The Office of the Child and Youth Advocate (OCYA) is hosting its biennial Best Practices in Child Legal Representation conference October 24 & 25, 2022 at the River Cree Resort and Casino near Edmonton, Alberta. This year we will be offering both in-person and virtual attendance.
The goal of the conference is to further explore child participatory rights and to develop and improve child legal representation practices by:
The conference will be an opportunity to reflect and develop new plans for practice and ultimately to provide better outcomes for children and youth.
The conference can be attended in person and will also be livestreamed for remote speakers and conference attendees. Over the 2 days, there will be keynote speakers, breakout sessions, panel discussions, and opportunities to network.
To find out more, go to the conference website: www.lrcyconference.ca.
Please contact Kirsten Wiebe at LRCY.information@ocya.alberta.ca
A National Symposium on Hearing the Voice of the Child in Legal Proceedings
September 15 & 16, 2017 – Calgary Alberta
This two-day national symposium gathered leading stakeholders to share information and talk about how the voices of children and youth are heard, their interests are protected and their evidence is received in justice processes.
The symposium featured keynote speakers Mr. Sheldon Kennedy of the Sheldon Kennedy Child Advocacy Centre and Dr. Nicole Sherren of the Alberta Family Wellness Initiative.
Finding the Best Ways Forward was a project of the Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family and the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate Alberta, and has been generously funded by a grant from the Alberta Law Foundation.
Conference Program
Conference Pictures
The Best Practices in Child Legal Representation Conference was held May 6-8, 2015 in Calgary at the Sheraton Cavalier Hotel.
Conference Host – Del Graff, Alberta Child and Youth Advocate
Special Guest – Honourable Judge Harry M. Van Harten, Provincial Court of Alberta
Keynote Address – Honourable Judge John Reilly
View the 2015 Conference Brochure Here
For Full Bios Click Here
The Office of the Child and Youth Advocate hosted its 2nd biennial Best Practices in Child Legal Representation conference October 27-29, 2013 in Jasper, Alberta at the beautiful Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge.
The conference had a special focus on the rights of the child.
Over 120 delegates, including lawyers, social workers, educators, advocates, and youth attended this event.
Conference Host: Del Graff, Alberta Child and Youth Advocate
Keynote address: Cindy Blackstock, Ph.D. Executive Director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada (http://www.fncaringsociety.com) and Associate Professor at the University of Alberta
Keynote address: Bruce Perry, M.D., Ph.D. Senior Fellow of the ChildTrauma Academy, a not-for-profit organiztion based in Houston, Texas (http://www.childtrauma.org/), adjunct Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, and inaugural Senior Fellow of the Berry Street Childhood Institute, an Australian based centre of excellence
Keynote address: Honourable Judge M. J. Savaryn, Provincial Court Judge, Family Division, Edmonton, Alberta
Concurrent Sessions:
View the 2013 Conference Brochure Here
Kirsten Wiebe
Phone: (780) 422-6104
Toll-free in Alberta: dial 310-0000, then (780) 422-6104
Email: Kirsten.Wiebe@ocya.alberta.ca