Course Outline

This three part interactive and skills-based course is designed for front line non-profit professionals who with clients who are involved in or at risk of involvement in the criminal justice system in Canada.

Disclaimer: Participants who complete the three workshops will be provided with a certificate.

Session 1: An Overview of the Canadian Criminal Justice System

This two-hour course introduces participants to the various actors within the Canadian criminal justice system, along with their roles and responsibilities. Upon completion, participants will be able to identify the key institutions involved in the system, explain the principles that underpin it, and confidently define and use essential criminal justice system terminology. The course also provides participants with a glossary of key criminal justice terms and a practical list of resources and referrals, including those for accused persons and victims of crime.

Session 2: The Ethics of Advocacy in the Canadian Criminal Justice System

During this two-hour course, participants will be encouraged to think critically about the ethics of advocacy within a criminal justice system that disproportionately targets individuals from specific demographic groups, including Indigenous and racialized Canadians and those who manage mental health and addictions disabilities. In the second half of the course, students will explore practical tips and tools on how to maximize client autonomy and practice effective advocacy.

Session 3: The Human Rights Code, the Duty to Accommodate and the Canadian Criminal Justice System

During this final interactive session, participants will examine the barriers faced by people with disabilities within the Canadian criminal justice system and learn about the legal duty to accommodate their needs to ensure equal access and protection under the law. The session will also provide practical tips and tools for helping clients submit accommodation requests to service providers, including lawyers and the courts.

Trainer Bio

Lana Frado has several decades of experience advocating for individuals with disabilities. In particular, she is passionate about the right to accessible education and employment for individuals with social disabilities, as well as fairness and equitable access in the justice system. She is the former Executive Director of Sound Times Support Services, an organization staffed, governed and driven by people with lived experience. In addition to her long career in non-profit management at Sound Times, she has been employed in project-based work with the National Office of the Canadian Mental Health Association, the Consumer/Survivor Development Initiative, the Ontario Ministry of Health and the former Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation. She has held numerous leadership positions, including Ministerial appointments, in governance, system design and delivery strategies. She is a psychiatric survivor.

Amy Slotek is a Staff Lawyer with Legal Aid Ontario who practices criminal and administrative law. For the past nine years, she has coordinated an initiative focused on meeting the interconnected legal needs of homeless accused who manage complex mental health disabilities in the downtown Toronto area.

Ms. Slotek has over twenty years of experience working in the non-profit sector, both in Canada and internationally. In these roles, she has developed and facilitated training to law enforcement, lawyers and non-profit professionals on human rights and anti-discrimination law, trauma informed practice and disability rights.