September 12, 2011
Evaluation Report on Family Law NB
Public Legal Education and Information Service of New Brunswick (PLEIS-NB) is pleased to announce that the Final Report of a recent evaluation of a “family law project” implemented over the past two years is now available. The project, which was funded by Justice Canada, included the development of our bilingual website “Family Law NB / Droit de la famille NB” along with annotated, fillable family law forms, guides for self-represented family law litigants (SRLs), and a wealth of resources, FAQs and videos clips offering information on a variety of family matters.
Using a “mixed methods” approach, such as baseline and follow-up surveys, interviews, and focus groups with court staff, judges, lawyers and website users, the evaluation explores the project’s success in (1) creating awareness of the new website and related resources, (2) assisting SRLs to 'navigate' the family justice system, and (3) reducing the strain on the family justice system by providing a referral resource to deal with the information and education needs of SRLs.
Overall, the results of the evaluation were extremely positive. Many of those surveyed said the website was an important and valuable resource that helped SRLs become better informed. Website users who were interviewed stressed the value and importance of the toll-free Family Law Information Line to compliment the function of the website. Unfortunately, the evaluation was not able to determine whether the availability of the website and resources resulted in any reduction in the time and workload of front line staff.
We are extremely thankful for the strong support provided by our family law advisory committee, as well as the staff of Court Services Division, Justice and Consumer Affairs in the development and evaluation of this initiative.
PLEIS-NB continues efforts to respond to the findings and recommendations in the report, with a view to enhancing our educational support to self represented family law litigants, as resources permit.
Click here to read the Final Evaluation Report.
