Family Service Ontario Expanding Counselling Services to End Domestic Violence
Pilot Project to Improve Lives of Women and Families
TORONTO, May 6, 2015 /CNW/ - Family Service Ontario has received funding from the Ministry of Community and Social Services to launch a pilot project to help couples prevent the escalation of violence and conflict in their relationships.
The "Conjoint Counselling for Intimate Partner Abuse" pilot project will focus on couples who struggle with developing healthy attachments in relationships due to many factors in their personal histories, such as Children's Aid Society involvement or intergenerational trauma. It is a call for action that Family Service Ontario has been sounding since 2012.
This project will help couples prevent the escalation of abuse and resolve domestic conflict before it turns to violence. The funding from the province will provide women with the intervention they frequently ask for from Family Service Ontario member agencies: timely support from trained professionals in the form of conjoint counselling for both partners, so they can work together on achieving shared goals. Family Service Ontario is committed to providing timely support to couples who need the awareness and skills to recognize triggers and implement solutions. This pilot project is an innovative way to increase the safety of women and families in Ontario, and reinforce the success of Ontario's Domestic Violence Action Plan through a different door.
"Supporting both members of a couple is a refreshing, common sense solution that works," says Alan McQuarrie, Acting Executive Director of Family Service Ontario, a network of 44 agencies in communities throughout the province that provide mental health and wellness counselling services to strengthen and promote the health, safety and well-being of more than 250,000 individuals, couples and families every year. "It has the added benefit of respecting women's right to choose their preferred intervention."
"Our government is serious about addressing sexual and domestic violence, which is why I am pleased that we will be funding this pilot project with Family Service Ontario," said Community and Social Services Minister Helena Jaczek, "This pilot is an opportunity to test new service delivery approaches while supporting couples to resolve domestic conflict before it turns to violence."
SOURCE Family Service Ontario
Alan McQuarrie, Acting Executive Director, Family Service Ontario, (705) 492- 2508, [email protected]
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