Honourable Mention: Raising Awareness of the Importance of French-Language Services Among Supervised Access Program Staff
The Supervised Access Program offers separated families a safe, neutral and child-focused setting to facilitate exchanges and visits in order to deal with difficulties that may arise as a result of the difficult circumstances that these families are facing. The program is funded by the Ministry of the Attorney General and delivered by third party providers ─ supervised access centres ─ under the supervision of trained staff and volunteers.
In order to raise awareness amongst staff about French-language services and ensure that these services are offered for those who need them, the Supervised Access Program of the Ministry of the Attorney General created a French Language Services Subcommittee with membership from both the ministry and the supervised access centres in order to exchange best practices, share tools and resources, and create protocols for providing French-language services to its clientele.
I am aware that this subcommittee created an interactive user-friendly French-language services orientation e-learning module for all supervised access centres’ employees to help them better understand and fulfill the needs of their Francophone clientele. The module includes French-language services legislative requirements and clarifies the concept of active offer of services in French for the staff, by providing practical tips and tools to support them.
The staff participating in the French Language Services Subcommittee is confident that the e-learning module will support Supervised Access Program employees in their duties by enhancing their understanding of requirements and best practices related to services in French as applicable to everyday situations. This will ultimately result in a higher quality of service and a more satisfied Francophone clientele. I congratulate the Ministry of the Attorney General and, the Supervised Access Program in particular, for this important initiative.