Family Group Conferencing Mentorship Process

The goals of the mentorship are:

• to help the trainee develop a good understanding of the preparation phase, how to facilitate a conference, the administrative requirements associated with conference coordination, the principles and philosophy of FGC;

• to observe and interact with the trainee so that an informed judgment can be made about the trainee's ability to coordinate a conference process independently;

• to provide the trainee with opportunities to observe the FGC process through a range of experiences, so that the trainee feels comfortable in coordinating a conference;

• to provide support and consultation to the trainee.

The trainee will:

• be shadowed by the mentor on one case. The mentor will observe as many contacts as possible, providing consultation after each contact. The mentor must observe the referral meeting and the conference. An average conference is 5 hours long. The observation of the preparation phase would involve a minimum of 5 contact hours plus 2 hours of debriefing. A minimum total of 12 hours of shadowing is expected, with an average of 25-30 contact hours;

• observe at least one conference facilitated by a mentor;

• shadow a mentor or a coordinator designated by a mentor, ideally over 5 contacts with 2 service providers, including the referral meeting, and 3 family group members. This is expected to involve approximately 10 contact hours plus 3 hours of debriefing, for a minimum total of 13 hours. (If the case being observed is the mentor's case, the debriefing time only is the time that would be billed).

Due to geographical constraints, teleconferencing and videoconferencing may be used to observe contacts. However, the mentor must be physically present when the trainee facilitates his/her first conference.

Where distance does not permit the normal amount of contact required to complete a mentorship, the trainee must complete the following minimum requirements:
a)     observe one conference coordinated by a mentor or by a coordinator delegated by the mentor;
b)     telephone consultation with a mentor regarding referrals and contacts on the trainee’s cases;
c)     be observed during the first conference coordinated by the trainee.

The length of the mentorship process depends on:

• the availability of cases;

• the quality of the learning experience;

• the trainee's level of experience and learning needs.

The mentor will determine when the trainee is ready to work independently and will forward a letter to the Provincial Resource Coordinator recommending placement on the Provincial Coordinators’ Roster. It is the mentor’s responsibility to ensure that (1) the trainee is ready to coordinate conferences independently and (2) the mentor has enough information through observation and consultation to make an informed recommendation to the Provincial Resource.

When appropriate, mentors will link prospective coordinators through telephone or video conferencing to develop peer support groupings. Billable time would be shared.

A coordinator in training will have only one mentor, but the mentor may designate that the trainee observes or is observed by another experienced coordinator.

Organizational support in the form of peer supervision and/or clinical supervision should be available to the coordinator once they are on the roster. Ideally, the supervisor will have attended basic and advanced FGC training and is in a management position.

The cost of the mentorship is $100 per hour. Billable hours will include direct service time as indicated above, as well as driving time, driving costs & other expenses incurred in providing mentoring.

FGC Mentor Requirements

To be considered as a Family Group Conferencing mentor, the applicant must meet the following criteria:

1. Applicants must be listed on the Ontario Family Group Conferencing Coordinator Roster.

2. Applicants must have completed 15 conferences.

Download the FGC Mentor Application Form here

Family Group Conferencing Mentors