Lynda Stevens & Pamela Hurley

Child Witness Project

Helping Courts Hear the Evidence of Children

The Child Witness Project provides sensitive, informed, and effective assistance to child, adolescent and other vulnerable witnesses to help them communicate evidence to the court without being traumatized by the challenging process of being a witness.

What's New

The "Journey to Justice" Project

The Journey to Justice: A Guide to Thinking, Talking and Working as a Team for Young Victims of Crime in Canada's North (2009) This 90-page guide is a follow-up to the "Full and Candid Account" series from 2007. It takes the basic principles of helping children and teenagers testify in court and adapts them for use in Canada's three territories: Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. The material is aimed at a wide range of professional groups including judges, justices of the peace, prosecutors, police, witness coordinators, victim service workers, shelter staff and educators. Sections also address the needs of witnesses with diagnosed or suspected fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Development and distribution of this resource is being funded by the Policy Centre for Victim Issues, Department of Justice Canada.

Handbooks on Testimonial Aids

A Full and Candid Account: Using Special Accommodations and Testimonial Aids to Facilitate the Testimony of Children (2007) by Alison Cunningham & Pamela Hurley Seven concise resources to help prosecutors, victim-support workers, judges, police and others understand and meet the needs of children who testify in court. The goal of these efforts is to help the witness provide complete and accurate evidence, or "a full and candid account." Topics covered are: overview of issues related to child testimony, testifying outside the courtroom (e.g., via CCTV), witness screens, video-recorded evidence, designated support person, hearsay evidence and children, and children and teenagers who testify in domestic violence cases. Development and distribution of this resource was funded by the Policy Centre for Victim Issues, Department of Justice Canada.

Project Overview

The Child Witness Project helps children and adolescents who must testify in criminal court, usually in cases of physical or sexual abuse or the witnessing of assaults against their mothers. Referrals are accepted for witness preparation, capacity assessments, expert testimony, Crown consultation, Khan applications, clinical victim impact statements, and criminal injuries reports. Preparation ranges from three to eight sessions, as needed by each child. The protocol includes education, stress reduction, coping strategies, emotional support and advocacy. Since its inception, the Project has helped over 1,000 children and adolescents and several developmentally challenged adults.

There are two overarching goals of court preparation:

• to facilitate the conditions necessary for a victim/witness to provide a full and candid account of the evidence without compromising a defendant's right to a fair trial, through
  • individual court preparation
  • assessment and expert evidence for the courts
  • advocacy on behalf of youth with special challenges to testifying
  • training for justice officials
• to ensure that young and vulnerable witnesses are not traumatized by the legal process

Other goals of the project are to develop and refine an innovative service model, provide a high-quality service, identify the individuals needs of each youth, work cooperatively with other involved agencies, provide advocacy for individual youth on issues such as testimonial aids, make referrals to appropriate services, work collaboratively in our community, share information and experience with other agencies, conduct training, and provide uesful resources. Consistent with the Centre's goal of integrating research and practice, we conduct research that helps us understand better the needs of our clients and that aids policy makers and legislators.

Une brochure en français

The Child Witness Project: Services préparatoires pour les enfants et adolescents témoins

Individual Assessment

Staff of the project are experienced therapists and the process begins with a thorough intake to assess a youth's individual situation, special needs, and personal concerns related to testifying. Questionnaires developed by the Project help identify the children's most salient fears about court and their knowledge of the legal process. An in-depth interview with parents, as well as standardized psychometric tests, assist in assessing current emotional functioning of the youth.

Court Preparation

The education component of the prepartion centres on court procedure and etiquette, oath taking and legal terminology. Innovative aides such as a model courtroom, puppets, a judge's gown, books, and videos are used, in particular with the younger children.

The stress reduction component includes deep breathing exercises, deep muscle relaxation and cognitive restructuring.

Coordination with Other Services

Case coordination among the mandated agencies is an integral part of the process. The investigating officer and the Crown attorney are kept apprised of each child's needs, emotional well-being and feelings about court. Project staff work closely with the Victim Witness Assistance Program to ensure that families are kept informed about court dates and adjournments and that the youth has a tour of the courtroom in advance. Any concerns about a child's ability to testify are communicated to the Crown Attorney's Office. More in-depth consultation with the Crown prosecutor, in respect to testimonial competency and the need for testimonial aids, is provided on a case by case basis.

Expert Assessment and Testimony

The Project's mandate includes the provision of expert evidence about children's testimonial competency, the need for testimonial aids (e.g., closed-circuit TV), Khan applications (hearsay evidence), children's disclosure patterns in sexual abuse cases, and memory and suggestibility. Opinions may also be sought on the impact of victimization, and understanding of which can help the court devise an apprpriate sentence.

Support for Parents

Having a child go through the court process is usually a very stressful time for parents. We answer questions, address concerns, and ensure they understand the process. The extent to which children are able to cope with the aftermath of physical and sexual violence, as well as the additional stress of testifying, depends much on the support received from their parents and other family members.

Referral

The nature of the service dictates that involvement with the Child Witness Project is time-limited and cannot involve discussion of the events that led to charges being laid. However, when appropriate, referrals are made to other services for on-going counselling or advocacy.

