1974: Unified family court pilot project

Last updated on October 1, 2019

The Unified Family Court Act was proclaimed in 1974 and granted authority for changes in services to the court by correctional staff. The goal of the unified family court pilot project was to bring all the services related to family justice issues under one roof. Pilot project sites were established in Richmond, Surrey and Delta, and eventually led to the creation of a new employee group within the Corrections Branch called family court counsellors.

The Unified Family Court Act had a tremendous impact on the direction of community corrections in British Columbia. One of the challenges was in training probation officers to serve as family court counsellors.

Retired Provincial Director Wendy Hacking talks about the pivotal pilot project that led to the creation of a new area of responsibility for the Corrections Branch and family court counsellors

Responsible for training probation officers as family court counsellors, retired Provincial Director Wendy Hacking helped probation officers relate to their new work in family justice

BC Corrections Areas

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1974: Unified family court pilot project

Retired Provincial Director Wendy Hacking talks about the pivotal pilot project that led to the creation of a new area of responsibility for the Corrections Branch and family court counsellors

Responsible for training probation officers as family court counsellors, retired Provincial Director Wendy Hacking helped probation officers relate to their new work in family justice