Will My Child Be Negatively Impacted by my Divorce?

Date: Tuesday, January 24, 2023
Time: 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Location: The webinar link will be shared with you via email prior to the session start time.

While divorce has been found to be an Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE), parents can buffer their children from negative conflict. This webinar will provide parents with tools and strategies to protect their children from long term consequences of separation and divorce. A question and answer period will then provide participants with the opportunity to ask non-case specific questions.

Facilitator: Michael Saini is a Professor, holds the endowed Chair in Law and Social Work at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto and is the Co-Director of the Combined J.D. and M.S.W. Program with the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto. He conducts custody evaluations, he is a parent coach for separated families and he provides parent education workshops on issues related to separation and divorce.

Registration required. University of Toronto students, staff, postdoctoral fellows and faculty are welcome. Partners and family members (including chosen family members) who are co-caregivers with U of T students, staff, postdoctoral fellows and faculty are also welcome to attend. If you have any access needs to ensure your full participation in this event, please contact the Family Care Office and we will try our best to work with you and make appropriate arrangements.

Elder Care: Adjusting to Long-term Care for a Person Living with Dementia

Date: Tuesday, January 17, 2023
Time: 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Location: The webinar link will be shared with you via email prior to the session start time.

This workshop aims to give care partners an overview of issues related to long-term care (LTC). The goal is for care partners to learn about how to successfully prepare, transition a person living with dementia and how to support the person after the move to a LTC Home. We will discuss important things to consider when making application, settling the resident into their new home and how caregivers can take care of themselves in the process.

Facilitator: Laura Petta MSW RSW works as a Social Worker for the Behaviour Support Ontario Caregiver Specialist Program and is an employee of the Alzheimer Society of Toronto. In this role she assists family/friend caregivers who support a person living with dementia in one of the Toronto Central long-term care homes. Much of her long-term care experience was acquired while working for the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Programs in both Santa Clara County California and New York City. More recently, at Dixon Hall here in Toronto, she worked as a Client Intervention Worker providing case management services to seniors and adults with disabilities living in the community.

Registration required. University of Toronto students, staff, postdoctoral fellows and faculty are welcome. Partners and family members (including chosen family members) who are co-caregivers with U of T students, staff, postdoctoral fellows and faculty are also welcome to attend. If you have any access needs to ensure your full participation in this event, please contact the Family Care Office and we will try our best to work with you and make appropriate arrangements.

Why Do I Keep Spinning my Wheels since my Divorce?

Date: Tuesday, January 10, 2023
Time: 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Location: The webinar link will be shared with you via email prior to the session start time.

This introductory webinar will explore how adults get stuck in negative emotional cycles and how they can get traction on the right path by dealing, feeling and healing from the separation and divorce. A question and answer period will then provide participants with the opportunity to ask non-case specific questions.

Facilitator: Michael Saini is a Professor, holds the endowed Chair in Law and Social Work at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto and is the Co-Director of the Combined J.D. and M.S.W. Program with the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto. He conducts custody evaluations, he is a parent coach for separated families and he provides parent education workshops on issues related to separation and divorce.

Registration required. University of Toronto students, staff, postdoctoral fellows and faculty are welcome. Partners and family members (including chosen family members) who are co-caregivers with U of T students, staff, postdoctoral fellows and faculty are also welcome to attend. If you have any access needs to ensure your full participation in this event, please contact the Family Care Office and we will try our best to work with you and make appropriate arrangements.

Dementia 101 for Caregivers

Date: Tuesday, November 8, 2022
Time: 12:00 – 1:30 pm
Location: The webinar link will be shared with you via email prior to the session start time.

An Introduction to Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementias workshop for Family Caregivers

In this workshop, the agenda is as such:
• Differentiate between Alzheimer Disease and Dementia
• Understand characteristic brain changes in Alzheimer’s Disease, associated symptoms and remaining strengths
• Recognize the importance of self care
• Understand support services available in the community

Facilitator: Laura Smith-Baldi is a Public Education Coordinator at the Alzheimer Society of Toronto.
With over 25 years of experience in working with persons living with dementia and their care partners, she brings empathy and knowledge to her workshops and presentations. She is passionate about the topic and enjoys sharing her experiences in long term care, adult day programs, lived experience and other settings. Her background is unique in that she studied Recreation Therapy as well as Social Work and she taught at the College level and did many years of volunteer work in the community.

Registration required. University of Toronto students, staff, postdoctoral fellows, faculty, and their partners are welcome. If you have any access needs to ensure your full participation in this event, please contact the Family Care Office and we will try our best to work with you and make appropriate arrangements.

Division of Property – Married and Common Law Spouses

Date: Tuesday, February 22, 2022
Time: 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Location: The webinar link will be shared with you via email prior to the session start time.

