Caring Dads Professionals – Trainer Development & Accreditation Agreement 

By signing up, you are entering into agreement with Caring Dads - Changing Ways (London) Inc. 825 Bradley Ave, London, Ontario, N6E 3C2, Canada (hereinafter referred to as “CD”) 

1. INTRODUCTION TO CARING DADS, THE CARING DADS GROUP PROGRAM, ACCREDITED CARING DADS PROFESSIONALS AND THIS AGREEMENT 

One of the primary functions of CD is to develop, enhance, and research the Caring Dads Group Program and to teach the associated concepts and skills to fathers so that they have the techniques and information needed to change patterns of abuse, increase their awareness and application of child-centered fathering, and to promote respectful co- parenting with children’s mothers. 

As Caring Dads has continued to evolve in both theory and as an intervention method, its teachings have been applied in a wide range of community counseling settings. The Caring Dads Trainer Development Program has been developed to enable already accredited Caring Dads Facilitators to expand their knowledge and skills so that they may in turn accredit new Caring Dads Facilitators after imparting to them the Caring Dads theories and techniques used in parent-child, and parent-parent relationships. 

The Caring Dads Trainer Development Program includes a minimum of 4 days of intensive training, in addition to post-course clinical supervision, and ongoing program evaluation research. Trainer events are interactive and participatory and involve review of footage of past Caring Dads groups as well as hands-on Facilitator Training with an already Accredited Caring Dads Trainer. Training topics include: 

Advanced skills for avoiding confrontation Working more effectively with referrers Practice in identifying core treatment goals for clients What to do when men do not appear to be changing Processing challenging information from mothers 

Participants are encouraged to bring case examples and challenges from their prior experiences with the Caring Dads Group Program. 

This agreement is a framework governing the relationship between Accredited Caring Dads Trainers and CD, and also functions as a guide for Caring Dads Faculty. It is best to have a few simple things written down so that we both know what we’re getting into, who should do what, and what happens if things go wrong. As a result, in this contract you won't find complicated legal terms or large passages of unreadable text. We have built this agreement to ensure that we do what's best for the safety and benefit of both parties, now and in the future. 

2. RESPONSIBILITIES AS A CARING DADS TRAINER IN DEVELOPMENT 

By signing this Agreement, you indicate that you have read and will honor each of the following statements: 

2.1. I am responsible for the entire amount of the Trainer Development tuition regardless of whether or not I complete the training or earn certification. Both application fees and tuition deposits (if levied) are non-refundable. 

2.2. My Trainer Development tuition covers the formal Caring Dads Trainer Development Program, as well as the use of related materials provided by CD. Transportation, lodging, and other incidentals are my responsibility. Meals (breakfast and lunch) during the training are provided by CD. 

2.3. All materials provided are limited to my personal use. I will not use materials from the Trainer or Facilitator manuals for any other trainings, lectures, or seminars. 

2.4. This training is entirely educational in nature and does not include any information relevant to the practice or training in psychotherapy. If I desire therapy or psychological counseling I will seek it from a licensed provider. Similarly, neither CD nor this program will in any way train or authorize me to provide therapy or psychological counseling to others. 

2.5. Full certification status will be awarded upon the satisfactory completion of the 4-day training program as well as the post-course clinical supervision. Attendance at all sessions and completion of all assignments is mandatory. 

2.6. I will represent myself according to the level of training I have achieved. Once I have attended the 4 day training program, but have not yet completed the post-course clinical supervision, I will be permitted to refer to myself as an “Accredited Caring Dads Trainer in Development” or if preferred the more generic “Accredited Caring Dads Faculty”. At the end of the post-course clinical supervision, I will be permitted to refer to myself as an “Accredited Caring Dads Trainer” provided that I have received written confirmation from CD. 

2.7. Once I have passed the 4 day training program, I will be be listed as CD Accredited Faculty. Listing requires, and my continued membership is contingent upon, receipt of annual license fees. Registration links will be provided once my Trainer has confirmed my accreditation. 

2.8. I have no right to use any of CD’s proprietary marks (including the name, logo and slogan “Caring Dads means Safer Children” without the prior written consent of CD. 

3. YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES AS AN ACCREDITED CARING DADS TRAINER 

By signing this Agreement, you indicate that you have read and will honor each of the following statements: 

3.1. Procedural 

3.1.1. I agree to cooperate with CD in accurately presenting my services and qualifications to the public at large in order to avoid confusion and misrepresentation, and to make every effort to ensure that public media identifies me correctly. 

