Family Violence Initiative

COMPENDIUM OF PROMISING PRACTICES TO REDUCE VIOLENCE AND INCREASE SAFETY OF ABORIGINAL WOMEN IN CANADA – COMPENDIUM ANNEX: DETAILED PRACTICE DESCRIPTIONS

History:: Bear Paw media started in 1981. The Bear Paw legal education and resource center began in 2006.

Goals & Objectives:: The goals of the program are to help Aboriginal people navigate the legal system and gain awareness of their rights and responsibilities.
Traditional/Indigenous ways:: The program teaches clients through the Natural Law teachings of Aboriginal cultures, documentary films and survivor stories.
Components of program:: Through workshops and educational materials, the concept of taking control of one's rights and responsibilities is promoted. The community is also provided with resource information that may help deal with the root cause of individual legal situations. There are also workshops designed to help parents in the areas of how to get out of abusive relationships while keeping the family intact, and parenting skills development.
Services/How they work:: Services are provided on site at the facility.
Funding:: Alberta Law Foundation.

Involvement of Target Groups:: There are 9 staff in the program and 7 are women. Staff routinely submit legal education ideas and staff are involved in the entire production and marketing process.
Partners:: NCSA Court workers; Alberta Law Foundation; National Aboriginal Addictions Awareness Week; National Day of Healing and Reconciliation.
Other relationships:: N/A

Evaluation:: An evaluation has been completed.
Highlights of Evaluation Findings:: The report was not made available publicly, and no specific results can be provided.

Measures of Success:: Success is measured by: website hits; website visitors; workshops conducted; Facebook 'likes' and personal anecdotes of people who have viewed the material and experienced positive change.
Achievements:: Increasing legal knowledge of Alberta's Aboriginal people concerning rights and responsibilities. Bringing legal education into the social media realm though establishment of a Facebook page and YouTube channel.
Challenges:: Accessing a target audience that is a vulnerable population; people in legal trouble often don't seek out resources and educational material.

Replication Advice:: The program is considered replicable. The most important thing when trying to replicate the program would be to understand the target audience and develop strategies and partnerships in order to ensure the target audience can access legal education materials in a variety of ways.
Resources:: Adequate funding to supply resources and develop material would be necessary to ensure program success.