focus on the 2015 Supreme Court decision in White Burgess, and the role of the judge as a gatekeeper, responsible for excluding biased or unreliable expert testimony. The paper explores the unique role played by court-appointed experts in child-related disputes. It is argued that there should be a continued role for experts retained by one parent to critique a report prepared by a court-appointed expert in a child-related case; nonetheless there is an obligation for party-retained experts to provide unbiased and reliable evidence, and avoid being hired guns. This critique role may be especially important when the state has been involved in the court process, either as a party in a child protection proceeding or by arranging for a particular court-appointed professional to undertake an assessment. It is also argued that there is a strong Charter based argument that indigent parents in child protection proceedings may be entitled to a court order for funding to retain their own experts to testify to counter evidence put forward by experts funded by the government

Views of the Child Reports: Hearing Directly from Children Involved in Post-Separation Disputes

Views of the Child reports are being increasingly used in Canada and other countries as a means of directly obtaining the child’s perspective on disputes between their parents and/or guardians. The reports provide information about the child’s perspective based on one or more interviews with a social worker. Yet, little research exists about their use and impact, the benefits and limitations of the approach, and less about what factors need to be considered in establishing practices and protocols to safely advance children’s views before the court. This article draws on the direct experiences of 24 children between the ages of 6–17 years about their views and preferences during family breakdown. The children describe how they wanted to speak to someone about their views and preferences, raised questions about the accuracy of the reporting of their views, the need for protecting their confidentiality by having a say of what is included in the report, and their support for children’s participation in decision-making post-separation. Practice, research and policy considerations are also highlighted in order for children’s participation to be truly meaningful to them, their parents and the courts

City-As-School: Internship-based Learning in New York City Public Schools

Paints a portrait of a high school with experiential learning at its core; at City-As-School in New York City, internships take the place of many classroom-based courses

Effect of plant root symbionts on performance of native woody species in competition with an invasive grass in multispecies microcosms

The majority of terrestrial plants form mutualistic associations with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and rhizobia (i.e., nitrogen-fixing bacteria). Understanding these associations has important implications for ecological theory and for restoration practice. Here, we tested whether the presence of AMF and rhizobia influences the performance of native woody plants invaded by a non-native grass in experimental microcosms. We planted eight plant species (i.e., Acacia acuminata, A. microbotrya, Eucalyptus loxophleba subsp. loxophleba, E. astringens, Calothamnus quadrifidus, Callistemon phoeniceus, Hakea lissocarpha and H. prostrata) in microcosms of field-conditioned soil with and without addition of AMF and rhizobia in a fully factorial experimental design. After seedling establishment, we seeded half the microcosms with an invasive grass Bromus diandrus. We measured shoot and root biomass of native plants and Bromus, and on roots, the percentage colonization by AMF, number of rhizobia-forming nodules and number of proteaceous root clusters. We found no effect of plant root symbionts or Bromus addition on performance of myrtaceous, and as predicted, proteaceous species as they rely little or not at all on AMF and rhizobia. Soil treatments with AMF and rhizobia had a strong positive effect (i.e., larger biomass) on native legumes (A. microbotrya and A. acuminata). However, the beneficial effect of root symbionts on legumes became negative (i.e., lower biomass and less nodules) if Bromus was present, especially for one legume, i.e., A. acuminata, suggesting a disruptive effect of the invader on the mutualism. We also found a stimulating effect of Bromus on root nodule production in A. microbotrya and AMF colonization in A. acuminata which could be indicative of legumes’ increased resource acquisition requirement, i.e., for nitrogen and phosphorus, respectively, in response to the Bromus addition. We have demonstrated the importance of measuring belowground effects because the aboveground effects gave limited indication of the effects occurring belowground

Title IX Administrators: Interpreting a Rapidly Expanding Profession

This bounded case study of a multi-campus public university system in the Rocky Mountain Region explored the emergence of a new profession within the work of Title IX administrators. Key findings identify evidence associated with professional vacancy, controlling knowledge, and cultural shifts in society. Experiences of Title IX administrators, and their views of their own emerging profession, contributed to research findings, and supported implications for practice and policy

Maternal Dioxin Exposure Combined with a Diet High in Fat Increases Mammary Cancer Incidence in Mice

BackgroundRESULTS from previous studies have suggested that breast cancer risk correlates with total lifetime exposure to estrogens and that early-life 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) exposure or diets high in fat can also increase cancer risk.ObjectivesBecause both TCDD and diet affect the estrogen pathway, we examined how TCDD and a high-fat diet (HFD) interact to alter breast cancer susceptibility.MethodsWe exposed pregnant female FVB/NJ mice (12.5 days postcoitus) to 1 microg/kg TCDD or vehicle; at parturition, the dams were randomly assigned to a low-fat diet (LFD) or a high-fat diet (HFD). Female offspring were maintained on the same diets after weaning and were exposed to 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene on postnatal days (PNDs) 35, 49, and 63 to initiate mammary tumors. A second cohort of females was treated identically until PND35 or PND49, when mammary gland morphology was examined, or PND50, when mammary gland mRNA was analyzed.ResultsWe found that maternal TCDD exposure doubled mammary tumor incidence only in mice fed the HFD. Among HFD-fed mice, maternal TCDD exposure caused rapid mammary development with increased Cyp1b1 (cytochrome P450 1B1) expression and decreased Comt (catechol-O-methyltransferase) expression in mammary tissue. Maternal TCDD exposure also increased mammary tumor Cyp1b1 expression.ConclusionsOur data suggest that the HFD increases sensitivity to maternal TCDD exposure, resulting in increased breast cancer incidence, by changing metabolism capability. These results provide a mechanism to explain epidemiological data linking early-life TCDD exposure and diets high in fat to increased risk for breast cancer in humans