Increase Justice Sector Awareness of the Relevance of Brain Science

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Brain Science is the evidentiary foundation for efforts to transform the family justice system, and in order to create the awareness that will support the culture shift, education in brain science is a priority for the justice sector.

Background

Brain science includes the growing awareness that childhood adversity affects the developing brain in key ways that can set children up to struggle with learning, social and health outcomes, sometimes even decades into the future. The landmark Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study, documented the 10 types of childhood adversity that are associated with increased risk of developing chronic health conditions. These ACEs fall into three categories: maltreatment, neglect and household dysfunction, including parental separation and divorce. Many of these ACEs occur in cases that are heard in family court, which underlines the need for the justice system to be familiar with this science.

Tools and Resources

The Alberta Family Wellness Initiative (AFWI) has made available a wealth of information and resources about brain science on their website: www.albertafamilywellness.org

In particular, they have created a free online course that provides the scientific underpinnings of brain science: https://www.albertafamilywellness.org/training-2

The Harvard Centre on the Developing Child is another strong resource for brain science, with many tools available online: https://developingchild.harvard.edu/

The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/aces/index.html

Promising Practices and Case Studies

Steps are being taken to encourage the legal profession to adopt the brain story certification offered by AFWI as a recognized and perhaps mandatory education certification for family lawyers.

Similarly, a proposal has been made to have the brain story certification recognized as part of judicial education.

Scorecard Building

Possible Objective Details

Possible Measures

Actions to Take

Actions for Coalitions

Actions for Individuals

Sources