Co-Parenting Program: New Ways For Families
New Ways for Families® is a program for strengthening conflict management and communication skills for parents no longer in relationship with each other. It to teaches four key conflict-reducing skills, improves communication and protects children as their families re-organize in new ways.
The program assigns each parent an Accredited Family Mediator from our team of highly experienced professionals, who lead them through six (6) weekly or bi-weekly one hour sessions. Key co-parenting skills are emphasized. The program is offered in various ways. It can be arranged prior to the first mediation session so it helps prepare parents. It can be arranged after the first mediation session when the mediator and parents think it would be helpful. It can also be taken as a stand alone program by either both parents, or either one of them. Certificates are provided upon completion. The key goal is to help parents make their own parenting decisions out-of-court.
This model is particularly beneficial for potentially parents already experiencing a high degree of conflict, whether in or out of Court.
A parenting handbook is provided digitally and physically.
The cost for New Ways for Families sessions arranged privately is $599 per person. The cost for parents who arrange for this service through the Windsor Essex Children’s Aid Society is free.
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 Coordinators 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.
Click below for our Information Flyer about this program.