Community Collaboration

A local advisory board, with members representing the Crown Attorney's office, the Victim/Witness Assistance Program, law enforcement, and the local Children's Aid Society, meet on a regular basis. Issues discussed include legislative changes, judicial precedents and challenging clinical issues. Advocacy and complete service for all child witnesses within the system is the goal. We also participate in a network of child victim/witness projects in southern Ontario and are a member of the local Domestic Violence Court Advisory Committee.

Training Manuals

CHILDREN AS WITNESSES: Helping Young People Give Their Evidence in Court, Helping Courts Hear the Evidence of Children (2002) This is a series of five handbooks for Police, Crown Attorneys, Parents, Teachers and Court Preparation Providers. These handbooks discuss the challenges faced by child witnesses, best practice guidelines, a model court preparation protocol, helpful forms, legal factors in Canada, and the impact of trauma on children. Development of the manuals was funded by the Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario. Please note that laws referenced in these manuals are from prior to the reforms prompted by Bill C-2 in 2006. For information on current Canadian laws, see the "Full and Candid Account" resource mentioned above.

Publications

The Child Witness Project has several publications available for those interested in learning more about this topic. Please refer to the publications page for a complete list of publications and information on ordering.

My Day in Court

My Day in Court (2007) by Pam Hurley, Dawn Lashbrook, Alison Cunningham & Lynda Stevens. A report describing the development, pilot testing and refinement of three feedback surveys suitable for use with child witnesses and their caregivers. Three versions were developed, one each for children, teenagers and parents/caregivers. Each is also available in French. Pilot testing at several locations around Ontario aided refinement of the tools and they are now available for use by any child witness or Victim/Witness Assistance program. Characteristics of the pilot sample are described. This project was funded by the Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario.

A Brief on Bill C-2

As Bill C-2 was under Parliamentary review, Project staff gave oral and written testimony to the Standing Committee on Justice, Human Rights, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness in Ottawa.

Brief Concerning Bill C-2, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (protection of children and other vulnerable persons) and the Canada Evidence Act (2005).

Viva Voce: A National Newsletter

Viva Voce: A National Newsletter About Child Victims and Witneses is produced bi-annually when funding permits. Since 1995, when Health Canada funded the first two issues, it links a wide-range of professionals serving child witnesses. Some back issues are available in Adobe Acrobat format.

Follow-up Study of Children who Testified

Three Years After the Verdict is a follow-up study of 126 child victims of sexual assault about three years after they testified in court or saw their cases end with a guilty plea.

Study of Child Disclosure of Sexual Abuse

Tipping the Balance: The Public Discovery of Child Sexual Abuse, is a study of how children and adolescents come forward to disclose they have been sexually victimized. Over 500 cases were examined. The report includes a literature review and a qualitative analysis of interviews with 135 children and teenagers: who told right away and why, who delayed telling, what happened to them, why didn't they tell, and how was the abuse finally discovered? We also asked the children about the role of school programs in their decisions to disclose or not disclose. A statistical model was developed to discriminate immediate disclosers from delayed disclosers

Multi-site Study

The Project was also one of six child witness programs in Ontario that collectively studied 900 cases where children were called as witnesses. The final report from 1999 is called I'm Doing my Job in Court, Are You? Questions for the Criminal Justice System. The study provides a comprehensive insight into the treatment of child witnesses who have testified in cases of abuse. The impetus for the research was the shared concern that children continue to be retraumatized in the criminal justice system despite the significant legislative reforms of the 1980s. This study was authored by Louise Sas on behalf of the Child Witness Network.

Information for Families After Court

What You Should Know After the Verdict: Information for Young Victims of Crime and their Families is a 1996 booklet designed for young victims and their families across Canada. It explains in a user-friendly format the aspects of the legal system that can come into play after a verdict in a criminal case in Canada, including appeals, child protection matters, custody and access of children, contact with the offender while in prison, release of the offender from prison, criminal injury compensation, civil suits and complaint mechanisms for each component of the system. Disponible aussi en français.

Research

The Project has a strong history of research about the experiences of children, adolescents and their families in the criminal justice process. Past research efforts have included

• an evaluation of the utility of court preparation for children and the relative efficacy of different models of preparation
• a prospective follow-up study of children who testified in court
• examination of all sexual abuse allegations made to the local Children's Aid Society in one year
• an examination of the process whereby sexually-abused children come forward to reveal their victimizations to authorities
• national directory of court-support services for child and youth victims and witness, for the Department of Justice Canada.

In addition, the characteristics and outcomes of all cases are tracked in a data base that now contains information on almost 1,000 youth.

Who Funds the Child Witness Project?

The Child Witness Project began in 1988, as a three-year demonstration project funded by Health Canada to evaluate the effectiveness of different methods of preparing children for court testimony. In 1991, the Ontario Attorney General undertook responsibility for funding the Project's clinical court preparation services. We receive annual funding to accept referrals for children and youth who face the prospect of testifying in criminal court in Middlesex County.

Referrals are also accepted on a fee-for-service basis outside this geographical area.