Glossary - Abuse and Family Violence

In Abuse and Family Violence, Elder abuse, Domestic violence

A safety plan is a list of actions that someone can take to avoid dangerous situations or if they’re in danger.

Safety plans usually include ways for someone to stay safe:

• when they’re in a dangerous, risky, or abusive relationship,
• when they’re planning to leave, and
• after they leave the relationship.

In Abuse and Family Violence, Elder abuse, Debt and Consumer Rights, Scams

Scams and frauds are crimes where people lie, cheat, use someone else’s personal information, or break the law to get money or something for themselves.

Common examples are identity theft, credit card fraud, email and online fraud, and phone and door-to-door sales scams.

In Abuse and Family Violence, Elder abuse, Health and Disability

The term “older adult” is usually used to describe someone who is over the age of 65. But there’s no set age for when someone is considered an older adult. Some people use the term “senior”.

We use older adult to refer to someone who may be affected by elder abuse, even if they’re younger than 65.

In Abuse and Family Violence, Criminal Law, Family Law, Immigration Law, Refugee Law

A sentence is a punishment given to someone found guilty of an offence. A sentence for an adult can include jail time, but it does not have to. A sentence can also include a fine or a period of probation. Sentences for youth are different.

In Abuse and Family Violence, Child abuse and neglect, Family Law

A child is in society care when they are in the care and custody of the Children’s Aid Society for a certain amount of time. A child cannot be in society care for more than 12 months. If CAS has to care for them longer than 12 months, they have to be in extended society care.

In Abuse and Family Violence, Family Law

Sole custody is a type of custody where only one parent has the right to make important decisions about how to care for and raise a child. It includes the right to make decisions about the child’s health, education, and religion.

The parent with sole custody may have to discuss the issue with the other parent before making an important decision. But the parent with sole custody can make the decision even if the other parent disagrees.

Other people, for example, grandparents, can also apply to the court for custody.

In Abuse and Family Violence, Health and Disability, Wills and Powers of Attorney

A substitute decision-maker (SDM) is someone who can make personal care decisions for you when you’re not mentally capable. This includes decisions about where you live, what you eat, getting dressed, washing and having a bath, and staying safe. This might be the attorney you name in your Power of Attorney for Personal Care.

The Health Care Consent Act says who can be SDMs for health-care decisions. This includes situations where a doctor finds that you’re not capable of making your own decisions about medical treatment.

In Abuse and Family Violence, Family Law, Housing Law, Tribunals and Courts

A summons is a legal document that requires a witness to come to a trial or a hearing on a specific date to tell their part of the story.

In Abuse and Family Violence, Family Law

The new term for supervised access is supervised parenting time  for most family law cases. If you have a child protection case, the term supervised access may still be used.

Supervised parenting time is a kind of parenting time when someone else watches a parent’s visits with their child. This might be another relative like the child’s grandparent or uncle, or it might be someone from an agency like the Children’s Aid Society.

The purpose of supervised parenting time is usually to make sure the child is safe.

In Abuse and Family Violence, Family Law

A supervised access exchange is when someone watches a parent pick up or drop off the child, but does not watch the access visit. Its purpose is usually to reduce conflict between the parents, or to protect one parent from being abused by the other parent.