One of Clicklaw’s newer contributors, the YWCA Vancouver, tackles this complex issue with a project funded by the Law Foundation of BC called the Mothers Without Status Legal Project. “Mothers without status” refers to single women with children living in Canada, who are neither Canadian citizens nor permanent residents. Many of these women have fled their relationship because of abuse.

During the course of this project, staff interviewed almost two dozen women in this type of situation to get a full picture of the multiple challenges they face. As a result of these interviews, the YWCA identified the need for a new resource, and published a booklet called Mothers Without Status: Practical information for service providers working with women who have no legal status. This 26-page booklet provides practical legal information on how service providers can help these women to navigate the immigration and family law systems in Canada.

The YWCA will be publishing the full results of their research project within the next few months – look for it on Clicklaw in the Reform & Research section.

• Online outreach coordinator
• Publications development coordinator
• Community training and outreach coordinator
• Community engagement coordinator

As well, from Clicklaw you can directly access such new Legal Services Society resources as:

• Self-help guides on How to fill out a Notice of Family Claim (Form F3) and How to deal with a Supreme Court Financial Statement (Form F8).
• How to Use the New Supreme Court Family Forms, a 10-minute video that describes how to open, fill out, and save the most complicated of the new Supreme Court forms.
• Sample completed Supreme Court forms page, a page of links to sample completed Supreme Court family forms on JP Boyd’s BC Family Law Resource website.

Speaking of JP Boyd’s website, we admire it so much that we’ve added entries on Clicklaw for JP Boyd’s BC Family Law Resource as well as New Rules 101: An Introduction, a section explaining the procedure and forms under the new court rules.

As explained in a new guide, overview, and video series from the BC Coalition of People with Disabilities, this is the power of the Registered Disability Savings Plan. Introduced by the federal government in 2007, RDSPs are a long-term savings program for people with disabilities.

With funding from the Law Foundation of BC, the BC Coalition of People with Disabilities created these new resources to explain:

• who is likely to qualify for an RDSP
• the importance of the Disability Tax Credit
• how to get money in and out of an RDSP, including applying for grants and bonds
• why people with disabilities should open an RDSP, even if they have a low income
• what people with disabilities on social assistance need to know

In addition to these resources, the BC Coalition of People with Disabilities produces a series of fact sheets for people with disabilities on a range of legal topics. For more information on these and other great legal resources for people in BC, visit Clicklaw.

“I am a volunteer at 411 Seniors Centre. I frequently get questions about the client’s legal situation and find the legal guide helpful in providing answers that are concise and in plain language. I have photocopied the pages on representation agreements for some clients because the outline is clear and covers the subject well. The guide also covers a wide range of topics that can be of use to seniors.”

                               Dave Hibbard, 411 Seniors  Centre Volunteer

“This guide has come to my aid in helping [non-lawyer] clients several times over the past couple of weeks. Three of the questions I received were identical to examples in Part 1: Common Legal Problems:

- The Ministry has taken my kids 
- A debt collector is harassing me
- My car broke down and the dealer won’t fix it

The author provides clear and concise information on the steps you need to take and where to get help for each problem. The clients have been very satisfied and grateful for the information I passed on to them.

Part 2: Resource Guide is a nine page alphabetical list of sources of legal information, providing quick access to website addresses and phone numbers. To date, there has been only one number I needed that wasn’t on the list – the Office of the Information & Privacy Commissioner (related to the debt collector question). I keep a photocopy of this list on the bulletin board for easy access.”

            Denise Caldwell, Kamloops Branch Manager, Courthouse Libraries BC

The series includes over 20 guidebooks written in plain language for those who are representing themselves in BC Supreme Court. The guidebooks fully incorporate the court rules that took effect on July 1, 2010, and include court forms with annotations explaining key parts of each form.

We admire these guidebooks so much that we’ve featured them in a new common question, “I’m trying to prepare a case under the new Supreme Court rules“. The guidebook series has been expanded to now include guidebooks on the transition to the new court rules and drafting orders in Supreme Court.

The Justice Education Society has also launched the website SupremeCourtBC.ca, which brings together a number of the Society’s videos, web resources and publications dealing with the Supreme Court. Along with the new guidebooks, the site is the new home to the videos Court Tips for Parents and Family Law and You: Representing Yourself in BC Supreme Court, the multimedia presentations Taking Your Case to Supreme Court, and more.

• Where can I find the new court rules and forms for Supreme Court cases?
• Can I fill in the new court forms online?
• I started a Supreme Court case before July 1, 2010. Will the new rules affect me?

Additional resources will be available through Clicklaw in the days ahead, including updated guidebooks from Justice Education Society and updated resources on the Family Law Website from Legal Services Society.