Evaluation of Federal Support for Family Justice

Executive Summary

Introduction

This report presents the findings and conclusions of the 2019 Evaluation of the Federal Support for Family Justice. The evaluation covers the period from 2014-15 to 2017-18 and addresses issues related to relevance, effectiveness and efficiency.

Federal Support for Family Justice Profile

Family law is an area of shared constitutional jurisdiction. The federal government has jurisdiction over divorce and other related matters ancillary to divorce, such as parenting and child and spousal support. It plays an important role in the development of mechanisms that advance access to family justice nationally and internationally. Provincial and Territorial (PT) governments have jurisdiction over matters relating to unmarried couples who separate, and to married couples who separate but do not divorce.

The ultimate outcome of the Department of Justice (hereafter the Department) contribution is to increase access to family justice for Canadians. The federal government’s legal and policy work, funding, programs, activities, information services and other supports benefit families who have experienced separation or divorce.

Budgeted support for Federal Support for Family Justice totalled $96 million for the period covered by the evaluation, of which two-thirds related to grants and contributions (Gs&Cs). Through Budget 2017, the Department received a permanent mandate to continue its support of the family justice system.

Evaluation Scope and Methodology

The evaluation addresses questions specific to family law, its overall program delivery and operations, and the management and distribution of Gs&Cs. The evaluation was conducted between spring 2017 and fall 2018. Major lines of evidence included key informant interviews, surveys with family law practitioners and federal contacts, a focus group involving PT representatives, a series of research studies directed by the Department, and a detailed document and file review of Gs&Cs records. Monitoring data, such as exit and follow-up surveys with people who participated in education programs, training, mediation services and information centre services were also analyzed.

Evaluation Findings

Relevance

Ongoing federal support is needed to enable the family justice system to: meet the strong demand for services; respond to significant changes occurring in the environment in which it operates; address key issues; and pursue opportunities for improvement. Given its expertise in family justice and strong connections, well-established tools and services as well as funding, the Department is well positioned to align family justice activities with federal government priorities and respond to key issues.

Effectiveness

Federal Support for Family Justice activities have resulted in advancing family justice. The Department has supported the development of family law policy and legislation such as Bill C-78 and provided expert legal advice that is useful to decision makers.  It has collaborated effectively with provinces and territories on matters specific to family justice, and worked with other federal departments and international bodies. Information, online tools, workshops and training activities developed, distributed and funded by the Department have increased awareness and knowledge related to family justice across a range of topics and  target groups. However, the Department needs to build on progress made by increasing the availability of information targeted at specific sub-groups (e.g. materials targeted at youth, Indigenous people, immigrants and refugees, grandparents and non-traditional family structures) and tailor the materials more specifically to their needs.

Federal Support for Family Justice has also supported the development of new and improved approaches and processes, and increased access to family justice services, alternatives to the court and services targeted at underserved groups. However, further improvements are needed to continue to increase access to services for underserved groups.

Federal Support for Family Justice also provides important tools and resources that assist in the delivery of federal enforcement and divorce-related services and to provinces and territories and Canadians across Canada through the Department’s Family Law Assistance Services group.  Although significant progress has been made in the administration of these programs, certain factors have slowed down the progress (e.g. differences in priorities, programs, definitions, standards, processes and capacity across 13 jurisdictions) and further streamlining should be considered. 

Efficiency

The Department has made efficient use of the available funding. The costs associated with administering Gs&Cs have declined over the past decade. Nearly all available funds were fully used, and efficiencies have been gained through making greater use of technology, streamlining processes, making changes to the administration of the Canadian Family Justice Fund, and collecting administrative fees to offset the costs of delivering some of the Department’s enforcement programs.  Current salary and operating and maintenance (O&M) funding is generally sufficient to effectively deliver core services with respect to Federal Support for Family Justice.

Conclusions and Recommendations

The evaluation concludes that there is an ongoing need for federal support to strengthen the family justice system and the Department is well positioned to fulfill this need. Findings also indicate that the Department has contributed to the overall effectiveness of the family justice system and Gs&Cs have been delivered efficiently. However, increased access to family justice could be strengthened to meet the needs of diverse and underserved populations.

In light of the findings of the evaluation, one key recommendation has been made. It is recommended that Justice Canada continue to provide support to programs and services that extend reach to diverse and underserved populations for the resolution of family law matters. More specifically, it is recommended that Justice Canada develop and implement a plan including: