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Through the generosity of the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Family Service Windsor-Essex County has been awarded a grant to research a best practice model of support to children and parents of divorce.

Each year in Canada, more than half of the families are changed through divorce. When divorce strikes a family, both the parents and children usually suffer severe trauma. Windsor-Essex currently has a major gap in services providing support to children of divorce that also incorporates a parent psycho-educational model.

At any age, a child may not understand why parents separate and divorce. They experience a variety of emotions ranging from confusion, guilt, and abandonment to loneliness and uncertainty. A child may also feel responsible, and be unsure of the future.

For parents undergoing marriage breakdown, divorce can be one of the most stressful life events a person can experience, whether it is the person who has sought the divorce or the person who was unprepared for divorce. For some, divorce may feel like a liberating new beginning. For most, it is not so straightforward, bringing numerous difficult emotions connected to the same grieving process one experiences when a loved one dies: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. Identities change and new responsibilities and challenges emerge. The more sudden and unexpected the announcement, the more stressful the initial emotion reaction.

Parents who are divorcing have much to consider. Research has shown that the ongoing health and mental well-being of the children of divorce often depends on whether or not their parents are able to work together following the end of their marriage.

There are many models of such support for children of divorce and their parents in Canada and the United States.

This proposal will research current programs across Canada and the United States in order to determine a comprehensive best practice model incorporating the diverse nature of the community.

This research will ultimately culminate into a future funding application for a "Children of Divorce" program with the primary focus being to offer service to the children with a secondary aim of supporting parents in successful co-parenting.

Family Service Windsor-

Essex County

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