Co-Parenting Program: New Ways For Families
For families experiencing a lot of conflict, we offer an extended six (6) week program that teaches key co-parenting skills. We provide an accredited mediator to each party who leads six private sessions which focus on practicing four key conflict-reducing skills. The program is offered prior to a mediation session so it also prepares parents for difficult mediation. The goal is to help parents make their own parenting decisions out-of-court.
New Ways for Families® is a short-term method for strengthening conflict skills for parents in separation or divorce, whether married or never-married. It’s designed to save courts time, to save parents money, and to protect children as their families re-organize in new ways.
This model is particularly beneficial for potentially high-conflict parents who would benefit from learning the skills prior to mediation, but do not require intensive counseling. Learning the skills prior to mediation should make for a more effective mediation process. An Instructor’s Manual is provided.
To arrange for a consultation about New Ways for Families contact us by email or call us at 519-946-0808.
To learn more about New Ways for Families and what it can provide to you, check out:
Pre-Mediation Coaching
We also provide a one session model which highlights the most important parts of this program and prepares clients for their mediation sessions. Click here for more information.
Parenting Coordination
When you have a Court Order or Agreement, but you still have lots of disputes and conflicts about enforcing it, or working it out, a Parenting Coordinator can be retained by both of you to help you. First they will try to work it out by facilitating a conversation between you. If that doesn’t work, they are empowered by your contract with them to be the decision maker. The benefit of this process is you do not have to start a new court action. The Parenting Coordinator is enforcing your parenting plan.
Parenting Co-ordinators are Alternative Dispute Resolution professionals (ADR) who are child focused; and whose role is to help parents co-parent well, so that the level of conflict is lessened. Reducing conflict is beneficial to children as research shows that it is not divorce that hurts children, but it is the level of conflict between the parents that they are exposed to which is detrimental to their well being.
The Parenting Coordinator can help families deal with a variety of issues. Commonly, the Parenting Coordinator deals with disputes surrounding parenting time, telephone access, transportation of the child(ren), child care, parenting issues, exchange of information issues, and the children’s social, emotional, academic, and medical needs.
For Parenting Coordination to be successful, both parents should have similar expectations from the process. Parenting Coordination is neither therapy nor counseling so it is not the appropriate place to bring up past marital issues.
Typically, Parenting Coordination contracts are most often contracted for six months to one year and payments are arranged by hourly fee. Parenting Coordinators work on a retainer system, and once the parties’ retainer runs out, hourly fees are then billed. The cost of the Parenting Coordinator’s services is shared equally between the parties in order to preserve the Parenting Coordinators neutrality.
If you want to hear more about this service, contact us at 519-946-0808 or by email to admin@bfc-mediation.com.