Research

Through integrated Knowledge Translation (iKT)(Graham, Kothari et al. 2018) and Patient Engagement (PE)(CIHR/SPOR 2014, Alberta SPOR SUPPORT Unit 2018) approaches—where patients, health care professionals and health system administrators are partners—and along with our SPOR collaborators (e.g. Alberta SPOR Support Unit), we are conducting an effectiveness-implementation hybrid (EIH) Type II study of ATTACH™.

Co-primary objectives evaluate clinical intervention effectiveness and implementation strategy feasibility(Curran, Bauer et al. 2012) in naturalistic, real-world, settings, as delivered by community agencies. ATTACH™ is a promising early intervention and psychoeducational parenting program, designed for delivery at community agencies serving families of preschoolers affected by toxic stress (e.g. parental depression and addiction, family violence, poverty) (Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University 2016).

Children’s exposure to toxic stress predicts developmental problems (e.g. cognitive and motor), physical health problems (e.g. inflammatory disorders), and years of life lost to disability, resulting in health care system burden (Cuijpers, Smit et al. 2011, Brent and Silverstein 2013). According to the 2019 ‘Vibrant and Healthy Kids’ Report of the National Academies, effective early interventions focused on supporting parent-child relationships are urgently needed to reduce societal health inequities stemming from childhood stress exposures (National Academies of Sciences 2019). ATTACH™ is poised to address this need.

Investigators and community partners

RESOLVE Manitoba: Dr. Kendra Nixon, University of Manitoba, Dr. Nicole Letourneau, Kharah Ross, Kathryn Birnie, Ian Graham, Michael Kobor, Sarah Merrill, Kendra Nixon, Caroline Piotrowski, and Dr. Karen Wood

Community partners include: Calgary Urban Project Society, Discovery House, Sonshine Centre, Steinbach FRC, Alcove Addiction Recovery

Project Updates

• Winter 2024

AVA is about creating the capacity to transform population (community) health and social services to promote health and wellness of girls and women at risk/affected by violence and adversity over the life-cycle, via a collaborative, innovative, cross-sectoral/disciplinary/jurisdictional training platform.

AVA stands to help reduce family violence and improve Canada’s UNICEF rankings for girls’ health and wellness, with positive lifespan, intergenerational and population impacts.

AVA Objectives

To transform population (community) health and social services to promote health and wellness of girls and women at risk/affected by violence and adversity over the life-cycle. 

To do this, AVA will:

1. Reduce Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), especially violence
2. Promote life-cycle & intergenerational health and wellness
3. Support families
4. Develop, deliver, test and integrate innovations across sectors
5. Reduce health, economic, and social costs

AVA Plan

• Prevent/address impacts of violence and ACEs on girls and women’s health and wellness
• Conduct collaborative Implementation Science (e.g. community-based) research 
• Develop, test, implement, scale and spread evidence-based, innovative interventions
• Undertake essential, barrier-breaking cross-disciplinary/sectoral/jurisdictional research 
• Undertake transformative strategic planning (development/management) and evaluation to influence programs and policy from service delivery to policy and systems levels

AVA Partners

The AVA team is comprised of 203+ members and growing, including 69 academic partners and 85 community partners across Canada.

Visit the AVA Partners webpage for a comprehensive list of AVA partners by region.

Learn more about the AVA project here.

AVA Project Updates

• Winter 2024

The from Awareness to Action (A2A) project aims to provide an on-line guide and learning opportunities that will build the capacity of all practitioners in the field of family law to respond to family violence. Our overarching objective of this project is to promote the use of tools to identify family violence in family law systems, and to develop the capacity of family law professionals to address the impact of abuse in family-specific parenting plans.

The goals of the project are to:

1. Promote standardized screening tools to enhance the substantive and procedural decision- and recommendation-making by multidisciplinary family law professionals involved in family violence-related child custody matters (including judges, lawyers, and assessors).  
2. Provide learning opportunities to build the capacity of all practitioners in the field of family law to respond effectively to family violence.
3. To create a standardized guide for parenting plans where there has been family violence. 
4. Support sustained knowledge mobilization and collaboration in the field through Communities of Practice.   

Past Project

The Supporting the Health of Survivors of Family Violence in Family Law Proceedings project was funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada and was designed to address the unique need of survivors of family violence within the family justice system. Canada’s research centres on violence against women initiated, hosted and supported a Community of Practice (CoP) comprised of family violence experts, survivors, family lawyers, researchers, mental health and social service professionals.

The overarching goal of the project was to enhance support to survivors of violence through the family law system by increasing opportunities for family law practitioners to have training, guidance and resources to support trauma-informed practice, and to improve coordination of services that would enhance the safety and well-being of all parties.

