Our project Legal Aid Lifeline continues the Centre for Family Equity's long-term work to establish abundant, quality family law legal aid in BC for low-income survivors of family violence and all who need to access it in the province.
Legal Aid Lifeline, a three-year project funded by the Law Foundation of BC, creates two engagement networks: one connecting survivors in need of legal aid, and the second connecting frontline legal aid support sector entities to ensure robust community input into legal aid services in BC. The project also researches law reform and trauma-informed service delivery to inform our evolving work in this area.
Community Engagement
We continue to invite survivors of family violence across BC to share their experience. We are holding three online focus groups in October 2026. The focus groups are open to survivors of intimate partner or family violence who have accessed or interacted with BC’s family law legal aid system within the last five years.
We want to hear what worked, what was difficult, and what needs to be changed. The insights we gather will directly shape our recommendations on how to improve family law legal aid services for survivors across BC.
Each focus group will be:
- A 1.5 hour online focus group.
- Supported by trained, trauma-informed Parent Connectors with lived experience of family violence and interacting with legal services.
- Supported by optional aftercare, including up to two one-on-one sessions with a registered clinical counsellor.
Focus group participants will receive $130 in honoraria, with childcare support included in this amount. To receive honoraria, participants must attend the entire focus group. Please note that you can only sign up for and participate in one focus group.
Spaces are limited and will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Filling out the sign-up form does not guarantee a spot in a focus group.
Information and Materials for FrontLine Service Providers
If you work with survivors who may have accessed family law legal aid system within the last 5 years, we'd be grateful if you could share our materials with your networks. All outreach materials, including posters, a project summary, and sign-up information, are available below.
Click below to download
Two versions of our October 2026 focus group posters:
Our one-page engagement summary:
Survivors Shaping Services Network and Frontline Roundtable
Our new Survivors Shaping Services network is shaped and led by a group of six Parent Connectors with lived-experience of legal aid, BC's family law system, and family violence. This new network will carry out broader engagement among survivors in need of legal aid to gather input on the user experience and further understand the needs of those impacted by intimate partner violence regarding legal aid.
Join the Survivors Shaping Services Network!
Join our network of survivors, families, and allies working together to shape services and support systems. Sign up to participate, share your experience, take action and create change alongside others across BC!
Frontline Family Law Legal Aid Roundtable
Join the Survivors Shaping Services Network!
Join our network of survivors, families, and allies working together to shape services and support systems. Sign up to participate, share your experience, take action and create change alongside others across BC!
The Frontline Family Legal Aid Sector Roundtable will formally bring together frontline service providers, advocates, and other related community interests to shape, evaluate, and provide critical input on legal aid delivery in BC. The ground-level insights of those working directly with those accessing legal aid are vital in ensuring these services are truly accessible, trauma-informed, and responsive to the real challenges clients face. The goal is to ensure the frontline sector is helping to collectively shape and impact the development of legal aid services in BC.
If you would like to join the roundtable, please fill out this expression of interest form, and we will follow up with the survey link and information. Please share the expression of interest form directly to your networks!
Research and Law Reform
Legal Aid Lifeline will conduct research on evidence-based trauma-informed service delivery inclusive of leading best practices implemented globally. As well as our community engagement and roundtable, the project also investigates potential law reform to impact and inform our existing and future work in the area of access to family law legal aid for low-income parents and caregivers.
To get in touch with staff regarding any aspect of this project, please contact:
Viveca Ellis, CFE executive director: [email protected]