Protection Order Designate Training

Manitoba Justice Victim Services has developed a collaborative program with community service agencies that helps victims of stalking and domestic violence apply for protection orders to keep them safe.

The Protection Order Designates Service operates in 15 Manitoba communities. Working together, 66 specially trained Protection Order Designates in 27 community-based service agencies help clients create safety plans, provide detailed information about emergency protection orders, help fill out application forms, describe the court process, explain how to testify, and make referrals to other appropriate resources.

The program is a result of recommendations made by a working group that reviewed Manitoba’s Domestic Violence and Stalking Act, which took effect in September 1999. The Act provides people subjected to stalking and domestic violence with a range of civil protections, including protection orders, to increase their safety. The working group recommended that the Protection Order Designates Service be established to help people negotiate their way through the difficult and intimidating process of applying for protection orders.

Protection orders, also known as restraining orders, are emergency orders that a judicial justice of the peace grants when there is evidence that domestic violence or stalking has occurred and there is reason to believe it will continue. The application process is designed for people with no legal background and the forms are written in plain language.

The Victim Services unit at Manitoba Justice coordinates all training and administration of the Protection Order Designate Service. Since October 2005, the Justice Minister has officially appointed service providers that meet entrance criteria and pass a written exam as Protection Order Designates. To qualify, candidates must have excellent written/oral communication skills, no criminal record, pass Child Abuse Registry checks and take a two-day training program. They must also have two or more years of work experience in the area of domestic violence/stalking, with expertise in protection planning.  Designations are granted for a two-year term and may be renewed.

Highlights of this service include:

• Assistance for individuals who cannot attend a courthouse but may still make an application by telephone.
• Information to help applicants prepare applications, and assistance in filling in the application form, for people with literacy or language issues.
• Advice about other protection options and protection planning. In the event that a Protection Order is not granted, designates will support the applicant in finding other safety options.
• Designates consult with the Victim Services Protection Order Designate Co-ordinator, who works closely with staff in the Courts and the Family Law branch. All of these staff members try to provide quick responses to requests.
• A regular team meeting, led by the Protection Order Designate Co-ordinator, gives service providers the opportunity to share information and provide feedback to the Victim Services co-ordinator.
• Designates are encouraged to be a resource to one another. Designates report that the training enables them to be more effective when working with clients.
• Applicants now have a clear understanding of the issues they must address in the written application and know what to expect when they testify.

People at risk of further domestic violence or stalking who work with a Protection Order Designate now have more than just assistance to fill in forms. They have the opportunity to create a plan of action to protect themselves from further abuse.

Joy DuPont
Victim Services Training Coordinator
Manitoba Justice