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Survey Comments Highlight What Tenants, Landlords Think About Mediation Program

Jasmine Henry, September 16th, 2024

Since 2020, Resolution Systems Institute has administered the Kane County (Illinois) Eviction Mediation Program. Our team works with the 16th Judicial Circuit Court and community services to mitigate the negative effects of eviction filings. We conduct intake, schedule mediations, provide guidance for parties going through eviction mediation, manage the mediator roster, and provide assistance to the mediators as needed. After parties participate in mediation, we ask them to complete a survey about their experience, including answering multiple open-response questions.

Landlord and tenant comments on the program and their mediations illuminate what they value and what falls short for them. We have seen how the process makes parties feel respected and listened to, and what that means for them. We have also learned of issues that arise with power imbalances and with mediators who repeatedly facilitate cases involving the same attorney.

Mediation as a ‘Life Preserver’

Comments from the past year make clear that many parties have been profoundly affected by their experience with our program and their mediation. This is perhaps best exemplified by this comment from a tenant: “Everyone has their own reasons for difficulties. I got a chance to say how this happened and also how I can prevent it from happening in the future. I’m thankful for everyone who has helped me through this and being treated fairly and with respect. This program is a life preserver to a drowning person. Thank you.”

Another tenant shared a similar sentiment, saying, “When people go through a difficult time, this program gives them a chance.”

Mediator Role is Key

As with so many mediation programs, mediators are central to parties’ positive experience in the Kane County program, survey responses show. In fact, the presence of a knowledgeable, impartial mediator is one of the most appreciated aspects of the program. One participant noted that the mediator “listened to both sides of the story.” Another commented: “I really appreciated . . . the way the mediator helped to point out the facts of the situation and allow both parties to express themselves. As a tenant without a lawyer who’s been through a major financial crisis, it gave me the opportunity to be listened to and to get my head above water.”

Many survey respondents praised their mediators’ ability to help parties find compromise. As one tenant put it, “They really try to meet in the middle and make everyone happy in the end. It gives so much clarity and security.” Another tenant succinctly stated, “It gave a compromise to a no win situation.”

Participants noted that both the skills of the mediators and the structured nature of the mediation process ensure that all parties have a chance to contribute to the conversation. A tenant shared: “Both sides were given the opportunity to speak uninterrupted. Everything was explained clearly and the mediator was very pleasant to work with. I came in feeling anxious not knowing what to expect but was pleasantly surprised by the whole experience and outcome.” A landlord shared that it was “good to talk to the other party in the presence of some responsible people.”

“The meeting was not at all stressful once the call was started. Each party received ample time to discuss any offer, explanations of situation, possible resolutions to ensure both parties benefited.”

Tenants in particular mentioned the importance of feeling listened to. When asked what they liked about the mediation, tenants described mediators who “listened to my doubts and questions,” were “helpful and caring and want to hear what you have to say,” or gave all parties “the opportunity to discuss their thoughts and concerns.” A landlord added that their mediator “listened and asked good questions.”

Additionally, mediators were often commended for their patience and thoroughness, as exemplified by this comment: “The [mediator] was very respectful and kind and listened to all my doubts and questions. The [mediator] helped a lot and explained everything in very good detail.” Another participant described their experience this way: “The meeting was not at all stressful once the call was started. Each party received ample time to discuss any offer, explanations of situation, possible resolutions to ensure both parties benefited.”

These comments underscore the program’s success in creating an environment where both tenants and landlords feel they can speak openly, are listened to and are treated equitably.

Resources for Vulnerable Individuals

Several survey responses highlighted the program’s value for vulnerable individuals. For example, a number of comments mentioned the importance of the resources beyond mediation that the program can connect parties with. One tenant wrote that the program “was there to help me [with court paperwork] when they really didn’t have to.” Multiple commenters emphasized that they had applied to the court-based rental assistance program — which the mediation program directed many parties to, and which parties were able to access until funds ran out in June 2024. When asked if they would recommend eviction mediation to a friend, a tenant shared that they would (even though they didn’t settle their case in mediation) because “sometimes tenants are unaware of the resources available due to lack of communication or shame.”

