Law Times

lAw Times • April 4, 2011 FOCUS PAGE 11 Training mediators to meet new demand Organizations offer accreditation as reforms give boost to ADR BY JUDY VAN RHIJN For Law Times pand dramatically in all areas of the province, people may well be asking where they're all going to come from. Luck- ily, eff orts to build capacity in child-protection mediation over the last two years have de- livered an answer. "You have to make a fam- W ily mediator before you can make a child-protection me- diator," explains Maggie Hall of the Mediation Centre in the Hamilton, Ont., area. For the last two winters, Hall and her colleague Kathleen Chapman of the Mediation Centre Inc. in London, Ont., have been making frequent trips to the north to provide training for the Ministry of Children and Youth Services in its attempts to promote mediation in child- protection cases. Th e result has been 16 family mediators and 15 child-protection mediators in North Bay, Manitoulin Is- land, Sudbury, Th under Bay, and Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. When mediation became a required consideration in child- protection cases in 2006, the uptake was slow and reluctant. Although only 15 cases went to mediation in the fi rst year, there has been a steady increase ever since. Anne Machowski-Smith, a spokeswoman for the min- istry, advises that in 2007-08 there were approximately 300 referrals for alternative dispute resolution services, a number that grew to more than 650 in 2009-10. At fi rst, the ministry provided capacity funding to promote knowledge of ADR within children's aid societies and their communities. Subse- quently, capacity funding was available through grants. Hall believes that although there are still some communi- ties without local mediation ith opportunities for family media- tors about to ex- services and pockets where peo- ple are doing the work without training or accreditation, it is viable to fi nd an on-site family mediator for every courthouse in the province. "Th ere are going to be growing pains in some communities and there will be training on the spot in some communities, but that's true any time you roll out a new program." Hall says the training is available for people who want accreditation, although the re- ality is that it's mostly available in major centres. "Th ere are not enough numbers to do a train- ing in every city," she notes. Mary Anne Harnick, ex- ecutive director of the ADR Institute of Ontario Inc., is confi dent that between the ADR and mediation organi- zations operating in Ontario, there will be enough mediators to cover all bases. "We have a membership of 700, and a huge proportion of members do family mediation," she says, noting that many mediators are willing to travel and that many already do so in order to service other programs in remote locations. Harnick also are minor diff erences between the organizations, but the ge- neric training or equivalency involves a 40-hour basic family mediation course, a 20-hour advanced course, a 14-hour domestic violence course, and a three-day evaluated child- Now that mediation is really a part of the process of what's happening in family law, opportunities will arise. It's a huge change. believes people will gravitate to this area. "Now that mediation is really a part of the process of what's happening in family law, opportunities will arise. It's a huge change." Th ere are three organiza- tions that provide accredita- tion: the Ontario Association for Family Mediation, the ADR Institute of Ontario, and Fam- ily Mediation Canada. Th ere protection course if required. To take the child-protection course, participants have to be an accredited family mediator or equivalent. Th e requirements also in- clude 100 hours of supervised practice, something that has been an obstacle for people in remote locations. "Th ere are not always opportunities to do an internship in your own local community," Hall notes. For- tunately, those who designed the new reforms had the fore- sight to build in a mechanism that will increase capacity for the future. "One of the things the request for proposals has encouraged is that successful proponents should have an in- ternship program as part of the proposal," Hall says. "It is not a required element, but they can earn bonus points. Th ey need to at least consider it." Harnick also applauds this as- pect. "Mentorship is a very im- portant process. Just as lawyers article, so mediators need to cut their teeth working with people established in the fi eld. People need to be overseen as they're learning so their competency is ensured. I'm sure any mentor- ship process will be extremely well done. Nobody is going to let someone without the proper experience operate." McKellar_LT_Apr4_11.indd 1 www.lawtimesnews.com 3/31/11 12:13:20 PM

• Cover
• Helping Hands
• Handcuffed Courts
• Focus On ADR/Mediation