PROGRAM GUIDE - American Humane Association

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Honouring the Circle, Connections and Wisdom Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto Community Council Programs TRACK 6 Aboriginal Practices LEVEL Intermediate Colette Pagano and Ryan Walsh, Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto, ON, Canada The Community Council is a criminal diversion program for Aboriginal persons before the courts—adult and youth—who live in Toronto. The project takes accused Aboriginal persons out of the criminal justice system and brings them before members of the Aboriginal community. The focus of the Community Council is to develop a plan by consensus that will allow the offender to take responsibility for his or her actions, address the root causes of the problem, and integrate him or her into the community in a positive way. The Family Community Council assists families and individuals who are at risk of having their children apprehended or who are currently involved with child welfare systems. 12:15 – 1:15 P.M. Lunch (provided) 1:15 – 2:15 P.M Plenary Session “Servant Leadership: The Role of the Judge in Fostering Family Group Decision Making and Other Family Driven Practices” Honorable Kim Berkeley Clark 2:15 – 2:30 P.M. Judge Clark was appointed to the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, PA by Governor Tom Ridge in March 1999. She was elected to a full ten-year term in November 1999. Judge Clark currently serves as a judge in the Family Division, where she primarily hears juvenile court cases. From January 1, 2006 through January 2009, Judge Clark served as the Administrative Judge of the Family Division in Allegheny County. Judge Clark is the first African-<strong>American</strong> to be appointed as an administrative judge in Allegheny County. Prior to becoming the Administrative Judge of Family Division, Judge Clark served as the Supervising Judge of Juvenile Court. In her capacity as a juvenile and family court judge, Judge Clark has also been appointed to serve as a member of the Pennsylvania Domestic Relations Procedural Rules Committee, the Pennsylvania Juvenile Court Judges’ Commission (secretary), the Beverly Jewel Wallace Lovelace Children’s Program Advisory Board, the Children’s Hospital Ethics Committee and the Children’s Waiting Room Advisory Board. Prior to taking the bench, Judge Clark served as an assistant and deputy district attorney in Allegheny County for almost sixteen years. Judge Clark received her B.A. from Tennessee State University and her law degree from Duquesne University School of Law. Break 1 st Canadian Conference for Family Group Conferencing 20
Honouring the Circle, Connections and Wisdom 2:30 – 4:00 P.M. Workshops and Discussion Groups Logic Will Get You from A to B: Imagination Will Take You Everywhere: Family Group Conferences in Rural Ontario TRACK 2 Youth and Family Engagement LEVEL Intermediate Lynn Lavery and Arijana Tomicic, Family and Children’s Services, Renfrew County, Pembroke, ON, Canada Child welfare services are at a crossroads. With increasingly tight budgets and demands for cost-neutral, effective programs, the need for innovation, imagination and family engagement in child welfare to provide a strengths-based customized response to both children and families is the desired approach. Litigation polarizes the families, is costly, not time sensitive and the outcome is decided, but not by the family. FGC allows for innovation, creativity, conflict resolution and a more timely response to the needs of children. FGC is culturally sensitive, is more likely to lead to positive outcomes, and has an immediate impact on process indicators, such as family engagement. For child welfare, it provides a mechanism for information sharing and giving the family a role in making child welfare decisions. During this session, the facilitators will discuss all of the above, with the intention of highlighting the positive indicators and outcomes in the domains of safety, permanence and placement stability for children. High Conflict Family Group Conference Pilot Project TRACK 3 Collaboration and Implementation Within and Across Systems LEVEL Intermediate Tracey Lipp and Louise Vandenbosch, Community Services Coordination Network; and Shannon Theriault, Children’s Aid Society of London & Middlesex, London, ON, Canada While a range of emotions marks the dissolution of a relationship, research reveals that how families conduct themselves during the divorce process has far greater impact on children than the actual divorce. Ongoing adult conflict may present a protection concern that may be identified to the child welfare authorities. Offering FGCs to high conflict families experiencing a custody dispute is an opportunity to increase the consideration and use of FGC as well as to provide families with a vehicle that allows them to craft their own plans. The High Conflict FGC Pilot Program was implemented at the Children’s Aid Society of London & Middlesex. The goal of the project was to gather information on the utility of an FGC process for high conflict embroilment in a custody dispute that had an open child protection file. The presentation provides an overview of the project, and the outcomes and lessons learned will be shared. 1 st Canadian Conference for Family Group Conferencing 21
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PROGRAM GUIDE - American Humane Association

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