About the Calgary and Area Direct Face Court Preparation Program
The Child Witness Court Preparation Program is operated by The Canadian Society for the Investigation of Child Abuse. The Child Witness Court Preparation Program is committed to reducing the trauma to child witnesses and facilitating justice by preparing children to testify to the best of their abilities in court. This is achieved by:
- providing education and support to child witnesses and their families
- through court preparation services.
- consulting with criminal justice professionals involved with child
- witnesses.
- heightening community awareness to the issues of children testifying
- in court.
- identifying and responding to the needs of child witnesses and families
- through research, development and training.
Since January 1992 the Child Witness Court Preparation Program of The Canadian Society for the Investigation of Child Abuse has helped over 1000 child victims and witnesses in the Calgary region prepare for court. These children have been required to testify as victims or witnesses in court cases involving child sexual abuse, child physical abuse, domestic violence, and even murder cases.
The court process can be very frightening for adults, let alone young children. The prospect of telling their story in a courtroom full of adult strangers, and especially facing the offender, is very challenging for children. While we do not allow children to discuss what happened to them, since this would affect their testimony, our group program helps to demystify the courtroom and the court process for these child victims. This helps the children feel less fearful, less alone, less intimidated, and more confident in the very adult environment of the courtroom.
Our court preparation facilitators are professional, experienced child welfare workers who volunteer their time to ensure that these victimized children are not further traumatized by their court experiences. The Program Director and consultants for the program are experts in the field of child abuse with many years of experience.
The structured curriculum used by trained, volunteer court preparation facilitators ensures that the Child Witness Court Preparation Program is run in a professional and accountable manner. The face to face program is offered in a group format (once per week for four weeks), a one time three hour booster session, or individual preparation as required. Some of the core components include:
Component 1 Parent Session
Component 2 Discussion and alleviation of the children’s fears of court
Component 3 Relaxation exercises and the roles of courtroom personnel
Component 4 Court process, court rules, and video of children going to
court
Component 5 Mock Court which involves role-playing the experience of testifying and
cross-examination based on a fictional story like Red Riding Hood
Component 6 Courtroom tour and graduation
Although none of the children in the program know why any of the other children are going to court, the group setting helps them feel some solidarity – they are not alone.