Investigators and community partners

RESOLVE Manitoba & Academic Partners:

• Kendra Nixon, Director RESOLVE
• Kathleen McDonald, Research Assistant, RESOLVE
• Lorna Turnbull, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Manitoba

Community Partners:

• Ashley Stewart, Coordinator, Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Program, HSC
• Matthew Maher, Researcher, Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth
• Wayne Eisbrenner, Winnipeg Children’s Access Agency
• Ingrid Pflug, Crown Counsel, Family Law Section, Government of Manitoba
• Crystal Brown, Community Justice Development Coordinator, Southern Chiefs’ Organization
• Janis Raeburn, Manager, Family Guide, Domestic Violence Specialist, Victim Services
• Deena Brock, Provincial Coordinator, Manitoba Association of Women’s Shelters
• Robynne Kazina, Partner and Family Law Lawyer, Taylor McCaffrey LLP
• Paula Ediger, Women’s Relationship Counsellor, A Woman’s Place, NorWest Co-op
• Leita Kalinowsky, Acting Executive Director, Family Resolution Service, Government of Manitoba
• Carol Reimer, Community Resource Program Manager, IRCOM
• Shane Wepruk, Domestic Violence Intervention Coordinator, Winnipeg Police Service
• Sonia Grmela, Executive Director, ChezRachel
• Jennifer Laviolette, participant with lived experience
• Kimlee Wong, participant with lived experience
• Masha Giller, participant with lived experience

New Resource Available:

• FVFL Poster -  ENG or FR

Bulletins:

• February 2021 | ENG 
• January 2022 | ENG or FR

Legal Bulletins:

• Issue No. 1.1 (May 2022): Michel v. Graydon | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 1.2 (May 2022): Colucci v. Colucci | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 1.3 (May 2022): Barendregt v. Gerbil’s | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 2 (October 2022): McLellan v Birbilis | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 3 (November 2022): Compensating Victims of Domestic Violence: The Case of A v. A | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 4 (December 2022): Creating Safety in BC Courts: Key Challenges and Recommendations in English | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 5 (January 2023): Protecting a Child’s Gender Identity and Family Violence | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 6 (March 2023): A Bulletin from the Atlantic Chapter of the Family Violence | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 7 (March 2023): Family Violence and Parenting Arrangements | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 8 (March 2023): The Overlap Between Family and Criminal Law Cases: Bidgood-Lund v Marston | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 9 (March 2023): Parenting Orders and Decision-Making in Cases of Family Violence  | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 10 (May 2023): Reunification Therapy and Children’s Wishes in Cases of Family Violence  | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 11 (June  2023): Hague Convention Applications in Cases of Family Violence | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 12 (May 2023): Relocation in the Context of Family Violence | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 13 (September 2023): Ontario Court of Appeal Rejects a New Tort of Family Violence | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 14 (October 2023): A Bulletin from the Atlantic Chapter of the Family Violence | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 15 (November 2023): Updates of Quebec Case Law in Family Law | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 16 (November 2023): Parental time and Family Law Jurisprudence | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 17 (November 2023): Schuetze v. Pyper, 2021 BCSC 2209 (Part 1) and Pyper v. Schuetze 2023 BCCA, 334 (Part 2) | ENG or FR
• Issue No.18 (December 2023): Parenting time, relocation, reunification therapy, and cooperative decision-making | ENG or FR
• Issue No.19 (February 2024): Getting Evidence Before Family Law Judges: Fernandes v Fernandes, 2023 ONSC 564 | ENG or FR
• Issue No.20 (March 2024): Coercion and Control in Family Law Cases: Armstrong v Coupland, 2021 ONSC 8186 | ENG or FR
• Issue No.21 (April 2024): Protection Orders & Family Proceedings: 2023 MBKB 164 | ENG
• Issue No. 22 (March 2024): New Brunswick’s Child and Youth Well-Being Act | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 23 (March 2024): Protection Orders & Family Proceedings: MBKB 164 | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 24 (March 2024): The harms of gendered myths and stereotypes about intimate partner and sexual violence: R v RMD | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 25 (March 2024): Legal Aid Expansion for People Experiencing Family Violence: Single Mothers’ Alliance v. BC  | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 26 (March 2024): Family Law Proceedings | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 27 (March 2024): Court Decisions in Family Law | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 28 (March 2024): The Impact of Family Violence on the Determination of a Child’s Best Interests and Spousal Support | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 29 (May 2024): Judicial Responses to Litigation Abuse: Cost Awards Kumar v Nash 2024 ONCJ 16 | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 30 (September 2024): Protection Orders & Family Proceedings: 2021 ABPC 167  | ENG 

Research Briefs:

