1. FURTHERING OUR COLLECTIVE UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR NEEDS IN POST-SEPARATION PARENTING PLANS 6 th World Congress on Family Law and Children’s Rights Sydney, Australia 17-20 March 2013 MARIE L. GORDON Q.C. Edmonton, Alberta CANADA

2. Introduction  These are the most difficult of files for the family law practitioner, the judge, mental health professionals and client  Huge diversity of opinion on attachment/overnights/breast- feeding, even amongst the professionals  Further factors that offer challenges……

3.  Little or no relationship history between parents  Huge amount of fear on the part of all players  “What if we don’t get this right?”  Lots of first time parents  Younger parents without parenting experience  Couples with no experience handling conflict with each other  Participation(good and bad) from grandparents and extended family  Children so young they have no voice  Mistrust and hostility  “Father Fear”  Time moves fast for infants and toddlers  Less money to afford expensive help and/or assessments

4.  Early childhood development/what the experts say  A survey of case law from Canada  Breastfeeding of infants and toddlers  Judicial notice?  The use of parenting schedule guidelines  Conclusion

5.  Early Childhood Development and What the Experts Have to Say…  How the conversation looks from the outside  “tracking the conversation”  Bowlby  Solomon and George  Kelly and Lamb  Kline Pruett, Ebling and Insabella  Warshak

6.  Garber  McIntosh, Smyth, Keleher, Wells & Long  Cashmore & Parkinson  SUMMARY

7.  CANADIAN CASE SURVEY AND TRENDS NOTED:  What’s happening in the Canadian scene?  Moving from “when do overnights start”  Radical changes over the last 10 years  What are the important messages concerning post- separation arrangements for infants and toddlers (and what’s frequently in short supply)?  Need for open and positive communication  Peaceful transitions  Close proximity  Cooperation on feeding and sleeping schedules  Sharing important info re: problems and changes  An attitude of support….

8.  When do overnights start?  A review of Canadian cases - the last 10 years  Overnights and beyond?  Additional terms and Conditions for Infants and Toddlers  Summary of Trends in Canadian jurisprudence

9.  Breastfeeding of Infants and Toddlers – Keeping Abreast of the Issues…  and at one end of the spectrum we have…  and at the other end…  What does a survey of Canadian case law tell us (about adjudicated outcomes) ?  Important case comments/articles  Professor Fiona Kelley “Custody and Access Decision- Making and the Breastfeeding Child” (2009 Canada)  L. Sweet and C. Power “Family Law As a Determinant of Child Health and Welfare: Shared Parenting, Breastfeeding and the Best Interests of the Child” (2009 Australia)

10.  A Survey of Canadian Cases and Trends on Breastfeeding after separation  Other materials of interest…  Mammary Summary

11. Judicial Notice: Use of Social Science Literature in Court  To what extent can/should judges rely on social science literature on attachment issues in decision-making?  Reliance on SS literature in Canada – two sides of the coin….  Judicial Notice defined…narrowly and broadly  Modern judicial education (multidisciplinary – more than the law…)  Controversies over use of SS material  Who cites it?  Relying on law review articles v. social science research?  Citing and re-citing….

12. The Use of Parenting Schedule “Guidelines”  law is the balancing act between  perfectly customized solutions, and  rules and guidelines  Growth of guidelines in family law…  The problem with imposition of ‘standard’ guidelines…  A sampling of parenting schedule guidelines…. ( and a little bit about what they say…)

13. CONCLUSION:  we need specialized understanding of cases involving infants and toddlers..  the special struggles of parents dealing with this cohort of children  the huge mountain of writing by social science experts/researchers/clinicians – how do we make sense of it?  where is there consensus?  drawing on the Canadian experience  Controversies over presumptions in favour of shared parenting???  Use of guidelines – a help or hindrance?  Hoping for a future with more qualitative and quantitative research to reduce litigation and conflict….