Dealing with Child and Family Services

Are you:

• A young female with or without children, and/or currently pregnant
• Between 12-24 years old
• Involved with a Child and Family Services
  
  

Just-Us Girls can offer

• Information on the Child, Youth, and Family Enhancement Act and support through the child protection process in court and out of court
• Ensure your voice is heard while Child and Family Services is involved with your family
• Help to coordinate interactions between your caseworker and community agencies
• Create a plan at your sharing circle that addresses many of Child and Family Services’ concerns
• Support you at your court date. A Just-Us Girls representative is there to support the plan presented to the court and answer questions the Judge might have
• Personal and community support beyond the court process

Process

1. Referral: Get referred to us by the agency, by your lawyer, or through the Court, or contact us yourself.

2. Introductory Meeting: Meet with us to discuss the Just-Us Girls' process and to determine if you want to participate in a sharing circle,
   as Just-Us Girls is a voluntary process.

3. Sharing Circle: Sit down with 3 Just-Us Girls volunteers (senior chairperson,
   facilitator, and mentor) and complete a plan to keep your family safe.

4. Mentorship: Your mentor will work with you towards completing your plan.

Plan to keep your family safe

You will join 3 members of Just-Us Girls at a sharing circle. At the sharing circle you will discuss yourself, your actions and your family. 

A large part of the sharing circle will be creating a plan that allows you to take responsibility for your actions and provide ways for you to address the concerns of Child and Family Services. Your sharing circle will help you form a plan with concrete, achievable, and consensual actions that you will take in order to reach your goals in getting better and ensuring your family is safe.

Creating a plan with small, concrete and achievable actions will help show the judge that you are taking the situation seriously and can provide them with measurable results.

Court appearance after your sharing circle

After you meet with your sharing circle and create a plan, Just-Us Girls will send a report of the plan and goals to you, your lawyer (if you have one) and the casework or their lawyer.

A representative from Just-Us Girls may come with you to this appearance to answer any questions the Judge might have as well as offer you support.

Mentorship

You will have a Just-Us Girls mentor to support you when you need someone to talk to. You may want to connect over email, phone calls, or going out for coffee. She is there for you to support you through the process and aide you in the successful completion of your plan.

Ultimately the presiding Judge has the right to take all, none or some of the Just-Us Girls recommendations into account when making their decision.