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 of Education’s Due Process Office
in the Special Services Section provides mediation for disputes
involving a student’s Individualized Education Program
and/or the placement of a student in a special education program.
It is designed to help parents and schools resolve disagreements
about a child's special education services. Mediation may
be part of a complaint investigation or hearing, or it may
occur independently. The Due Process Office received 191 mediation
requests in the 2001 calendar year, about a third of which
were actually mediated completely. Others were declined by
one of the parties, unsuccessful, withdrawn, or partially
mediated.
DOE Special Services contracts with Impartial Resolutions,
Inc. to carry out mediations. The mediators from IRI are compensated
as part of the contract and are part of a roster of mediators
who receive assignments on a rotating basis. Peer evaluations
of mediators is expected to begin in the near future.
Mediation is voluntary, meaning both parties must be willing
to participate before the process can go forth. In order to
be referred to mediation, one of the parties (a parent or
school district) must complete a dispute resolution request
form and submit it to the Due Process Office in the Department
of Education Special Services Team.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) provides
for mediation as "an opportunity to present complaints
with respect to any matter relating to the identification,
evaluation, or educational placement of the child, or the
provision of a free appropriate public education to such child"
(20 U.S. Code 1415(b)(6).) The Maine State law counter
part to this is 20-A
MRSA Section 7207-C (Mediation). They are governed by
34 CFR 300.506
(federal) and Maine Special Education Regulations, Chapter
101, sections 13.4 and 13.5 (state), respectively.
Source: Pauline Lamontagne, Due Process Coordinator,
Special Services Section, Maine Department of Education
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