Examples of How Mediation is Used in State
Agencies
Department
of Labor
Bureau of Worker's
Compensation
Department of Behavioral and Developmental Services
Administrative
Office of the Courts
Department of Environmental
Protection
Department
of Education
The Maine Department Behavioral and Developmental Services
contracts their mediation services to Community Mediation
Services. CMS is located in Augusta and serves central Maine.
Their services include family, landlord/tenant, neighborhood,
employment, and school issues. Specifically for BDS, they
provide caseworker/client, inter-agency, and intra-agency
mediation. Funding from the Department of Corrections has
allowed them to concentrate on mediation with juvenile offenders
returning to their communities after some time in a juvenile
correctional facility.
CMS has a roster of 25 volunteer mediators. Mediators are
put on the roster on the basis of a phone interview, their
resume, application, and references. Each completes forty
hours of mediation training, and those who work with BDS undergo
additional training on working with participants with mental
health issues. Mediators for BDS receive a $50 stipend per
session and are reimbursed for mileage. Those not mediating
BDS-related cases volunteer their services for free. Completion
deadlines are made, but they are based on many factors, including
the availability of the parties and mediators, and the number
of mediation sessions required. Most sessions occur within
two weeks of the initial mediation request.
The Maine Community Mediation Coalition has developed a checks-and-balances
system for quality control in mediation. Provisions include:
• Each mediation must involve two mediators, matched
by CMS staff
• CMS staff provides supervision, with additional supervision
available by a consultant
• Several forms must be completed, including Intake,
Agreement to Mediate, Mediation Agreement, Mediation Evaluation,
and Mediator Reflections.
• CMS staff makes a follow-up call to each participant
to get feedback on how he or she felt about the mediation
and if the agreement is working.
The Department of Behavioral and Developmental Services refers
mediations to CMS. The Executive Director coordinates intake,
scheduling, and participants, and also collects data. Including
BDS-related mediations, CMS averaged sixty-five cases in 2000
and 2001.
Sources: Tracy Walk, Executive Director, CMS; Mary Beth
Paquette, Coordinator, CMS.
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