• Issue No. 1: Supporting the health of survivors of family violence in family law proceedings | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 2:  Why Can’t Everyone Just Get Along?: How BC’s family law system puts survivors in danger  | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 3: Coercive Control and Family Law | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 4: A Review of the Recent Recommendations in Québec | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 5: The 2021 Divorce Act: Using Statutory  Interpretation Principles to Support Substantive Equality for Women and Children in Family Violence Cases | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 6: COVID-19, the Shadow Pandemic, and Access to Justice for Survivors of Domestic Violence Webinar | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 7: Trauma-Informed Approaches to Family Violence in Family Law | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 8: Engaging Fathers Who Commit Family Violence: Issues and Challenges for Family Courts | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 9: Implementing Children’s Participation Rights in All Family Court Proceedings | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 10:  Contributing to the Health and Safety of Family Violence Survivors: Reducing the Risks of Secondary Victimization | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 11: Supporting Survivors through Court Reform: Assessing the Role of Integrated and Specialized Courts for Family Law in British Columbia | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 12: Survivors’ Views of Family Courts: Findings from the Canadian Domestic Homicide Prevention Initiative with Vulnerable Populations (CDHPIVP) | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 13: Family Law Mediation in Family Violence Cases: Basics & Best Practices | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 14: Tech-Facilitated Violence: An Introduction | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 15: When the Family Court Becomes the Continuation of Family Violence After Separation: Understanding Litigation Abuse | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 16: The Co-Occurrence of Parental Alienation Claims and Intimate Partner Violence in Family Court: Theory and Practice | ENG or FR
• Issue No.17: Addressing Poverty and Family Violence in Family Law Proceedings  | ENG or FR
• Issue No.18: Ethical Obligations of Family Law Practitioners  | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 19: Gender-Based Violence and Access to Justice for International Students at Canadian Post-Secondary Institutions  | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 20: Responding to Family Violence in Family Court- Challenges & Recommendations | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 21: Fathering and Fathers’ Rights Groups - The Canadian landscape | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 22: How communities of practice support and promote change | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 23: Family violence: clinical collaboration and community of practice | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 24: Treating Children as Full Rights Bearers: Independent Legal Representation for Children in Family Violence and/or Resist-Refuse Contact Cases | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 25: Failure to Protect: Social & Institutional Factors That Prevent Access to Justice in Family Violence/Family Law Cases  | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 26: Traumatic Brain Injury and Intimate Partner Violence: Challenges for Survivors Involved in the Family Court System | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 27: Sober Second Thoughts About the Benefits and Limitations of Reunification Therapy | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 28: Enhancing System Responses to Survivors and Perpetrators of Strangulation in Intimate Partner Violence | ENG
• Issue No.29 (September 2023): Mental Health/Substance Use Coercion and Intimate Partner Violence Survivors in Family Court | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 30: Contextualizing the UN Special Report on custody, violence against women and children, and parental alienation: What does it mean for Canada? | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 31: Parenting time-sharing practices of parenting plan evaluators in the context of family violence: what does the research reveal? | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 32: Enhancing System Responses to Survivors and Perpetrators of Strangulation in Intimate Partner Violence | ENG or FR
• Issue No. 33: Family Law, Family Violence and Restorative Justice  | ENG or FR

The Improving Shelter Experience for Indigenous Women research project aims to contribute to our understanding of Indigenous women’s experiences seeking help in Indigenous and non-Indigenous-led women’s shelters. The  results of the research project will contribute to the betterment of shelter experiences for Indigenous survivors.

Investigator: 

• Dr. Kendra Nixon, Director RESOLVE

Partner:

• Circling Buffalo Inc.

Funder: 

• Women and Gender Equality Canada’s (WaGE)

 The Just Waters project will shed critical light on the connections between water, injustice, and broader struggles for a more just and sustainable world amid the climate crisis, ongoing colonialism, and pandemic disease. Just Waters will respond to the social, cultural, spiritual, and material dimensions and impacts of water injustice, with attention to each of the research themes identified in the University of Manitoba’s (UM) draft Strategic Research Plan (2023) – human security and equity; Indigenous research; health and well-being; sustainability; and water security. 

Investigators:

• Dr. Kendra Nixon (Collaborator)

Partners: 

• Centre for Human Rights Research, Umanitoba

Funders:

• Ignite (VPRIO, Umanitoba)

 PDEL has contracted RESOLVE to evaluate its scaling up of the PDEP program, a primary child maltreatment program. RESOLVE will lead and coordinate the intervention research component of the project, including hiring and managing research staff, providing administrative support and office space, overseeing ethics applications/amendments/ renewals, ensuring access to the REDCap data capture platform, monitoring and adhering to research timelines, and liaising with PDEL regularly throughout the project. 

Investigators: 

• Dr. Kendra Nixon
• Dr. Ashley Stewart

Partners: 

Positive Discipline in Everyday Life (PDEL)  

Funders:

Public Health Agency of Canada

The Reducing Family Violence: Perspectives of Cultural Communities Interacting with Service Providers Applying Cultural Safety and Humility research project aims to explore the experience of family violence within cultural communities in the Province of Manitoba and the role of culture and cultural safety.

Investigator:

RESOLVE Manitoba Investigators:

• Dr. Kendra Nixon, Director RESOLVE

Partners:

• Coalition of Manitoba Cultural Communities for Families

Funder: 

• Prairieaction Foundation

As part of their three-year Domestic Violence plan, Manitoba’s Child and Family Service General Authority (GA) has adopted Safe & Together, a model used for working with families experiencing domestic violence. The GA contracted RESOLVE to conduct an analysis of GA’s staff implementation of Safe & Together. For this project, RESOLVE is conducting interviews with GA caseworkers and supervisors throughout Manitoba on their thoughts and experiences of implementing Safe & Together with families. RESOLVE will analyse their responses and complete a report for the GA with themes from the interviews along with recommendations. 

Investigators:

• Dr. Kendra Nixon

Partners: 

• Manitoba General Child & Family Services Authority