Family Conflict Resolution Services

Services Available

Below is a brief description of the individual services relating to children and families currently available in the Greater Toronto Area through Family Conflict Resolution Services.  Services are available direct to those in need or through legal or health care professionals.  Most of the individual services listed below are included as a package in our "Family Assistance and Parent Support Program" which has been designed for high conflict separations or divorces.

Some of our individual services are available on limited basis in areas outside of the Greater Toronto, Ontario area.

In areas where services are not currently available, we will provide assistance to community groups who are interested in making similar services available in their own geographical area.

Please Note:  All services provided through any of our programs are done in accordance to strict guidelines as endorsed by the many legal and health care professionals who have endorsed the methodology and procedures outlined in our programs.  All those working under our programs are barred from acting in the best interest of solely one party.  Our mandate only allows us to act in the best interest of the children and the family as a complete unit, with the interests of the children having the highest priority.  All those who request services from our organization will be required to sign an acknowledgement indicating their support of the following, otherwise services will not be provided.

1)     The concepts of shared parenting (This does not necessarily mean that shared parenting will be applicable in all cases)

2)     The Rights of Children of Separation or Divorce as defined under the Family Assistance and Parent Support Program

3)     The Best Interests of the Child as defined under the Family Assistance and Parent Support Program

Mediation

For couples experiencing a relatively low level of conflict, we can provide simple mediation services to help couples work out solutions to their problems.  Our mediators are specially trained to understand the the causes of  family conflict and help parties find solutions that are fair to both  parties involved and which truly represent the best interests of the children.

Family Coordinator Services

Where one or both parents feel that they need ongoing support for a period of time then trained Family Coordinators can provide assistance to help them.  Family Coordinators are one of the key components of the Family Assistance and Parent Support Program and in most cases are able to offer support services 7 days a week.  For more information about Family Coordinators review the links to the Family Assistance and Parents Support program manual.

Below are some of the areas in which family coordinators will involve themselves:

• Access denial and child support problems - When problems relating to access occur, family coordinators will make calls to the other party and if necessary document and provide third party evidence to verify situations where access has been denied.  Where parents are failing to pay child support we will investigate the reasons why a parent may not be contributing.

• Phone harassment - Where problems relating to phone harassment or stalking may be a problem family coordinators will provide parents with prevention strategies.

• Communications problems - Family Coordinators will help parents develop methods of effective communication.

• False allegations - Family Coordinators can help to prevent false allegations by investigating concerns that parents have long before they show up on affidavits in court.

• Cooperative parenting - Family Coordinators will help parents with strategies to help the parents parent their children in a more cooperative manner.

• Third party support persons to attend meeting involving agencies such as police, Children's Aid or government appointed Lawyers representing children.

Supervised parenting time services

Where parents are having difficulty in obtaining third party supervision in their area, or would like to have a third party supervision outside of a regular supervised access center, we can provide volunteers to provide this service.  Trained supervisors can accompany parents on an outing with their children which allows the supervised parents and the children the opportunity to interact in a more positive environment such as hikes, walks, trips to the beach, etc.  Where resources are available, and where requested by parents, we will match up volunteer supervisors who also have children of their own so that the children can interact with each other .  Supervisors are trained to provide written reports based on their observations.  Supervisors can also take videos and still pictures of the children's visit with their parent so that both parent and child will have something to remind them of the fun times they spent together.

Please note: The service is available on a limited basis only where volunteers are available.

Advocacy for Children and Families

Where mediation has not worked and where there are serious concerns regarding the welfare of any children, or where one party may not be cooperating, we can provide advocacy services for children and families. We will help parties by investigating matters of concern and provide third party documentation for court to help ensure that the best interests of children are protected by the courts.  We can also bring in third party professionals should there be concerns that need to be addressed by legal and health care professionals.

Preparation of Parenting Plans

We have specially trained representatives to help parents prepare a parenting plan that best suits the individual needs of their family.  During the process of preparing the parenting plan we review with parents all the factors that are relative to the best interests of their children and show them how to ensure that their parenting can be formulated to represent what is best for their children and their family.  Once parenting plans are prepared they are passed on to a family law lawyer for final review to ensure that they meet all legal requirements of the court that they are to be submitted to.

Parenting Assessments

We can provide an independent parenting assessment through any of our qualified health care professionals.  Because any assessment report done through our agency is reviewed by our own independent report review committee, you can be assured of a report that is reliable and unbiased.

Child Custody Assessments

We have a number of qualified health care professionals who can conduct a full custody assessment and make recommendations to the courts. Because any assessment report done through our agency is reviewed by our own independent report review committee, you can be assured of an assessment report that is reliable and unbiased and truly representative of the child's best interests.

Parenting Plan Review

We have specially trained representatives who will review your parenting plan and provide a detailed critique.  When parenting plans are being submitted to a court, upon request, we can have a committee of up to 12 trained persons from the community review the parenting plan and provide a report to the court.  Parenting plans are reviewed based on a number of published criteria, including factors relative to the best interest of the children.

Seminars and Courses

We are currently in the process of developing a number of seminars and courses relating to separation and divorce and the best interests of children.  Check other areas of our website for details about the courses we have available.

Lawyer referrals

We provide referrals to those lawyers who have indicated support for children and families by supporting our programs.  Lawyers who we refer clients to are already familiar with our programs and are best able to apply our other services to the maximum benefit of their clients and their children.  It must be remembered, however, that we cannot enter into any contract with any lawyer, including one we may refer a parent to.  We are allowed to advocate only for the best interest of the child and not for any particular client.

Letter writing

For persons who are not good letter writers and have an issue that needs to be addressed with any government or private agency, then we have a number of skilled volunteer writers who will help you write an effective letter to those agencies that you may need to deal with.  In many cases we can provide you with names and phone number of those you may need to contact in order to make your letter the most effective.

Some examples of where you may need help in writing letters to:

Children's Aid Agencies
Teachers or School Boards
Ministers for various provincial and federal governments
Members of Federal or Provincial Parliament
Police agencies

Third party review of parenting or custody assessment reports

Though our community review committee and professional health care advisors, we can provide review of any assessment or evaluation report that may already have been done in your family law matter.   We can provide a professional critique to identify any errors, omissions or biases.  We can provide a complete analysis of a any report to see if it truly does meet the best interest of the children and provide our findings in a full report.

Third party interviews of children

We can provide third party interviews with children to determine their preferences and wishes and to gather information in a child-friendly manner that would be relevant in determining the best interest of children.  Information will be gathered and made available by way of affidavit for the court if required by any party.  We have the facilities to tape record or video tape interviews with children where serious allegations or abuse may be a concern.  In serious cases, video or audio taping helps to ensure accountability with those conducting interviews and ensures accurate reporting of what children are saying.

Updated Nov 15, 2000