Component: Child welfare - community and prevention supports

Legislation: Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 (CYFSA)

Service objectives

The key objective is to expand the availability of child protection mediation in Ontario.

Service description

The Transfer Payment Recipient will use funds to

  • Act as a provincial hub of expertise and best practice, providing training, professional development and consultation to service providers and organizations across Ontario wishing to develop and/or enhance their capacity to deliver effective Child Protection Mediation (Mediation), and to maintain a roster of Child Protection Mediators and Instructors
  • Oversee a quality assurance body to promote and maintain the model integrity of Mediation as one of the child welfare Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) approaches
  • Build awareness of Mediation as a method of ADR
  • Work in collaboration with partners across the ADR service delivery spectrum to promote relationship-building and networking at a provincial level, build a community of practice and raise awareness/understanding of ADR

Program/service features

The services are directed at improving access to child protection mediators in Ontario through providing educational and training opportunities to practitioners, promoting child protection mediation as a means to resolving disputes, and maintaining a roster of practitioners.

Program goals

Increase the availability of child protection mediation to streamline court processes and encourage alternatives to court with respect to child protection disputes.

Ministry expectations

The Transfer Payment Recipient will

  • Maintain and update a web-based provincial roster of Child Protection Mediators, including
    • Review all Child Protection Mediators’ qualifications to ensure they meet the criteria for inclusion on the roster
    • Include on the roster the mediators’ geographical region of practice, languages spoken and willingness to travel
    • Communicate with rostered mediators to ensure compliance with Ministry requirements (police check & professional liability insurance) on an ongoing basis
    • Communicate with Transfer Payment Agencies to ensure that they are up to date with roster membership
    • Ensure that the information is up-to-date and that the roster is current and accurate
    • Maintain a bilingual Child Protection Mediation website
  • Act as a provincial hub of expertise and best practice, coordinate requests for and delivery of training including
    • Provide dedicated Program Manager to respond to calls, provide advice and match needs
    • Provide skilled instructors to deliver courses
    • Coordinate the provision of courses (i.e. introductory, level one, multi-party training, and revisions to training on a cost recovery basis)
    • Administer trainee satisfaction surveys and evaluations
    • Provide program and case-based consultation to members on the provincial roster
    • Connect with Transfer Payment Agencies, to understand gaps in service provision in their regions, in terms of Child Protection Mediation
    • Develop and provide intermediate training course for experienced mediators
    • Provide opportunities for mediators to connect with other mediators for peer to peer learning; and
    • Co-ordinate training requests from across the Province
  • Maintain and update the Child Protection Mediation Curriculum, participant manual and instructors’ materials for all trainings, including
    • Review and make amendments to the Child Protection Mediation Curriculum
    • Update training packages for instructors on an as-needed basis
    • Update the Participants’ Manual, make it available to all rostered Mediators; and
    • Ensure that the Participants Manual and trainers’ materials are available in both English and French
  • Develop promotional, educational and training activities and materials to support Child Protection Mediation as a method of ADR
    • Deliver an annual professional development day for mediators, other ADR professionals, and community partners to provide peer networking/support and skill building
    • Provide case-based consultation to members on the provincial roster via CPMed Connect webinar on a monthly basis
    • Coordinate with Ontario Association for Family Mediation (OAFM) Executive Director to offer enhanced training via webinars, on an as needed basis
    • Provide evaluation surveys for all trainings, professional development days to ensure that needs of Mediators are being met
    • Contribute towards the development of resource materials to make available to the general public and Children’s Aid Societies
  • Actively participate in the Provincial ADR Advisory Committee (PAAC), supporting the committees work plan for each fiscal year including actions to promote the use of ADR and improve outcomes for families and child welfare partners
  • Serve as the rotating Chair of the Provincial ADR Advisory Committee (role rotates every two years), to build a community of practice among ADR providers and community partners based on relationship-building, networking and sharing of best practices
    • Bring together stakeholders in the ADR Community, including practitioners of Family Group Conferencing Child Protection Mediation, and Indigenous Approaches, Transfer Payment Agencies, Children’s Aid Societies, the Legal Community, the Ministry and others
    • Plan and host quarterly meetings of the advisory group, developing meeting agenda, meeting materials, reports and minutes as required
    • Determine the key deliverables through consultation and collaboration and establish a work plan and meeting schedule to advance the committee goals