Others expressed more general appreciation for being able to participate in the program as someone in a challenging situation: “Just every single mother that actually works and tries 100% for her and children deserves this opportunity.” Another shared: “I think it is an excellent program for families who are going through difficulties, personally I felt supported and confident in the ability of this incredible program to help.”

Perceptions of Mediator as Biased

Some survey respondents indicated that their mediators worked to minimize the usual power imbalance between tenants and landlords. For example, one commented: “My mediator was a rockstar ! The attorney tried to bully us and was interrupting them but they kept their calm and brought up my rights.”

However, some tenants expressed concerns about potential bias in the mediation process, with one tenant stating, “They are there to mostly help the landlord … It doesn’t help the tenant. At all … The mediator is on the landlord side to help them evicted you.”

“I felt because the lawyer and the mediator were familiar with one another they may have been more partial to the landlord.”

Similarly, a tenant shared, “Not only was I not informed what mediation was going to be like, but also the mediator didn’t take everything I said and just went with what the landlord [said].” And one tenant went so far as to say, “I feel like I was gaslit by the Lawyer, and [the lawyer], as well as the mediator didn’t want to hear my side.”

Some comments about pro-landlord bias reflected a tenant’s understanding that the mediator already knew or had worked with the landlord’s attorney in the past, with one tenant writing: “I felt because the lawyer and the mediator were familiar with one another they may have been more partial to the landlord.”

Another explained: “[I]t’s like the mediator and the landlord and the landlord Lawyer have some kind of friendship already[,] so that kind of singles you out when they’re cracking jokes and laughing with each other[. A]nd then [the mediator is] only hearing [the landlord’s] side and telling you [that] you have to take your side to court.”

Other criticisms related to feeling unduly pressured to reach an agreement. One tenant explained how they felt both unheard and pressured: “I feel as if, regardless what was disclosed, my landlord and his attorney pushed too hard at a hard no to mediation, not giving me a chance, and the mediator seemed to take what I had to say about the situation with a grain of salt.” Another tenant stated, “My concerns were not fully addressed, felt bullied into settling.” One expressed their frustration, saying: “The mediator didn’t listen to my needs and disregarded any of my opinions[. The mediator] listened to every word the lawyer said and also wrote anything they wanted word for word.”

How RSI Uses Feedback

RSI uses party responses to our post-mediation surveys both to evaluate and improve our program, as well as to tell the full story of the eviction mediation process. These firsthand accounts allow us to go beyond statistics to better understand how eviction mediation programs affect real people in our communities. Furthermore, these comments provide invaluable evidence of the program’s tangible benefits. By thoughtfully analyzing and presenting these comments, we strengthen our partnerships, justify program funding and, ultimately, improve our ability to effectively serve the Kane County community.

RSI takes party criticisms of our mediators and program very seriously. Every quarter, we evaluate the participant post-mediation survey responses to determine what is or is not working. Every month, we hold meetings with our program staff to review our findings. We also use our research to train mediators on how to cultivate better party experiences. When necessary, we provide further training and support to mediators with recurring issues. Occasionally, if feedback was provided but no improvement made, we remove underperforming mediators from our roster.

Negative party perceptions, even if not reflective of actual bias, indicate a need to ensure and communicate impartiality more effectively. While it can be demoralizing to read party comments complaining that a mediator was biased, these comments help us to understand the impact that such perceptions have on party experience. Mediation is meant to be a level playing field for all parties — landlords and tenants, unrepresented parties and those with attorneys.

How Can Community Mediation Centers Successfully Diversify Their Rosters?

Stephen Sullivan, August 7th, 2024

Community mediation centers have long recognized that parties feel seen and benefit from working with mediators who are from diverse backgrounds. Despite this, they have found it difficult to develop mediator rosters that reflect the communities they serve. The Center for Conflict Resolution (CCR) in Chicago is undertaking an innovative project to address this issue. The staff of CCR has engaged RSI to develop a guide to support other community mediation center staff in their efforts to increase equity in their mediator rosters, and to assess their implementation outcomes. Funding for this project has been generously provided by the American Arbitration Association-International Centre for Dispute Resolution Foundation (AAA-ICDR) Foundation. 

