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 are now inviting survivors of family violence across BC to share their experience accessing Legal Aid BC's Family Law Centres and/or the new expanded 25 service hours.
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.
Every engagement will be:
- A confidential 1-1.5 hour one-on-one or small group setting engagement
- Flexible — scheduled at a time and in a format that works for participants
- Supported by trained, trauma-informed Parent Connectors with lived experience of family violence and interacting with legal services
Honoraria will be provided to all participants in appreciation for sharing their experience. The engagement is now open and will run from June-August 2026.
Information and Materials for Front-Line Service Providers
If you work with survivors who may have accessed family law legal aid since January 2025, 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 engagement 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!
Research and Law Reform
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!
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, the Frontline Legal Aid Sector Roundtable will convene service organizations, such as legal clinics and transition houses providing frontline supports to individuals navigating BC's family law system and accessing legal aid and legal support on the impact, effectiveness and development of legal aid services in BC. 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]