What is the Community-Based Family Conflict Resolution Program?


The Community-Based Family Conflict Resolution Program (the “Program”) is a unique community based alternate dispute resolution process.  It is a collaborative initiative organized by concerned citizens and professionals having an interest in promoting the wellbeing of children and families experiencing conflict.

The Program is designed to assist families resolve conflict in the least adversarial and a most cost effective manner possible while promoting the public’s respect for the administration of justice through a reliable, fair and transparent process.  The Program could be viewed by many as similar to a diversion program where families in conflict can resolve their issues with minimal involvement of the family court system. At the current time, the Program focuses on those families being affected by conflict relating to separation and/or divorce, child custody and child protection matters.

When parents separate and/or divorce and emotions run high, parents and family members are often unable to come to a fair and just agreement and as a result conflict erupts.  Some of the common issues of conflict are as follows:

While hiring a lawyer and going to the adversarial family court is usually the first step which most former spouses pursue, having little or no knowledge of how the family court system works, many families end up being frustrated after spending large amounts of money on fees related to lawyers and other high cost family court related professionals. Depending on their individual situation, their court litigation can sometimes take years to resolve.  Some families often end up spending tens of thousands of dollars before a final order is made by the court.  Many families today simply cannot afford the cost, no matter how little it may be. In situations where parties do have lawyers to represent them, workers with the Program can provide valuable assistance in shortening the length of time it can take to go through the family court system.