Families in Transition (FIT) supports the well-being of children who are experiencing significant change brought on by separation/divorce of parents. Our professional staff works with families to find solutions, explore options using a variety of tools and approaches that promote the emotional well-being of children and their parents.
Fit provides service to families who live and/or work in Toronto.
At FIT we offer:
Specialized services for separating, divorcing and blended families
Groups
Workshops
Staff can provide service in Farsi, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Tagalog and English. When you call for an appointment, please let us know about your language requirements at intake.
To access our services you, the parent, must experience at least one of the following:
Your child(ren) must experience at least one of the following:
First Steps is your first step into FIT and it is compulsory for anyone who wants to receive service from FIT.
First Steps is a 60 – 90 min session shared by up to 12 parents and led by a FIT counselor. Our goals for this session are for you to gain accurate and detailed information about FIT services and help you determine if they are right for you and your family. No children attend First Steps.
First Step sessions occur four times per month. We offer morning, afternoon and evening options.
Location: 355 Church Street, Toronto, M5B 0B2
Fee: $20.00 for this appointment (Fee reductions available based on need)
Payment options: Credit cards accepted by telephone. Cash and debit card payments can only be made in person.
Registration: Call our Service Access Unit at 416-595-9618 to register for your FIRST STEPS session.
There are fees for all services at Families in Transition and fees are based on a sliding scale to ensure that persons with all income levels can access our programs. Please go to “Services” tab at the top of the page to see the description of services offered and their corresponding fees.
For appointments, registration and information contact our Service Access Unit at 416 595 9618.
Counselling services are goal-directed and time limited and include: one-on-one counselling for children or parents; parent/child counselling and family counselling.
Counselling focuses on issues such as reducing parent conflict, creating co-parenting relationships, supporting a child’s grief process, dealing with parent’s anger, sadness, and grief, fostering healthy child-parent relationships, focusing on creating a positive way forward after separation or divorce.
Staff will work with you to create a mutually agreed upon plan to address the issues that you bring to counselling.
Fees for the individual sessions are $120/session (sliding scale offered to ensure that persons with all income levels can access our programs). Family counselling fees are determined according to family size and income.
This is a specific intervention geared towards helping separated or divorced parents develop positive co-parenting strategies that enhance the physical, emotional and social well- being of children. The mandatory criterion is that parents must be open to and ready to work together. At FIT we strongly believe that parents, even those in high conflict separation and divorce, can learn how to develop a positive co-parent relationship that can help children transition from the concept of one home to two homes and eliminate or reduce a child’s exposure to harmful parental conflict.
This service is intended for parents who are re-partnering after separation or divorce and who want support in finding positive ways to help their children adjust to a new family unit. This process may include new partners, former partners and/or children.
In this six-week program, parents meet once a week and discuss parenting post separation. Participants learn practical strategies for supporting their children to manage the challenges of parental separation and divorce.
Topics include:
Location: 355 Church St.
Group days/dates: Tuesdays; Jan. 8 to Feb. 12; May 7 to June 17; July 9 to August 13; October 1 to November 5, 2019.
Fees: $210.00 ($35/session). Fee reductions are available based on need.
Registration is completed via your counsellor.
A group for fathers who are parenting alone for the first time or who would like to enhance their parenting skills.
Location: 355 Church St.
Group days/dates: Group starting in 2019. Dates to be announced.
Fees: $35/session; number of sessions to be determined
Registration is completed via your counsellor.
Enhancing parenting skills and knowledge. Workshop for parents with children age 4 to adolescence.
Location: 355 Church St.
Dates: Parenting 101 will start in January 2019. Jan. 17, Feb. 7, Mar. 4, Apr. 18, May 8, Jun. 18
Fee: $40 for a 2 hr session
Registration is completed via your counsellor.
How to effectively parent children with an ex-partner in a moderate to high conflict situation.
Location: 355 Church St.
Dates: Co-Parenting will start in January 2019. Jan 8, Feb. 4, Mar. 6, Apr. 4, May 7, Jun. 4
Fee: $40 for a 2 hr session
Registration is completed via your counsellor.
FIT services are designed to help children adjust to parental separation, divorce, and remarriage. Programming focuses on the issues that have significant impact on children whose parents live apart. These include:
Any member of a separating, divorcing, or blended family can benefit from FIT services. They are available to people living or working in Toronto. Services are provided in English, French, Tagalog and Spanish.
No. Research demonstrates that early support is important in helping parents plan how to care for children when they no longer live together. Parents who are already living apart learn about ways to help children adjust to the changing family circumstances.
FIT is a voluntary non-profit social service agency. We are not connected to the courts. Our services supplement assistance you may be receiving from lawyers or the court. We do not get involved in court proceedings. When you first see us, we will ask you to sign a document that you understand and agree to this.
Yes, the voluntary nature of our service means that parents must call us to request service. We will not accept referrals on behalf of a client from other third parties such as lawyers, the courts, other services providers.
Yes, when working with children we need consent from both parents. We can help children more when both parents work with us. We will talk with you about how we might involve the other parent because research demonstrates that interventions are more effective when both parents work with us. If one parent is unavailable, we will continue to help the parent who calls us.
We usually provide direct service for children 4 to 18 years. Youth 12 years and older may request service on their own.
Yes, you can still come to FIT even if you are in court litigating.
We do not provide reports to the court, even if you are attending FIT at the direction of the court. If you require such a report, you will need to seek service elsewhere. In order for children and parents to trust that we will remain neutral and unbiased, we do not provide reports for court or other organizations your family may be involved with.
FIT conducted two major research studies that document the effectiveness of our services. Our most recent study demonstrated that positive outcomes for children are more likely when:
Yes. Your written permission is required for us to exchange information with any other person, except in specific circumstances where we are legally required to break confidentiality.
No, this is not part of the services provided by FIT staff. If you are searching for this service, you will need to contact a private practitioner who does this type of work.
Group programs are scheduled throughout the year. It is important to check our website on a frequent basis. There may be a wait for an individual appointment.
Yes, we charge a fee for or services. Fees are determined according to your income and family size. Many of our group programs have set fees. Individual and family counseling is based on an hourly fee. We are able to reduce our fees below your assessed fee when need is demonstrated. Private insurance through your employer or another group plan may cover some or all of our fees.
We are located at 355 Church Street, just North of Gerard St. and South of Carlton St. The College Park subway station is 5 min away. Parking is not available at this location. Group programs operate from this central location. With advance notice, many of our educational programs can be offered from other locations in the community. Contact the FIT office at 416 595 9618 to discuss specific requests to provide programs elsewhere in the community.
The following list outlines websites that contain publications of interest for separating, divorcing, and blending families. Examples of publications from each website are noted in bullets. Please access websites for full publication listings.
Government of Canada
Department of Justice
Government of Ontario
Families in Transition is offered at the following location(s):