Volunteering - Training

MADD Canada Court Monitors are volunteers who attend court and keep track of impaired driving charges and how they are handled. This is done to encourage the justice system to recognize the seriousness of the crime and to sentence offenders accordingly.

Free online training is available to volunteers who wish to attend court proceedings and are interesting in court monitoring. For more information on our Court Monitor training program, visit www.maddcanadatraining.ca and browse the courses.

Victim Services Volunteers (VSV) offer support to victims of impaired driving. To be a VSV, there are two levels of training required.

Level I is a free online course available to all MADD Canada members. Although it is not a requirement of membership, we recommend that all members complete the course to increase their sensitivity and knowledge of victims’ issues.

To view the online training, visit www.maddcanadatraining.ca. If you are not a member of a Chapter or there is no Chapter in your area, but you are interested in supporting victims in your community, please contact Gloria Appleby at 1-800-665-6233, ext. 222 or gappleby@madd.ca .

Level II is an advanced face-to-face training course. Participants must successfully complete Level I training and must meet all other screening requirements before being admitted to the course.

Statistics show that the majority of deaths in Canada happen in health care institutions. As a result, it is usually the staff of those institutions who notify the next of kin of the deceased person.

However, police officers, clergy, victim support workers and emergency support workers who are present at the scene of a crash, or who visit the residence of the next of kin will deliver about a third of the death notifications in our society.

MADD Canada recognizes the importance of offering training to individuals who are required to provide a death notification to surviving family members. Other professionals and volunteers who deal with families in the aftermath of tragedy can also benefit from this training.

The goals of the Death Notification Training program are:

• To teach law enforcement, victim support workers, clergy and emergency services workers how to compassionately notify a loved one that their relative has died.
• To ensure that victims of impaired driving crashes (and all newly bereaved persons) can begin their traumatic grief process with the best possible, most compassionate death notification.

Training can be provided in face-to-face workshops for groups or online for individuals or groups in remote areas.

For more information, or to get a quote on the face-to-face program, contact Ardene Vicioso at 1-800-665-6233 ext. 227 or avicioso@madd.ca .

To register for online training, visit the Canadian Police Knowledge Network .

What Participants Are Saying

Participants who have completed the Death Notification Training have spoken very highly of the quality of the program and of the need for training in this area.

“Being a police officer for 14 years, I have never received any form of training in death notification. This training was needed.”
Ontario Provincial Police Officer

“Excellent. This training should be continued on a permanent basis. It should be mandatory for all emergency professionals.”
EMS Worker

 

TAPE Educational Services offers an on-line course in Bereavement Education which is supported by MADD Canada.

Learn about bereavement, grief and mourning in a user-friendly way and complete this Certificate Program in just eight weeks.

Toll Free: 1.877.270.8273 Toronto: 416.929.3396