Who are the Mediators?
Each mediation team has two members. Teams are available for each court location. The makeup of each team takes into account gender, cultural competency and area of expertise.
The teams include Court Services Officers, private attorneys and clinicians. The mediation teams receive approximately 50 (fifty) hours of training before they may take cases.
What Types of Cases may be Referred?
Referrals for mediation are not limited to certain case types. Any child protection matter including neglect, termination, permanency review and guardianship cases may be referred.
Case issues include, but are not limited to:
Complex service and resource availability
Maintaining on-going relationships, including visitation
Achieving permanency for the child
Critical need for placement stability
Open adoption, as an alternative
New trial court litigation on cases where an appeal is pending on other issues