Ongoing DEI Assessment 

The Center for Conflict Resolution in Chicago has engaged RSI to create a guide to help community mediation centers diversify their mediator rosters.
RDNE Stock Project via Pexels

Over the past year, CCR has been working with an external diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) partner to audit its mediator mentorship program (MMP). The MMP is an intensive, three-month training program that prepares participants to meet CCR’s performance-based evaluation standard. Participants then provide a minimum 18 months of mediation services through CCR’s programs. CCR’s primary goals are to increase the demographic diversity and inclusivity of its recruitment, selection, training and retention processes. Meeting these goals has required a comprehensive and holistic retooling of the program. For example, CCR staff are experimenting with new models for meeting program requirements, establishing new communication practices, and creating ways to accommodate different types of mediation skill sets. Measuring the success of these changes is critical; CCR is also developing new survey instruments and tools to determine impact.

RSI is assessing CCR’s progress in meeting its DEI goals, to document lessons learned and share what CCR staff would recommend to other organizations.  

Project Outcomes

RSI will communicate findings from our assessment of CCR’s efforts in two main ways: 1) a guide for community mediation centers, and 2) an evaluation report.

Through interviews with key CCR staff, review of audit documents, and analysis of demographic data, RSI will create a reference guide for community mediation centers to learn from CCR’s approach. The guide will include instructions and templates for engagement techniques, methods for measuring demographic data, and forms for screening and interviewing. Along with these materials, we will discuss how CCR staff members implemented changes and addressed challenges.

Our collaboration will also culminate in a final evaluation report, which will focus on insights from CCR’s new survey instruments. RSI will analyze survey data to determine which areas of the retooled program saw the most success and which areas require further refinement. Both the guide and the report will be disseminated widely, through CCR’s website, RSI’s website, the National Association for Community Mediation’s virtual library, conference presentations and social media. Ultimately, our goals are to understand existing exclusionary practices or biases within mediator programs and break down barriers to diversity, equity and inclusion in mediation practice.

We plan to share the guide for community mediation centers and our CCR evaluation in mid-2025. Follow RSI’s blog, newsletter and social media for the latest updates.

What do Car Break-ins and Loud Parrots Have to do with ADR? Get to Know RSI’s New CEO

Just Court ADR, July 23rd, 2024

Last month, RSI welcomed Heather Fogg as RSI’s new Chief Executive Officer. Heather comes to RSI with an extensive background in court-connected alternative dispute resolution and research. Her expertise includes directing court mediator excellence programs; managing a state court’s ADR data collection tool; and designing and delivering restorative justice practices across a diverse range of sectors. Heather has guided the evaluation, design and data analysis of grant-funded ADR programs; coordinated workshops and training sessions for court ADR program managers, mediation trainers and mediators; and led and mentored scores of researchers and ADR practitioners. For more details on Heather’s background, read her bio on RSI’s website.

RSI CEO Heather Fogg stands beside James Doyle. They were co-presenters at the Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution Conference in Maryland in June 2024.
RSI CEO Heather Fogg presented with James Doyle at the Center for ADR’s 2024 Annual Conference in Maryland in June. The topic for their presentation was “Ethical Strength Training: Reps and Sets for Everyday Mediator Ethics.”

Recently, Heather sat down for a Q&A to help us begin to get to know the person behind the resume, including what led her to a career in ADR, what motivates her, and some of the aspects of conflict resolution she is passionate about.

How were you first introduced to alternative dispute resolution, and what drew you to it as a career?

