ADR-LINK has been contracted by the Ministry of Children & Youth Services to work with them to establish a regional approach to accessing prescribed ADR services. This approach must be responsive to the needs of families and each Society, equitable, sustainable and flexible (to adjust to changing demands). Dollars will be set aside by the Ministry each year to fund court-related ADR services, and those funds are to be made available through ADR-LINK in a equitable manner to the nine Societies.

Past experience with ADR in the region varies among the Societies, both in usage patterns and preference for one type of ADR method over another. Societies are encouraged to continue using their internal capacity for dispute resolution to avoid costly legal proceedings and to act proactively to avoid the need to take children into care. In most cases, these strategies will continue to be effective. In some cases, a Society will look to a neutral third party to resolve a dispute once they have exhausted internal resources.

The first step of the referral process for ADR-LINK is to determine if the case qualifies for funding. In brief, a case may qualify if a court intervention is being considered, is pending, or is in process. According to policy of the Ministry of Children & Youth Services, at least one of these criteria must be met:

1. The Society has considered alternative resources and supports, including differential response approaches, has given serious deliberation to initiating a protection application and believes that an ADR service has the potential to avoid court or limit the number of issues requiring determination by court; or

2. A court, with the consent of all parties, has adjourned the proceeding to permit the parties to utilize a prescribed method of ADR in order to attempt to resolution of the issues in dispute; or

3. A Society has identified a case where there is high complexity and low agreement, all other internal Society resources have been considered and/or exhausted and it has assessed that a neutral third party may be the most effective way to determine if an agreement can be reached (e.g., issues related to an openness order, etc.).

ADR versus Differential Response

The use of conferencing or mediation in the context of a Differential Response is not part of ADR-LINK's mandate. To initiate a conference as a differential response, contact the ADR service provider directly. Different finding arrangements will apply.