The workshop covers the following topics:

  • How property is divided when a marriage or common law relationship ends
  • What is “property”?
  • What does change in “value of property” mean?
  • How property is divided for married couples
  • How property is divided for common-law couples
  • What happens when there is abuse

Participants will have an opportunity to ask the presenter questions about the topic as well as to get information about available community support and resources.

Facilitator: Angela is the Program Lawyer at METRAC’s Community Justice Program (CJP). CJP provides accessible public legal information and education, particularly to women, youth, members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, from diverse backgrounds, especially those experiencing violence or abuse. Angela presents legal information workshops on various topics on family law, criminal law, and immigration law

Angela is a lawyer and a notary public and is a member of the Law Society of Ontario, She volunteers at another non-profit organization that makes personal growth accessible to all.

Angela is a UofT alum where she gained her Global Professional Master of Laws degree. She also holds Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts degrees, from the Philippines.

Angela identifies as lesbian and uses she/her pronouns.

METRAC: Action on Violence is a not-for-profit, community-based organization that works to end gender-based violence against women, youth, trans, and non-binary people.  Through METRAC’s Community Justice Program, we facilitate workshops on Plain Language Legal Information. In this workshop we will provide legal information on getting legal support, in the forms of advice, guide, or representation.

Registration required. Current University of Toronto students, staff, faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and their partners are welcome. If you have any access needs to ensure your full participation in this event, please contact the Family Care Office and we will try our best to work with you and make appropriate arrangements.

Dreamcatcher Workshop

Join the Family Care Office and the Centre for International Experience for a children’s dreamcatcher workshop.

Space is limited to fifteen participants, aged 4-12, so please register early! Children must be accompanied by an adult and families are encouraged to assist their children with making the dreamcatchers.

Discovering your Parenting Style: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Knowing your parenting style is useful for helping you understand the parent you are and helping you become the parent you want to be. Your parenting style not only influences your interactions with your child and the type of discipline that you use, but can also impact your relationship with your parenting partner if you have opposing styles.

In this session you will:

  • identify your parenting style.
  • learn about the impact of your parenting style on your children
  • discuss strategies to deal with conflict if your parenting partner has an opposing style.

The Facilitator is a parent and educator focusing on healthy relationships in families. She has worked with individuals in abusive relationships and has developed and delivered ‘healthy relationships’ education programs for various populations in the not-for-profit and public sectors.

Developing Your Career While Raising a Family (Staff only)

While the challenges of balancing a career while raising a family are many, the satisfaction can be great! Attend this workshop and you will:

  • Understand the options from a big picture perspective that are available in managing your career while raising a family
  • Learn from a panel of colleagues about their pathway to successfully merging career and family and the lessons learned
  • Discover simple strategies on how to manage your career at UofT, make progress on your career goals, while still spending time and energy on family
  • Create a Simple Action Plan to keep yourself accountable as your attention is pulled between family and career

This session is jointly offered by the Family Care Office and the Organizational Development and Learning Centre.

Facilitator: Beverly Kahn, Coordinator, Career Services, ODLC

UTM Campus – Facilitator: Teresa Scannell, Career & Work/Life Consultant, ODLC

UTSC Campus – Facilitator: Beverly Kahn, Coordinator, Career Services, ODLC
UTSC Panellists:

  • Christine Arsenault, Managing Director, Management and Management Co-op
  • Dallas Boyer, Manager – Operations, Arts & Science Co-op
  • Amorell Saunders N’Daw, Director of Governance at UTSC and Assistant Secretary of the Governing Council
  • Shelby Verboven, Director of Recruitment, Admissions and Student Recruitment

Democratic Discipline: Behavioural Guidance for Preschoolers

This session will cover proven discipline strategies that go beyond punishments and rewards and focus on non-violent communication with your children. Learn helpful tips and ideas to make disciplining more effective and your children more cooperative including:

  • How to use natural and logical consequences
  • How to win children’s cooperation
  • The skill of providing respectful motivation

Suitable for parents and caregivers of children 2-6 years of age.

Facilitator: Karen Skinulis is a Certified Montessori Director and has worked extensively as a teacher and a parent educator. She is a co-author of two parenting books and one teacher’s book on classroom management.

Dementia Care: Finding Joy & Humour in Caregiving (UTSC)

This educational workshop is for caregivers of individuals living with dementia with a focus on looking at the lighter side of caregiving.

Topics:

  • Explore looking and living beyond the diagnosis
  • Create opportunities for joy and look at the lighter side of caregiving
  • Evaluate the benefits of humour and having a positive outlook
  • Assess the strategies and approaches for incorporating joy and humour into caregiving

Facilitator: Sudha Vavilla BA,MSW,M.Phil,RSW, Social Worker, Alzheimer Society of Toronto