Supervised Practical Experience Policy (SPEP)

Supervised Practical Experience Policy (SPEP) Approved November 21, 2022

The purpose of this Policy is to:

• Establish Family Mediation Practical Experience Standards (“Standards”) throughout Ontario for the practical experience required to attain accreditation from the Ontario Association for Family Mediation (“OAFM”).
• Ensure consistency in the supervised practical experience of Associate Members and their Supervisors;
• Create greater accessibility to Supervised Practical Experience opportunities from the perspective of both the Associate Member and the Supervisor by:
• Providing Associate Members with information, guidelines and certainty in expectations;
• Ensuring that the standards for the Associate Member are explicit, clear and honoured;
• Providing the Supervisor with role clarity, guidelines and expectations.

Pre-requisites

• Subject to paragraph 4, to enter the observation and co-mediation phases of their Program, the Associate Member must have completed:
• 21 hours of Domestic Violence and Power Imbalance Screening;
• 60 hours of mediation training.
• Subject to paragraph 4, to mediate under supervision the Associate Member must have completed, or have a plan to complete:
• 21 hours of Family Law, for those who require it;
• 21 hours of Family Relations, for those who require it.
• A Supervisor, at their discretion, can commence phases of supervised practical experience at an earlier stage based on their assessment of the skill level and experience of the Associate Member.
• There must be a signed contract between the Associate Member and the Supervisor setting out expectations including the elements set out in section

Supervisor Requirements

• The Supervisor must be an experienced Accredited Family Mediator in good standing who has confirmed with the OAFM that they will follow this Policy.

 

Form of Supervised Practical Experience

• Supervised Practical Experience programs are for a minimum of 100 hours and may be completed with one or more Supervisors.
• Supervised Practical Experience must include a minimum of five (5) drafting opportunities with appropriate feedback, resulting in substantial and complex Mediation Report/MOU/Agreement ("Memoranda"), two of which must have derived from a non-simulated environment.
• The contract between the Associate Member and the Supervisor must contain the following elements:
• Confirmation that the Supervisor shall follow the terms of this Policy;
• The number of hours being provided;
• The format of the hours, which can be provided in a simulated role play environment to a maximum of eighty (80) hours;
• Any fee arrangements for the Associate Member and expectations of the Associate Member and of the Supervisor, taking into account the requirements of the Employment Standards Act. A Guide to that Act can be found here on the Ministry website.
• The duration of the supervision;
• Confirming that sufficient opportunities will be provided for the drafting of Mediation Reports;
• The 100 hours will include the following elements:
• Observation;
• Co-mediating and leading a mediation;
• Direct and indirect supervision;
• A format for detailed self-evaluation;
• Debriefing at all stages;
• File Management; and
• Drafting Progress Notes and Mediation Reports.
• A termination clause.
• When a partial supervision period is being provided, the breakdown of the hours and skills set out above must be specified on the Confirmation of Practical Experience Form.

Confirmation of Supervised Practical Experience

• At the conclusion of the supervision period, the Supervisor will provide an executed Confirmation of Practical Experience form to the Associate Member, signed by the Supervisor.  This form will confirm the skills as set out on the Schedule “A” for Simulated Role Play supervision experiences and on Schedule “B” for any “Live” supervision experiences.  In order to be considered valid for Accreditation purposes, any submitted Schedule “A” and/or Schedule “B” must indicate the supervisor recommends the mediator for next steps or Accreditation;  or where appropriate, an indication of “n/a” may also qualify the member for Accreditation upon further examination of the specific facts of their application.

You may download the Policy, and Confirmation of Supervised Practical Experience below and contact the office, if you have any questions.