“What is Mediation?”
Mediation is a process that helps you and others work through disagreements. This is done with the help of a mediator. A mediator is someone with skills to help you and others work through a problem to see if you can create an agreement that works for you. You are the one that decides if an agreement works for you. The mediator does not make decisions on the agreement.
The mediator is a neutral third party who assists all participants with communicating perspectives clearly, clarifying issues, exploring options, and reaching and implementing agreements, if possible. The mediator controls the process, not the content, and has no authority to make a judgment or influence any decision.
Mediations can be used for:
- Parenting plans to address custody and parenting time
- Education issues related to special education
- Employment and organizational disputes
- Elder/estate disputes
- Grandparent visitation disputes
- Consumer-business disputes
- Workplace conflicts
- Tenant-landlord disputes
- Neighbor and community disputes
- Environmental issues
Mediator Qualifications
Mediators that are approved to work with parents on developing parenting plans are required to have 60 hours of training. Once approved, every two years, mediators must complete 8 hours of continuing education and mediate a minimum of two cases.
Why Choose Mediation….
Fair and Respectful
The mediation process allows parties to work together to find solutions both can accept. As a result, people often come away from mediation with a strong sense of having been treated fairly.
Effective and Flexible
Because the result is crafted by the parties, mediated agreements are more likely to be kept than court-ordered judgments. Mediated agreements can cover as many issues as the parties want and may be tailored to any situation. Mediation can be used with other processes, like the courts.
Convenient, Simple, Inexpensive
Mediation times and places are set at the convenience of those involved. The process is informal and relatively inexpensive.
Voluntary, Private, Confidential
Mediation is a collaborative decision-making process is a very constructive approach to reaching highly satisfactory outcomes. It is well suited to situations where there is or will be on-going relationship, such as in a community or neighborhood, and an interest in customized results. There are multiple benefits to all involved: greater responsiveness to diverse needs, improved relationships, better communication in the future, and higher likelihood of finding common ground and innovative, meaningful and sustainable results.
Mediating a Parenting Plan
What is a Parenting Plan?
A parenting plan lays out how you will parent from separate homes. You have an opportunity to decide how to be there for your child so that they feel safe and loved. Think of it as a road map. It will provide a structure to your child to grow and thrive.
A parenting plan outlines everyday activities and decisions that need to be made as you and the other parent raise your child. A parenting plan also has a lot of specifics. Examples may include when your child will be with each parent, how your child will move back and forth between two homes, and how you and the other parent will communicate.
If you are unable to develop a parenting plan on your own, the court can order you to attempt mediation. If you and the other parent are unable to agree on a plan, the court will develop a plan for you.
Mediating a Parenting Plan
You as parents are the experts about your child. You know schedules, interests, personalities, and all the things that make your child unique. Because of that, you are encouraged to create a parenting plan along with the other parent. One option is through mediation.
Mediating a parenting plan allows you to keep your focus on what is best for your child as a first priority. With a mediator, you and the other parent talk about what is important and what concerns you have. You may talk to the mediator and the other parent together, or each of you can talk with the mediator separately. It is the responsibility of the mediator to provide a process that allows you to say what you need to say to develop the best plan possible.
Restorative Justice
Restorative Justice (RJ) is an approach that uses support from family members and the community to discuss what happened between the juvenile offender, the victim, family, and/or community, to create steps towards repairing the harm that occurred. Another goal of RJ is to improve community involvement and prevent juvenile crime by improving neighborhoods and strengthening bonds between community members.
RJ practices can help the juvenile offender understand the impact of their behavior and accept responsibility for their actions. Family and community members can help the youth express remorse, take action to repair damage, and help the youth in becoming a valued member of the community.
Juvenile Justice Restorative Practices offered at Central Mediation Center
- Victim-Youth Conference (VYC): A conversation between a youth who has committed an offense and the victim or a victim surrogate, with the victim’s safety being the main priority. The goal is to work together to address harms and develop a reparation plan.
- Juvenile Justice Family Group Conference (JJFGC): An opportunity for a youth and their family to meet with a victim and their family or support group to talk through what happened, the impacts of the youth’s actions, and how to repair the harm caused. The youth and their family have private time to develop a plan in which the family can support the youth in creating a reparation plan that is feasible. The victim and their family or support will review and can accept, with or without modifications, the reparation plan.
- Juvenile Justice Family Conference: A meeting between a youth and their family to address issues that may be impacting the youth’s success.
- Excessive Absenteeism/Truancy Conference: A facilitated process between a youth who is at risk for court involvement and their parents and school staff. The goal is to create a plan to eliminate any factors causing the youth to miss school.
Child Welfare Restorative Practices
There are several types of Child Welfare Restorative Services available to children and families throughout the child welfare court process. Each of these services focuses on bringing a team of people together to address specific issues related to the case or reach a specific goal.
Child Welfare Restorative Services offered at Central Mediation Center
- Pre-hearing conference (PHC): A facilitated meeting with an agenda held before the family appears in court. The goal is to discuss placement, parenting time, ICWA determination, and services.
- Pre-hearing Permanency Review Conference (PHPR): A meeting to talk through progress toward reunification or other issues around permanency and develop action steps.
- Pre-hearing Termination of Parental Rights (PHTPR): A meeting focused on important questions to be answered at the upcoming termination of parental rights hearing. The goal is to determine if the case is ready for trial and to explore any non-trial options.
- Family Group Conference (FGC): A 3-phase process designed to develop a family-centered plan; private family time is involved in developing the plan. The goal is to address the child’s safety, permanency, and well-being.
- Child Welfare Mediation (CWM): A 1:1 mediation between parents and providers; parents and foster parents or parents and family members. The goal is to solve problems that are delaying the child and family’s progress.
- Child Welfare Facilitation (CWF): A multi-party facilitation that focuses on setting a better course of action for the child, parents and caregivers. The goal is to solve problems or barriers related to the child and family’s progress.
Parenting Education Classes
If you are involved in a child custody court case, you are required to attend a basic level parenting education class. You may also be required to take a 2nd Level class if there is child abuse or neglect, domestic intimate partner abuse (DIPA), or unresolved parental conflict.
What You Will Learn in a Basic/Level 1 Class:
- Developmental stages of children
- Helping your child adjust to the changes.
- The court processes.
- Mediation
- Conflict management
- Stress reduction
- Parenting time
- Transitioning your child between parents
- Information on child abuse or neglect, DIPA, and unresolved parental conflict
What You Will Learn in a 2nd Level Class:
- How to safely transition your child between parents
- Potentially harmful impact of DIPA and unresolved parental conflict on children
- Communication techniques
- Resource and referral information for:
- Victim and perpetrator services
- Batterer intervention programs
- Mental health services
- Substance abuse services
- Other community resources
“Basic/Level 1 Parenting Education Class is offered online. Please click here to sign up for the 4-hour class. For in-person Level 2 class please call CMC at 1-800-203-3452 ext. 10 to schedule. In-person Basic/Level 1 Parenting Education Class is offered in-person in Grand Island as needed based on circumstances. Please call our office to register.