The Challenge of High-Conflict Family Cases Involving a Child Protection Agency: A Review of Literature and an Analysis of Reported Ontario Cases

Abstract

Child protection agencies (CPAs) are increasingly becoming involved in high conflict custody and access cases. High conflict cases often involve a number of dynamics that place children at risk of harm. Allegations of domestic violence (DV), child abuse, and alienation are common in high conflict cases. This paper reviews of the limited research available on domestic family law cases that intersect with the child protection system. The second part provides an analysis of information obtained from 210 reported cases from Ontario 2010 to 2015 involving custody and access disputes where a report was made to a CPA. The paper concludes by offering observations about high conflict custody and access cases that intersect with the child protection system, and suggestions for future research.