Native Counselling Services of Alberta

Training

BearPaw Peacemaking Certificate Program

This non-degree BearPaw Peacemaking Certificate Program was designed to train individuals to take on the formal role of Negotiator, Mediator, Facilitator, and Peacemaker. Graduates of the program will have the basic skills and knowledge to enable them to practice in both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal settings.

Purpose

The program has been designed to incorporate individual student’s culture and traditions. Each student will be responsible for designing a dispute resolution process that is appropriate to the environment they will be working in.

Trainees

Peacemakers are people who are good communicators, are non-judgmental, can see a situation from many perspectives, have compassion and are able to work independently.

Program Structure

The certificate program consists of three courses: Core 1 (containing two parts), Core 2 (containing two parts), and two (of three possible) electives, for a total of 21 days of training. All, or part, of this program may be delivered in any community with a minimum enrolment of ten students.

Program Content

Core 1a. Preparing for Peace (4 days): This course will cover the skills and approaches necessary to design a process for disputing parties to follow in order to reach agreement.

Core 1b. Peacemaking Dialogue (4 days): This course will focus on skills to resolve interpersonal disputes between the trainee personally and another person.

Core 2a. Peacemaker (5 days): This is intensive training to prepare you for the role of a neutral third party, assisting disputing persons to arrive at an agreement.

Core 2.b. Peacemaking Circles (3 days): This is a course designed to prepare you to facilitate the resolving of disputes through the use of Peacemaking Circles.

Electives

Participants will be expected to incorporate the traditions that are familiar to them. Participants will determine the electives to be offered. The current choices of electives are:

- Family Group Conferencing (3 days)
- Restorative Practices (2 days)
- Victim/Offender Mediation (2 days)

Student Evaluation

Students are required to attend all sessions of all courses. Student evaluation within the Core Courses will consist of mid-term and final assignments, as well as participation in class discussions, presentations and role-play activities. Evaluation within the Electives will consist of in class participation, role-play activities and may include a final assignment.

Examination methods can be designed to meet the needs of individual students. For example, a student may complete assignments verbally rather than in written form.

Instructors

PAULA DROUIN, C.MED., MA - Paula is a Mediator, Arbitrator, and Trainer in private practice, with extensive experience in the fields of Dispute Resolution, Restorative Justice, Adult Education, including International experience. She is currently on a temporary contract as the Executive Director of Alberta Arbitration and Mediation Society.

GAYLE DESMEULES, MA – Gayle is the NE Regional Manager for Native Counselling Services of Alberta, she holds a Master of Arts in Leadership and Training from Royal Roads University; trainer in Family Group Conferencing and Restorative Justice procesess.

Family Group Conferencing: “A Sacred Family Circle”

Contracted Service with Region 7 Child and Family Services

Family group conferencing is a collaborative dispute resolution process, which empowers families to make and implement decisions regarding the care and protection of children experiencing maltreatment, or at risk of neglect and abuse. A family conference involves a formal meeting where members of the immediate family come together with extended kin and community members to collaboratively problem solve and develop a plan for care. The plan, once approved by the referring Caseworker, can be presented in court and/or formulate the service plan.

Currently, NCSA provides facilitation services for Region 7 North Central Alberta Child and Family Services, East Zone, along with receiving referrals from other agencies on a fee for service basis. From May 2005 to September 2006, NCSA has received 22 referrals, of which, 19 went to full conference.

The pre-conference planning phase can take anywhere from 4-6 weeks. The facilitator engages family members in planning the conference, and addresses any barriers for participation. The conference usually occurs in a day, and may extend to 1.5– 2 days. Cultural, spiritual or religious practices as identified by the family are incorporated into the family conference.

Family group conference objectives often include, but are not limited to the following:

- To re-establish and maintain a child’s connection to their family, culture, and community for children living in care.

- To develop a concurrent permanency plan, and achieve permanency for children in care, which is defined in the Child, Youth, and Family Enhancement Act, 2004 as being “placement other than in the care of the Director”.

-To prevent the occurrence and reoccurrence of child abuse and neglect.-To ensure children, youth and families have a voice in decision making.

-To prevent children from experiencing multiple placement, either in or outside the family.-To successfully transition a youth into adult independence.

-To expedite the court process by presenting agreed upon plans in court or diverting cases from court. Post conference review meetings are often held to accommodate changing circumstances and achieve plan goals.

This sacred family circle process offers a true partnership model for children, youth and families involved with Alberta Children's Services.

Warrior Programs

The In Search of Your Warrior program (men), Spirit of A Warrior Program (women) and the TAPWE Youth Warrior Program (youth) were designed by Native Counselling Services of Alberta, to assist Aboriginal people who are caught in the cycle of violence. The Warrior programs usually requires 30 days to complete, based upon a six-hour program day. The programs are founded on the basic principles of Natural Law (caring, kindness, respect, love and self-determination), which are learned through ceremony and ritual. The Warrior Program is delivered by two trained facilitators, under the guidance and with the participation of an Elder; the typical group size is 10 - 14 participants.

The program has three primarily goals:

1. To assist Aboriginal people to better understand their personal intergenerational cycle of violent behaviour. This includes: defining family violence; identifying the roots of their violent behaviour; considering the family/community context within which violence occurs; addressing feelings of vulnerability related to their experiences of victimization; and distinguishing between anger and rage.

2. To build knowledge and skills that will reduce and eventually eliminate violent behaviour in program participants.

3. To facilitate the participants’ connection and commitment to their life-long healing journey.

Program Process

The ISOYW program is founded in holistic Aboriginal philosophy: the belief that all things are connected and that for sustainable change to occur, an individual must engage the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of self in the changing/learning/healing process. The program process includes activities and sessions that provide opportunities for such holistic learning. The process also includes daily ritual, frequent ceremony (chosen and led by the Elder), and sessions that encourage participants to explore core issues that underlie violent behaviour, such as their childhood experiences of violence, grief and loss, shame, trauma, childhood neglect and abandonment, as well as triggers for violent behaviour. Further, the participants learn about the intergenerational effects of colonization on the Aboriginal individual, family and community. In this process, the participant identifies his own cycle of violence and then can develop skills that will enable him to live a non-violent lifestyle.

The Warrior Programs employ a highly kinaesthetic and experiential learning process.

The Warrior Program sessions employ the rules and process of the sharing circle.

Warrior Facilitators

The men and women who facilitate Warrior program are highly skilled guides, role models and facilitators. Facilitators of the ISOYW program therefore require many important skills and characteristics:

· an in-depth, first-hand understanding of the healing process;
· knowledge of where they are on their own healing path;
· the capacity to take care of themselves emotionally and spiritually throughout the program; and
· the ability to motivate participants to engage in their healing journey.

Native Counselling Services of Alberta retains full responsibility for the Warrior programs; to this end we provide certification for people who have completed the program (Participant Certification), for those who successfully complete the facilitators training (Facilitator Certification) and for those who are responsible for the training of facilitators (Trainer Certification).

NCSA can provide the following services for communities and organizations:

Program Facilitation

NCSA can send facilitators to an organization or community to provide the Warrior programs. We work with the organization to recruit appropriate program participants, choose program location, ensure all necessary program resources are available, prepare community Elders to be a part of the program and provide the Certification of Program Completion for participants who successfully complete.

Facilitator Training

NCSA can help communities and organizations build capacity to facilitate the Warrior programs regularly for their membership or clientele. NCSA will help the organizations choose appropriate facilitator trainees, choose the training location, ensure all resources are available for the training and provide the Facilitator Certificates for the trainees that successfully complete training.