Thank you for making Durham FDRweek a great success!
FDRweek is not just about professional events! It is a province wide movement aimed at increasing awareness of dispute resolution processes and improving access to justice!
As a resident of Durham Region, I am proud...
It is a well-known fact that, as we move away from the City of Toronto and into the nearby areas, accessing services and legal information can be a challenging endevour. As a resident of the Durham Region, I am proud to see that we are well underway to changing this fabric! I am honoured to see all of the support we have received from our community agencies and members, including:
- Betty Vavougios, Assistant Crown Attorney
- Deputy Chief Uday Jaswal and Inspector Dean Bertrim of Durham Regional Police
- Stan Baker of Durham Connect
- Dr. Desmond Ellis of York University
- Martha De Gannes, Justice of the Peace
- Susette Clunis, Executive Director of ADRIO
- Dr. Brett Degoldi and Marty Klein, Board Directors of FDRIO
- Leadership program at Trent University
- Our amazing volunteers!
And, since plenty of research suggests that incorporating some fun while working helps us become more productive, our Durham Meet & Greet was a perfect demonstration of how great we are at it! It was FUN!
Why YOU should continue to get involved!
“Providing problem-solving services for separating and divorcing families is a community responsibility, not just a judicial responsibility. The welfare of the entire community—especially its children—is impacted by how the members of the reorganized family relate to each other.” (Kourlis et al., 2013)
It is now estimated that about 60% - 80% of family law litigants are unrepresented! Many of these families cannot afford representation. The court system can be a difficult, lengthy and unpredictable process. It often increases the intensity of conflict between family members, leaving them financially and emotionally exhausted.
“…The specific context for relationship-destroying negotiations is an adversarial system that, not infrequently, produces fateful zero-sum or negative-sum outcomes for couples caught up in its heavy machinery. In this context, “uncertainty about the decisions made by judges in any particular case motivates family lawyers to prepare and process all cases as if they were going to court” (ver Steeg, 2003, p. 231)… a finding we reported earlier – going to family court was “highly common amongst most homicide-suicide perpetrators” (Logan et al., 2002, pp.1060-1062).” (Ellis, Stuckless, & Smith, 2014)
Every single year, we will continue to commit efforts into raising awareness of dispute resolution processes across Ontario! We owe it to our communities to preserve and build meaningful relationships and work with one another for the greater wellbeing of our community members and future generations!
“Participation in collaborative proceedings such as mediation tends to not only decrease the intensity of conflict below the level brought to them by separating parties but also to improve the quality of post-separation relationships between them…” (Ellis, 2014)
Laura Catone-Tarcea