==And ...and some partial progress==

This is not, of course, to say that nothing is being done. After that flurry of reports in 2013, groups were established in many provinces to pursue the access to justice problem and potential solutionsto the problem. Some of these efforts have floundered, while others have produced notable successes. We are lucky to live in British Columbia, which seems to be leading the country in experimenting with new programs and different initiatives. The changes that have been made in just the last ten or so fifteen years in British Columbia are impressive and inspiring.

*The BC Supreme Court deserves credit for implementing specific family rules in 2010, along with special forms specifically for family law matters. While still more complicated than Provincial Court proceduresforms, the Suprme Court's forms are now closer to a "fill in the blanks" approach. The Supreme Court also expanded its use of ''conferences'' (there are several versions of these, but they are all generally more informal opportunities for the parties to meet with a judge who can often work out a settlement to some of the issues in dispute, and in some cases full settlement). Anyone can schedule a judicial case conference (JCC) at any time, and in 2023 the Court court introduced a new Case Planning Conference process case planning conference to give parties greater access to a judge who can help streamline and simplify their litigation.*For its part, the BC Provincial Court has been very extraordinarily active, experimenting with an ongoing and vast redesign of its approach to handling family law cases. The ''early resolution'' process at some registries (where they are testing a new approach) has involved a major redesign of the court experience. And the new Provincial Court Family Rules and forms were launched in 2021. These The new rules are focused on the experience of participants, and not just the needs of the court, and aim to change how court appearances work to ensure people see results, and to make that each court appearance have has a more meaningful outcome. This The court has explicitly embraced the recommendations of the Action Committee on Access to Justice in Civil and Family Matters. For those whose goal is to keep a family law resource like this wikibook up-to-date, it has 's been hard to keep up with the Provincial Court in fact!*Both courts deserve credit for their efforts towards ensuring transparency by explaining the specific legal wording common in family law orders that they issue:** , including the [https://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/resource/4130 Provincial Court's Family Law Orders Picklist]**and the [https://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/resource/4085 Supreme Court's Family Law Orders Picklist].*The courts and the judges that lead them are also working more in conjunction with other policy leaders to make high -level plans for change. An initiative called the [https://transformfamilyjusticebc.ca/about/ Transform the Family Justice System (TFJS) Collaborative], led by Access to Justice BC (itself is a collaboration among leaders from basically all the province's justice-related organizations), was launched in 2022 with the aim of transforming the family justice system in BC by focusing it on achieving family well-being. This represents a shift to focus on better outcomes for children of separated parents.

*The advent introduction of [https://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/helpmap/service/1019 Family Justice Centres] are notablehas been very important. These centres are staffed by accredited Family Justice Counsellors specially trained to help families with parenting arrangements, contact with a childchildren, guardianship, and support issues. They can help parents resolve disagreements without going to court and provide short-term counselling, mediation, emergency, and community referrals and , along with other free services. There are 24 of these centres across BCthe province, and virtual appointment options are available.*Another worthy noteworthy new service is the [https://justice.gov.bc.ca/apply-for-family-order/ Online FLA Assistant], which helps anyone apply for a Family Law Act order in Provincial Court. This is more than an information website. The Online FLA Assistant will ask questions and take information from self-represented litigants to assemble completed forms that can then be filed at in the Provincial Court. *Similar to the Online FLA Assistant, but for uncontested divorce applications, the Ministry of Attorney General's [https://justice.gov.bc.ca/divorce Online Divorce Assistant] lets people jointly apply for a divorce. It's free, takes in information through an online questionnaire, and then prepares forms that can be filed jointly by the people seeking a divorce.*Ongoing reforms to the ''[[Family Law Act]]'' in recent years encourage arbitration, clarify areas of the law that were confusing (for instance , like the [[Dividing Property and Debt in Family Law Matters|division of property]]), and introduced new laws for dealing with pet ownership after separation that avoids troubling situations where threats and violence against pets were used to control people in abusive relationships. *Before the pandemic in 2020 , the provincial government had been planning changes to how the Family Maintenance Enforcement Program (FMEP) was managed. That (FMEP is a free program has helped enforce child and spousal support orders since 1988. ) A new agency was formed, called the BC Family Maintenance Agency (BCFMA), but the pandemic delayed its workresulted in delays. In late September 2023, they government announced that they were are going ahead with the name changechanges. It's clear a primary goal is to make the system easier to use online through apps and modern websites, and with less paperwork, printing, and faxing.

The Law Society of BC's Innovation Sandbox initiative aims to improve access to justice by improving access to legal advice and assistance from less conventional sources. The Law Society of BC describes their "sandbox" as a "safe space" for people and organizations that are not otherwise authorized to offer legal services to experiment with new ways to do so that could benefit the public. It's a response to at least one statistic the fact that 85% of people in BC British Columbia who have a serious legal problem get no help from a lawyer, and often go to someone other than a lawyer for helpassistance. Basically, the regulator is allowing groups to experiment, so long as they apply with make a plan proposal to the Law Society, without fear of the regulator coming down on them. For a regulatory system that's premised on protecting the public by ensuring lawyers maintain a monopoly over the practice of law, this is a significant step.

* The the [https://www.bccollaborativerostersociety.com/pro-bono-collaborative-family-law-project/about/ Pro Bono Collaborative Family Law Project] offers free collaborative lawyers for each party, plus other collaborative professionals as needed, and is for people who could not afford a collaborative team ordinarily. ,* Access Pro Bono, an important organization where lawyers and legal professionals donate their time and advocacy, has assumed responsibility for or pioneered a number of innovative services:, including** A a free online family mediation service for people of modest means, called the [https://www.accessprobono.ca/program/virtual-family-mediation-program Virtual Family Mediation Project],** The the [https://www.accessprobono.ca/our-programs/lawyer-referral-service Lawyer Referral Service], which they have taken over and which connects lawyers and clients with a free 15 -minute free consultation., and** the [https://everyonelegal.ca/ Everyone Legal Clinic], which is relatively new and offers affordable legal services, including transparent pricing for family law agreements, uncontested divorce applications, and dispute resolution assistance.,*Mediate BC offers https://www.mediatebc.com/learn/pro-bono-clinics online pro bono mediation clinics] where people can ask a Registered Roster Mediator (RRM) questions about family law mediation and , discuss specific circumstances with them. These sessions are , for free., and* Groups different groups of lawyers and other mental health professionals that deserve credit for their work in promoting a family law system that is kinder on children include:including,** The the [https://hearthechild.ca/ BC Hear the Child Society], which aims to give children the opportunity to share their views with the courts when their best interests are decided in the family justice system. It , and hosts a roster of lawyers professionals who can prepare ''hear non-evaluative views of the child reports''., and** The the [https://www.bcparentingcoordinators.com/ BC Parenting Coordinators Roster Society], which hosts a roster of qualified parenting coordinators, and promotes ''parenting coordination'' as a mechanism for dealing with issues in high-conflict relationships between parents.