3.1.2. I agree that my annual license fee includes the license to represent myself as “Accredited Caring Dads Faculty”, “Accredited Caring Dads Trainer in Development” or “Accredited Caring Dads Trainer”, as well as my license to run one (1) Caring Dads Facilitator Training event per year. Additional CD Facilitator Trainings are to be reported annually and additional Training License Fees ($250 CAD per event) for these programs are due annually in arrears. 

3.1.3. I further agree that my status as “Accredited Caring Dads Faculty” is contingent upon paying annual license fees ($250 CAD). Non-payment of fees results in immediate revoking of my license to represent myself as “Accredited Caring Dads Faculty”, “Accredited Caring Dads Trainer in Development” or “Accredited Caring Dads Trainer”, as well as my license to run any Caring Dads Facilitator Training events. I agree that none of the CD Facilitators that I train will be accredited by Caring Dads unless my licenses are in good standing. 

3.1.4. I agree that ongoing consultation, support, and additional training as deemed necessary by CD, is required so that I am always thoroughly trained in the CD model, and using the continually updated program manuals correctly. This ongoing follow-up consultation is required in order to address implementation issues, or to take into account unforeseen clinical realities that may be specific to my operational community (e.g. cultural diversity). I agree to attend one CD conference every 2 years in addition to the above. 

3.1.5. I agree to participate actively in Program Evaluation Research including reporting of all Caring Dads Facilitator Training activities on an annual basis. Data and reports, as required, will be provided each year as both an ongoing record of service provided and to assure compliance with the CD model of service described below. 

3.2. Conduct & Philosophy 

3.2.1. Accredited Caring Dads Trainers must normally be trained and regulated social service providers (e.g. registered social workers, probation officers, counsellors) in cases where these qualifications are not required, any agency hosting Caring Dads Facilitator Training events must have procedures in place to ensure ethical and professional conduct of its staff. As an Accredited Caring Dads Trainer, I agree to adopt the highest professional, ethical, and legal standards, including professional conduct that is consistent with the following value statements: 

3.2.2. I commit that the primary aim of CD is to enhance the safety and well-being of children. 

3.2.3. I recognize that children’s safety and well- being is integrally connected to the safety of their mothers. I affirm that is therefore impossible to responsibly address parenting without simultaneously addressing men’s abusive actions towards children’s mothers. 

3.2.4. I will work towards ensuring that my interventions to end family violence place appropriate responsibility on fathers to keep their children safe. 

3.2.5. I commit to using a gendered lens in my understanding of the impact of men’s violence in intimate relationships. 

3.2.6. I commit to working together across agencies and sectors to ensure that CD complements and enhances existing efforts to end men’s use of violence in their families. 

3.2.7. I understand that for the abusive, neglectful, domestically violent, and high- risk fathers entering Caring Dads Groups, the need to enhance child-centered fathering takes precedence over teaching child management skills. 

3.2.8. I commit to training Facilitators to work collaboratively in active partnerships with other professionals involved in men’s families to share information, monitor changing levels of risk levels, and address escalation as quickly and efficiently as possible. I will instill in the Facilitators I train a strong track culture of collaborating with other social service and relevant stakeholders (e.g., women’s advocates, child welfare, justice services, child and family mental health, substance abuse services) given that the clients being served and their families have complex and diverse needs that require access to a wide range of community resources. 

3.3. Caring Dads Facilitator Training Standards 

3.3.1. Length: All Facilitator Training programs must consist of a minimum of 2 days intensive format training, followed by 10 hours of post training clinical supervision. This model is required to effectively introduce participants to the principles and values that guide the Caring Dads program, as well as provide for interactive training on the program material while acquiring and practicing skills needed for leading group exercises. 

3.3.2. Participant - Trainer Ratios: Caring Dads Facilitator Training events may not exceed the ratio of 20 participants to 1 Caring Dads Trainer. Trainers may be assisted by others but the ratio is never increased through such assistance. 

3.3.3. Pricing: Facilitator Training must be priced according to Caring Dads Mandated Pricing. In your location this price is Price in local currency for specific year. 

3.3.4. Location: Caring Dads allocates one location-based Trainer License, per language of delivery, per applicant; you must live in the region for which you are applying for a license. Your privately organized Facilitator Training events must happen in the location for which you received the license. Facilitator Training events organized by Caring Dads at which you are invited to train are not subject to location restrictions. Your location and language license details are as follows: 

Language + Location Details 

3.3.5. Licensing: Caring Dads considers Accredited Caring Dads Trainers as the primary organizers of Caring Dads Facilitator Training events. If this is found to not be the case, Caring Dads reserves the right to revoke or not renew a license. Accredited Caring Dads Trainer licenses are non-transferable -- you cannot transfer your license to another individual. If you want to relinquish your location/license to allow another Trainer to have it, you'll need to notify us first. 