I first learned about alternative dispute resolution when leading discussion sections for a course in Criminal Justice 101. The text we used had a brief section about restorative justice, referred to as victim-offender mediation. The process was described as a chance for the people most directly impacted by what happened to come together with a mediator to talk about: 1) what it was like for each of them, and 2) what they each needed in order to make things better. That made so much sense to me — focusing the problem-solving and decision-making on those who were the most familiar with both how the event itself, as well as any effort to resolve it, would affect them personally. I’ve been fascinated by this approach to engaging with conflict and addressing harm among people ever since.

It’s also deeply personal for me. People have broken into two of my homes and two of my cars (all four instances at different times and states). I know the fear, grief and anger those experiences brought to me and my family. I know the challenges we faced in trying to understand the criminal and legal system to make the aftermath of those experiences better. I have no idea why people chose our house or my car, or what conditions in their lives brought them to make this choice. I can see how having an expanded variety of options to meet directly with one another through alternative dispute resolution can bring a different kind of closure, accountability and healing to people who seek them. That’s part of why I have focused my work on seeing what’s possible when we create these opportunities for people who want them.

What appealed to you about working at RSI specifically?

So many things! One thing that has been very important to me is that whatever I’m choosing to give my time and attention is actionable, implementable and purpose-full (yes, you’re seeing that correctly; I wrote it that way intentionally). That’s something I see in everything RSI does, from gathering resources to be shared broadly, to answering compelling research questions, to providing direct services where they might be sorely needed.

Are there any “big questions” related to court-based ADR that interest you in particular?

There are so very many; I’m struggling to name just a few! And admittedly, some may not be so big. I’m very curious about some of the more practical and logistical aspects of court-based ADR, such as: What impacts will changes in technology continue to have, and how will our standards of practice continue to change to meet them? How does the setting where court-based ADR takes place impact how people react and respond within it? And what can we as ADR practitioners learn from the variety of ways people interact with conflict, in order to support them well?

You recently presented at the Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution’s Annual Conference. Can you tell us a little about the topics and how/why you decided to present on them?

Heather Fogg, right, and Kendra Jobe co-presented “Take Two Sessions and Call us Next Time: How Might our Prescriptions for Conflict Engagement Miss the Mark?” at the Center for ADR Conference in June.

I am very fortunate and grateful to Marvin Johnson and Linda Sternberg of the Center for ADR for inviting me to present, and lucky to have incredible friends and colleagues, Kendra Jobe and James Boyle, to develop topics with me. Kendra and I have been working together for years, and one thing we often talk about is the great variety of approaches and processes we’ve learned within the umbrella of ADR — from restorative practices, to group facilitation, to different mediation frameworks. Rather than framing it as though there might be only one “best way” to practice, we invited practitioners to consider: How does the process (or framework within a process) you are the most enthusiastic about fit your own worldview, personality or perspective on conflict? The range of responses and reflections that practitioners offered, as well as the practical tips, techniques and strategies they shared, made the conversation very rich and informative.

The Maryland Standards of Conduct for Mediators is also near and dear to me. In a mediator ethics session, James and I invited mediators to consider how our ethical practice doesn’t come up only when a specific dilemma surfaces, but also in the everyday decisions and actions we take as mediators throughout the mediation process. It’s been important to me to think of any set of standards we use as a constant reminder about why I wanted to become a mediator in the first place: to hold a process where those most directly impacted by the outcomes would have full say and decision-making in what will happen next. I would like mediators to consider that such standards give us guidance in everything we do, say, don’t do or don’t say … and not just when we see a specific dilemma (that may make us suddenly remember to reread them and consider our role).

Is there a book on conflict resolution that you always find yourself recommending (and why)?

This is a wonderfully dangerous question to ask me because one of my favorite things to say is, “I just read {insert book title}, and now I’d love to talk with you about it!” My favorite books about any subject are those that invite the reader to upend their understanding and really look at something from a wholly different perspective. Among my favorite books to do just that in the conflict engagement field are “Justice As Healing: Indigenous Ways” by Wanda D. McCaslin; any of the number of books written by Rupert Ross; “The Outward Mindset” and “Anatomy of Peace,” both by the Arbinger Institute; and “The Conflict Pivot: Turning Conflict into Peace of Mind” by Tammy Lenski.

