Alternative solution

Long court delays and high legal costs are the inspiration behind the introduction of alternative dispute resolution services at the Thunder Bay Counselling Centre.

ADR project manager Connie McLeod said the six counsellors trained will help children and parents avoid the litigation process and come to agreements that work for both sides when divorce, separation or other difficult family situations arise.

Historically their only option had been the court system. This is the first time the service has been made available in Northern Ontario.

The idea to bring it to Thunder Bay was hatched a year ago when Justice Harvey Brownstone came to the city to speak at a TBCC event about his book Tug of War, which provides parents with a number of ways to resolve their own custody battles.

The program grows off this idea, McLeod said.

"This gives them an alternative to avoid that whole process, meet with a neutral third party who is able to work with them, get their ideas and help them be part of the solution, rather than having a solution imposed on them," she said.

The concern is what’s in the best interest of the children. Sometimes it has to do with custody and access, sometimes it’s financial support and other times it has to do with property division.

"With a mediator you would discuss those issues that you want to try to bring some resolution to, and they would help you come to a meeting of the minds or a middle of the road," she said.

Karen Longridge, one of the newly accredited ADR counsellors at TBCC, said the training for the program was extensive, involving 60 hours of course work and 100 hours of completed mediation and direct client work.

To get accredited each counsellor had to reach five separate agreements with clients that were mutually acceptable for both sides of the given dispute.

She can’t wait to put her training into practice on a permanent basis.

"It really is an opportunity for families to have an opportunity to offer their own plan to come up with solutions that they think will be helpful for their situation," she said, adding it’s never too late to get involved.

"I think when we can resolve matters at the front end, even before they go to court there’s an advantage to that. But even when they reach that court stage, it’s the nuts and bolts of a plan that can really reduce the amount of time before a court."

While not everyone may agree with everything that’s been decided, there’s enough common ground that the anger and inability to compromise disappears, she added.

"It’s something that they can live with," she said.

There is no fee for child protection mediation and family group decision making, but there is a fee for family mediation.