3.3.6. Co-branding & Sponsorship: We allow co-branding - i.e connecting the Caring Dads logo/identity/name to the name of another organization, non-profit, corporation or other. We do not allow for presenting Facilitator Training events as being organized by such entities. Caring Dads Facilitator Training events are stand-alone events -- they may not be combined with or integrated into any pre-existing conference or event without express written permission from Caring Dads. Any co-branding of Facilitator Training events requires the express written permission of Caring Dads Business Manager, Rick Mulvaney. Similarly, Caring Dads staff should be the sole official spokespeople for Caring Dads and the Facilitator Training program as a whole. Contact rickm@changingways.on.ca for information. 

Sponsors of Facilitator Training events cannot be Trainers, and they can never present from the stage. Similarly, Accredited Caring Dads Trainers should not promote their own products, books, or businesses or those of a company which employs them during Facilitator Training  events. Sponsors have no editorial control or veto power over the Caring Dads Facilitator Training program content. 

Companies whose primary business are the following are not able to sponsor Caring Dads events: 

Weapons manufacturers Ammunition companies Cigarette companies Alcohol companies Online gambling organizations Sex-related businesses Other conferences or seminars 

There are limits on cash amounts that sponsors can contribute: For a single Caring Dads Facilitator Training event, total sponsorship funding may not exceed $10,000 CAD (in cash), this amount excludes direct cost of venue & hospitality for participants. 

For a series of Caring Dads Facilitator Training events, sponsorship funding may not exceed $50,000 CAD (in cash) per sponsor per year. If your budget necessitates funding above this amount, or you are being approached by potential sponsors seeking to provide funding above this amount, please contact Caring Dads Business Manager, Rick Mulvaney at rickm@changingways.on.ca. 

3.3.7. Presentation. We have put together the following few guidelines to help you plan your Caring Dads Facilitator Training events. Our intention is not to be overly directive, but to provide you with a practical set of standards that can ensure that every participant at these events can trust the content they’re hearing. In this way, we can all preserve the integrity and value of the Caring Dads brand throughout the world. 

3.3.7.1. Politics and policy are sometimes key parts of the conversation surrounding Caring Dads. However, Facilitator Training events are not the place for partisan politics, nor for extremist or inflammatory positions. Trainers must not advocate for parties, party platforms and political leaders during Facilitator Training events -- nor should they insult or belittle political adversaries. At the same time, please feel free to focus on discussing concrete problems and solutions. 

3.3.7.2. No selling from the stage. You may not pitch your products or services, plug plug your books, or ask for funding while presenting a Caring Dads Facilitator Training event. 

3.3.7.3. Caring Dads Facilitator Training events cannot solicit donations, whether at the event itself or through a donation button on a website. Caring Dads Facilitator Training events may only raise funds through tuition fees and sponsorship. 

3.3.7.4. Before photographing or videoing a Caring Dads Facilitator Training event, you must have all photographers sign a release form stating that they will release the photos under the Creative Commons "Attribution - Noncommercial - NonDerivative" license and authorize Caring Dads to replicate and distribute their photos for publicity releases, program marketing, and on print and web properties. Please contact Caring Dads Business Manager, Rick Mulvaney at rickm@changingways.on.ca for copies of the form. 

3.3.7.5. Venue Requirements. A venue used for Caring Dads Facilitator Training events must have the following facilities at minimum: comfortable seating for all participants, a screen where slides may be projected, washrooms, heating and cooling if required. All Caring Dads Facilitator Training events must be catered with one full meal, and refreshments throughout the day. It is recommended to include accessibility for differently abled persons. 

3.3.7.6. Keep your event “green”. Being green means being as environmentally friendly as possible. This means sourcing locally if you can, reducing waste, being energy efficient and working to have a Caring Dads Facilitator Training event that's sustainable. 

3.3.7.6. Please contact Caring Dads Business Manager, Rick Mulvaney at rickm@changingways.on.ca for a handbook with further operational tips for running a successful Caring Dads Facilitator Training event. 

4. YOUR LIMITATIONS AS AN ACCREDITED CARING DADS TRAINER 

We wish to be clear about the conditions of the training we provide. By signing this Agreement, you indicate that you have read and will honor each of the following statements: 

4.1. This Trainer Development Program permits me to teach others to become Caring Dads Accredited Facilitators and run Caring Dads Facilitator Training events. However, no Facilitator Training events may be held, nor Facilitators accredited, without the express written sanction of CD. 

