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  • Office of the Children's Lawyer

    Good News - The office of the Children's Lawyer has agreed to prepare a social worker report for my custody/access issues.

    Just wondering about what to expect if others have been through this process. Types of questions they ask, etc.

    Thanks
    mominont

  • #2
    mominont,

    Perhaps this non existent procedural guide of the OCL located at the Canada Court Watch Site may be of assistance.


    http://www.canadacourtwatch.com/lega...ssessments.pdf


    lv

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by logicalvelocity View Post
      mominont,

      Perhaps this non existent procedural guide of the OCL located at the Canada Court Watch Site may be of assistance.


      http://www.canadacourtwatch.com/lega...ssessments.pdf


      lv
      NICE! i am a member of that site but I have no idea where to find those documents without this link

      Comment


      • #4
        I am currently going through an investigation by a social worker from the OCL. My case is strictly about access. I currently have supervised but I have now taken care of the issue that caused my access to be supervised.

        The SW was assigned to us in at the end of February. Since then, I have had one short interview with him, he has interviewed my daughter, he's had a short interview with my ex, he's observed me with my daughter at the Access Center once, and he will be coming to my home next week to make sure it's safe for a child to be there.

        So far, I find him to be a little young and I sense he's inexperienced as far as conducting custody/access investigations. But I'll just wait and see if I'm wrong about that.

        The first time you meet you will have to give him what is called "collateral contacts." These are third parties who are or have been involved with you and/or the child. They are people such as doctors, schools, therapists, counsellors, family members, friends etc. He/she will also ask you to sign Authorization forms for the release of information by the police and the CAS.

        Thye have 90 days to complete the investigation (although it's not uncommon that they take much longer depending on the complexity of the case). When the investigation is complete, the investigator will arrange what is called a "disclosure meeting" with you, your ex and your lawyers if any.

        At the disclosure meeting the investigator will reveal to you the results of the investigation and what his/her recommendations will be (ie who gets custody, access etc.).

        Based on the results, you and your ex will have a chance to settle the matter as your lawyer will tell you that the court follows the recommendations of the OCL about 80%-90% of the time.

        If you do not agree with the results of the investigation, the recommendations will be drafted into a report and filed with the court, and you may file a dispute with the court and a judge will decide.

        The social worker has one, and only one, objective - what is in the child's best interests. They generally do not look at or consider affidavits that are before the court that contain allegations that are not yet proven. They are trained to cut through all the back and forth between ex's and get straight to what is in the child's best interests.

        It's not uncommon for the party that wants the OCL involved (assuming the other party doesn't want it or doesn't care) to get a report that is not in their favour or not what they envisioned the results to be.

        Good luck! Tell us how it goes

        Comment


        • #5
          Old post I see...but how did this go? My partners lawyer is considering having him apply for OCL. Worth it? I guess my biggest fear is that his ex wife has brainwashed his daughter with BS about us and has created this status quo of limited access for almost 2 yrs now (despite his pleas otherwise...offers to settle, requests for more time)...and how will that influence the OCL investigation? Are they able to see through her manipulation or are we setting ourselves up??

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          • #6
            We have the disclosure meeting tomorrow actually, OCL processes can be "old" and long so I will have an answer soon..

            Comment


            • #7
              yes research "parental alienation" that is mental child abuse. that is the only thing that could be warrant besides problems with her own parenting to change custody/status quo to stop more emotional harm to the child.
              Last edited by macdonaldgal; 05-22-2012, 10:14 PM. Reason: typo

              Comment


              • #8
                okay Guys so the OCL report did not change custody but it says I get my son unsupervised and actually a bit more access. Sweet. so basically my ex wasted about 15,000 on a lawyer to help reduce my access and it didn't work out.
                So she tried to get us to settle and he pretended he was going to give me back my access, said he needed to talk to his wife and now he is refusing to do so. So what is my next step? I assume I need court action now. We already have a court order for my access which he is not following so can I do a motion to reinstate my access now based on her agreement with it until we have a settlement to avoid a trial?
                Another question she said at the disclosure meeting he could send me for 3 random urine tests for alcohol and now since then she is changing it to hair tests because my ex called her and said he'd pay for it? Can she change this after she had said urine tests in the meeting? I have had one false positive that was cleared up later with another test so I am very wary about these tests which my ex having control of seems very intrusive.
                He is the call child Protection services every week type who used drugs everyday when we were together but there's no proof and I think he got a pardon because his DUI and possession charge were gone but my fiancée's from when he was 20, 15 years ago is on the report pfft. Well she disclosured that so it will be in the report.
                So what next this guy is trying to keep my son from me and drag this out as long as possible.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by macdonaldgal View Post
                  okay Guys so the OCL report did not change custody but it says I get my son unsupervised and actually a bit more access. Sweet. so basically my ex wasted about 15,000 on a lawyer to help reduce my access and it didn't work out.
                  So she tried to get us to settle and he pretended he was going to give me back my access, said he needed to talk to his wife and now he is refusing to do so. So what is my next step? I assume I need court action now. We already have a court order for my access which he is not following so can I do a motion to reinstate my access now based on her agreement with it until we have a settlement to avoid a trial?
                  Another question she said at the disclosure meeting he could send me for 3 random urine tests for alcohol and now since then she is changing it to hair tests because my ex called her and said he'd pay for it? Can she change this after she had said urine tests in the meeting? I have had one false positive that was cleared up later with another test so I am very wary about these tests which my ex having control of seems very intrusive.
                  He is the call child Protection services every week type who used drugs everyday when we were together but there's no proof and I think he got a pardon because his DUI and possession charge were gone but my fiancée's from when he was 20, 15 years ago is on the report pfft. Well she disclosured that so it will be in the report.
                  So what next this guy is trying to keep my son from me and drag this out as long as possible.
                  First of all, congratulations on getting unsupervised and more access.

                  Yes you should make a motion to have the OCL recommendations incoporated into a final order. OCL recommendations are followed by the court a great percentage of the time (about 80% of the time). Your ex is obviously not happy with the results and just wants to drag it through court instead of settlling. It's okay, let him do it and you should be awarded costs.

                  As far as the random hair tests. My advice would be to just agree. If you have nothing to hide and he is willing to pay for it and he will only be allowed to have 3 tests done, then just agree. I know sometimes there can be problems with hair tests, but they're usually accurate. Just make sure the sample taker cuts as close to your scalp as possible and you should be okay.

                  Good luck and congrats once again. I have my disclosure meeting on June 12th and I'm hoping for unsupervised and extended access as well.

                  Comment

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