Mandated Training
The Minimum Training Standard is mandated by the Ministry of the Attorney General, Ontario Victim
Services Secretariat, and is intended to equip crisis support volunteers with basic knowledge, skills and
principles to support and understand victims of crime and trauma. Training is a minimum of 40 hours, and
ongoing training occurs at regular/monthly volunteer meetings.
An educational component at regular volunteer meetings is integral to maintaining the crisis support
volunteer skills and to provide updated information to the volunteers. Regular volunteer meetings provide an
opportunity for volunteers to vent following particularly distressing calls and to seek direction, guidance and
support from staff as to how they could improve on their interventions. Some examples of extra training and
developmental opportunities include critical incident stress management, death notification, suicide
intervention and training on the management of large-scale community disasters. During the course of
training, crisis support volunteers learn about the special role they have when intervening in another’s life
situation. Crisis support volunteers learn:
- to avoid giving advice, therapy or counselling.
- to remain neutral at all times.
- to provide crisis support only and not to become involved in the details of the occurrence or police investigation.
- to deal with the impact of the incident on the individual versus the details of the incident.
The training modules include information about the dynamics of many of the incidents to which volunteers
can be asked to assist, which include but are not limited to:
- domestic violence
- duty to report to CAS
- sexual assault
- grief and bereavement
- homicide
- death notification
- home invasion
- sudden infant death
- multi-casualty disasters
- family occurrences
- property crime
- suicide
- attempted suicide
- elder abuse
- missing persons
- fire
- traffic accidents
- tragic circumstances
- disaster
To become an active crisis support volunteer, individuals must be able to demonstrate that they have
sufficient learning and understanding to employ their skills in crisis situations and must successfully complete
an exam at the end of the training. Crisis support volunteers must commit themselves to the service for a
minimum of one year to preserve continuity of service and to justify the time and financial investment of
screening and training. |
