The Family Learning Project
About the Project
The Family Learning Project supports newcomer families across Hamilton in accessing information about their legal rights and responsibilities as parents in Ontario. Supported by The Law Foundation of Ontario’s Access to Justice Fund, this project began in 2018 and will be completed in 2020.
The Family Learning Project provides community-based legal education to families, community leaders, and service providers who directly work with newcomers. This legal education focusses on parental rights, responsibilities, and resources based in Ontario’s new Child, Youth and Family Services Act (CYFSA).
It is a partnership between the Social Planning & Research Council of Hamilton (SPRC), Immigrants Working Centre (IWC), and Legal Aid Ontario, Central West District Office (LAO). While funded by The Law Foundation of Ontario Access to Justice Fund, the SPRC is solely responsible for all content.
Resources Created by The Family Learning Project
Please note: these tools were created between 2018 and March 2020 and may not reflect changes in information that have arisen since they were created, including procedural and practice changes to accommodate the safety of the public due to COVID-19. Please ensure that you speak to a lawyer if you would like advice about your specific situation. Please see the bottom of this page for the full Terms and Conditions.
We’d love to hear from you! If you’d like to provide feedback, please fill out this form.
General Resources
Family Sessions
Family Session 1: Age-based laws
Family Session 2: The Basics of Ontario’s Child, Youth and Family Services Act
Family Session 3: Finding Legal and Community Support
Printable Worksheets and Flyers
Legal Information for Everyone: The LIFE Podcast
Episodes
Collaborative Episode 1: Legal Information 101
Collaborative Episode 3: Crossovers – Unpacking Intersections in Legal Spheres
Family Law Episode 1: Basic legal parameters for parents under Ontario’s Child, Youth and Family Services Act
Family Law Episode 2: Intro to Child Protection in Ontario and the CAS
Transcripts
Transcript (English): Podcast Trailer
Transcript (English): Collaborative Episode 2
Transcript (English): Collaborative Episode 3
Transcript (English): Family Law Episode 1
Transcript (English): Family Law Episode 2
Legal Information for Everyone: Blog
Terms and Conditions
Social Media
Visit The Family Learning Project’s Website
Acknowledgements
Thank you to the many people who have helped shape this project, including:
- The families and service providers that collaborated with us to think about what it would look like to share legal information in an accessible format that meets the needs of different newcomer communities across Hamilton;
- Lina Vyas and Matthew Hammond at Legal Aid Ontario, Central-West District Office, for their partnership, legal expertise, and for reviewing the content created by this project;
- The staff at the Immigrants Working Centre for their partnership, expertise, and support. Their communications team, David Quezada and Bendict Koffi, for helping to create the checklist infographic;
- Merima Menzildzic, the project coordinator of Tools for Tenant Rights (https://twitter.com/TTRProject), for her collaboration in creating these tools, especially the podcast;
- Dr. Mirna Carranza and Liz Grigg for their expertise and for providing the research that was the foundation of this project;
- Members of our community advisory group, including staff at: Good Shepherd, Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion, Hamilton Community Food Centre/ Neighbour 2 Neighbour, Hamilton Filipino Community Centre, Hamilton Urban Core Community Health Centre, Interval House of Hamilton, Micah House, Refuge Hamilton Centre for Newcomer Health, Thrive Child and Youth Trauma Services, Wesley, and the YMCA of Hamilton/Burlington/Brantford;
- Brenda Doner and Urooj Ameeruddin at Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO) for their support and guidance throughout this process.
Project Staff
Family Learning Project Coordinator: Sabrina Sibbald
Family Learning Project Supervisor: Patti McNaney