4.2. This training does not entitle me to practice any form of psychotherapy or mental health counseling. 

4.3. This training will qualify me to use Caring Dads Group Program concepts and processes exclusive to the areas of expertise that fall within my profession outside the field of psychology or psychotherapy. 

4.4. This training does not entitle me to practice any form of Caring Dads outside of my legally accepted profession. 

5. USE OF THE CD TRADEMARK AND COPYRIGHT MATERIALS 

5.1. The content and materials constituting CD are solely owned by Dr. Katreena Scott and/or CD and/or Changing Ways (London) Inc. The name “Caring Dads” is a registered trademark in Canada and several other countries. By signing this Agreement, you indicate that you have read and will honor each of the following statements: 

5.2. I agree that all use of the CD trademark, logo, website link or any description of CD, the Caring Dads Group Program or the Accredited Caring Dads Professional model used in any material whatsoever, requires prior written permission from CD. In order to obtain permission for such use, I can download the Promotion Request Form in the Pro-Portal > Downloads section of the CD website, or contact the Business Manager, Rick Mulvaney at rickm@changingways.on.ca directly. 

5.3. Notwithstanding the above, I will not use the CD trademark or copyrighted material in any program that I develop on my own. 

5.4. I will not produce or reproduce CD material in any form, nor will I provide CD material to any unauthorized person for presentation, production, or distribution without prior written permission from CD. 

5.5. I will not use names or addresses from CD’s databases or forums unless I am specifically authorized to do so through prior written permission, nor will I share confidential CD information with any other parties for any other purposes. 

5.6. I will not use the CD trademark in such a way that implies that I represent the organization in any capacity other than that of an Accredited Caring Dads Facilitator. 

6. ACCREDITATION REQUIREMENTS 

6.1. Accreditation shall be awarded upon satisfactory completion of the 4 days of Caring Dads Trainer Development and the post-course clinical supervision. Full attendance is required, along with active participation in discussions and successful completion of projects as assigned. Accreditation shall be awarded at the sole discretion of the CD Lead Clinical Site Director in consultation with the CD Board or by a designated subcommittee. 

7. TERMINATION 

7.1. Any violation of this Agreement or any other CD document may be reviewed by CD, which retains the right to withdraw a Participant’s accreditation and to terminate any existing contract with the Participant. 

7.2. If the Participant terminates membership with CD she/he may not represent herself or himself to the public as an “Accredited Caring Dads Facilitator in Training”, nor as an “Accredited Caring Dads Facilitator” nor as an “Accredited Caring Dads Professional”. If the Participant were to do so, such misrepresentation could damage the reputation and goodwill of CD, Changing Ways (London) Inc. and Dr. Katreena Scott and could also result in liability to CD, Changing Ways (London) Inc. and Dr. Katreena Scott. 

8. WAIVER 

8.1. None of the terms of this Agreement may be waived without written agreement of the party against whom enforcement of such waiver is sought. The failure or delay of either party in enforcing any of its rights under this Agreement shall not be deemed a continuing waiver of such rights. 

9. ENTIRE AGREEMENT 

9.1. This Agreement constitutes the entire Agreement among the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersedes all prior agreements and understandings among the parties, whether written or oral, relating to said subject matter. 

9.2. No agent or employee of CD, Changing Ways (London) Inc. or Dr. Katreena Scott has the authority to make any representation or promise not contained in this agreement, and the Participant must not have executed this Agreement in reliance on any such representation or promise. 

10. AMENDMENTS 

10.1 This Agreement may not be released, discharged, amended, or modified in any manner except by an instrument in writing signed by the parties. 

11. SEVERABILITY 

11. 1. If any provision of this Agreement is, becomes, or is deemed invalid, illegal, or unenforceable in any jurisdiction, such provision shall be deemed amended to conform to the applicable laws so as to be valid and enforceable, or if it cannot be so amended without materially altering the intention of the parties hereto, it shall be stricken and the remainder of this Agreement shall remain in full force and effect. 

12. HEADINGS 

21.1 Article and Section headings contained in the Agreement are included for convenience only and are not to be used in construing or interpreting this Agreement. 

13. COUNTERPARTS 

13.1 This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which shall be an original and all of which shall constitute one and the same document, binding on all parties notwithstanding that each of the parties may have signed different counterparts. 

14. GOVERNING LAW 

14.1 This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the province of Ontario, and the parties hereby submit to the jurisdiction of the Ontario courts, both provincial and federal.