Substance Use Issues in Family Justice

This course will provide the student with an overview of substance use and substance use services and discuss how to apply evidence-based practices from the substance use field into family justice services, including harm reduction approaches and trauma-informed practices. The student will develop communication skills for safer and non-judgemental discussions about substance use with families. Relevant policy and legislation as well as court and out-of-court options that can help students work effectively with families affected by substance use will be outlined. Lastly students will explore different approaches to developing parenting plans, the advantages and disadvantages of different types of agreements and what types of clauses or provisions they can include in these agreements to assist with parental communication and address parents' concerns about substance use. This course is part of the training programs for family justice counsellors (FJCs) and child support officers. Other practitioners and professionals involved in family dispute resolution will also find this course helpful to their work including private mediators, parenting coordinators, lawyers and paralegals, arbitrators, counsellors or any other professionals working with families experiencing separation and divorce.