Have you had a chance to think about any short- and long-term goals for RSI at this point?

One of the things I like that I’m learning about with RSI is the goal to be intentionally reaching more people around the country. I would like to see us have a relationship with at least one court-connected ADR person in every state. So, if you’re reading this now, and you know someone in another state who we should be introducing ourselves to, drop me a line and help us connect (hfogg@aboutrsi.org). I would like RSI to connect with more people around the country who are interested in court ADR as much as we are!

Is there something you’ve learned since starting at RSI that surprised you?

One thing that has really stood out to me is how RSI has such a strong reputation for advancing court ADR that people regularly come to RSI with questions they’re pondering and ideas about how RSI can help them answer them. The depth of relationship and expertise that it shows about RSI is something I feel honored and proud to join.

What keeps you inspired and going when things get tough?

Oddly enough, it’s watching the animals* who live with me squabble, full-on fight, and then get over it, and often even snuggle immediately with each other again. It reminds me that maybe we can follow their example and find our way through conflict without permanently shutting one another out as well. (*Note, I live with seven indoor cats and three delightfully loud parrots. Knowing we can all successfully live together through our conflicts and spats … gives me hope.)

After Successful Pilot, RSI Seeks Mediator Partners for Next Phase of Trust Project

Jennifer Shack, July 17th, 2024

Last year, RSI began the pilot phase of a research project to examine how mediator behaviors might affect parties’ trust during mediation. During this exploration phase, our research team has been observing small claims and eviction mediations and marking down mediators’ communication behaviors, in a process referred to as coding, for the Trust Project. We gathered pre- and post-mediation surveys from the parties, and we interviewed the mediators involved.

From left, Rackham Foundation’s Ava Abramowitz, RSI Director of Research Jennifer Shack and Behavior Analysis Trainer Kenneth Webb gave a presentation on the early findings of RSI’s Trust Project at the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution 2024 Spring Conference in April 2024.

After coding 22 mediations and completing a thorough review of our piloted data collection instruments, RSI has successfully completed our pilot phase. We are excited to share that we will soon be expanding the project and are looking for mediation organizations and/or individual mediators who would like to partner with us.

Method Adapted for Mediation

The Trust Project is based on behavior analysis (BA), a research method that codes for particular communication behaviors and connects them to desired outcomes. This method has been used successfully in negotiations and sales. BA examines the particular behaviors used as well as the sequences of behaviors that occur, to determine their effects on specific desired outcomes. In this instance, RSI is interested in changes in trust between the parties and changes in trust in the mediator. We are also interested in mediation results and participant perceptions of the mediation and the other party.

Over the course of five years, Ava Abramowitz and Ken Webb worked to modify communication behaviors used in the contexts of negotiations and sales for use in mediation — with a lot of input from mediators and researchers. Ava is a former assistant U.S. attorney, longtime mediator and secretary of the Rackham Foundation. Ken is an expert in behavior analysis, coding and training negotiators to improve their practice. He trained RSI’s researchers in behavior analysis. Thanks to generous support from the Rackham Foundation, RSI has the opportunity to conduct this innovative research into the effects of mediator behaviors on party trust.

Watch Michael Lang’s 2021
In Their Voices interview with Ava Abramowitz and Ken Webb for more insight into the idea of applying behavioral analysis to mediation — the concept behind the Trust Project!

Mediator Partners Sought

For the next phase of the Trust Project, RSI will observe mediations of small claims, family and larger civil cases, both in person and online. We are looking for partners in this endeavor. Interested organizations and mediators would work with RSI to determine how to effectively recruit parties. Mediators will be asked to complete an initial survey about their background and approach to mediation, to facilitate observations of their mediations, and to complete a survey after each observed mediation. We will preserve confidentiality of the mediations, the mediators and the parties by removing any identifying information from the data.

If you are interested in participating in this impactful research, please contact RSI Director of Research Jennifer Shack at jshack@aboutrsi.org.

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