Last month, I talked about a new evaluation of child protection mediation in Michigan. I’m following this up with a 2017 evaluation of child protection mediation in Nevada. Both evaluations were of several programs taking place throughout the respective states, but their focuses are quite different. Where the Michigan study primarily examined time to permanency, the Nevada study focused much more on participant experience in the mediation and process issues.
The Nevada study, “Process Evaluation of Nevada’s Statewide Dependency Mediation Program,” by Shamini Ganasarajah, et al, of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, found high levels of satisfaction with mediation and agreement, as well as a possible impact on whether scheduled hearings after mediation were cancelled. The study also found that there was no difference in satisfaction rate based on the stage at which mediation occurred, but that satisfaction was higher when mediation resulted in agreement as compared to when it did not.
The study looked at mediation in seven counties. In these counties, mediation can be used at any point of the case. However, most cases used the mediation program at the termination of parental rights (TPR) stage, which is at the end of the case. (This finding regarding the timing of mediation is skewed somewhat by one county using mediation almost exclusively at the TPR stage.) Time in mediation averaged two hours.
Those who participated in mediation were asked to complete post-mediation surveys. For the purposes of this study, these people were divided into program participants (these are natural parents and foster parents) and system stakeholders (the attorneys and case workers involved in the case). During the study period (July 2016 through April 2017), participants completed 113 post-mediation surveys and stakeholders completed 267. In their responses, 84% of the participants and 98% of the stakeholders expressed satisfaction with the mediation program. Their satisfaction was statistically related to whether they reached agreement in the mediation.
The participants (family members) were highly positive about all aspects of the mediation. All of them thought the process was fair. Almost all said they were able to voice their opinions, were treated with respect and were able to be a part of finding answers to the problems discussed. Almost 90% said the others really listened to them. For all practical purposes, these responses did not vary based on whether they were foster parents, natural mothers or natural fathers.
The evaluators analyzed whether there was a relationship among the participants’ responses. One that stood out was that when participants believed others in the mediation had “really listened” to what they had to say, they were more likely to express satisfaction with the mediation regardless of whether an agreement was reached.
The stakeholders (attorneys and caseworkers) were also highly positive about the mediation, with all or almost all believing the process was fair, that they had an opportunity to express their opinion, were treated with respect, were listened to and were able to be a part of finding answers to the problems discussed.
Interestingly, both participants and stakeholders were most likely to mention communication as what was most helpful about the mediation. Both groups were also most likely to say that parties being unable or unwilling to compromise was the reason no agreement was reached.
Also interesting was that the mediators reported agreements in 84% of cases, while the stakeholders reported that agreement resulted from only 71% of their mediations. There is no explanation as to why. The study also found that hearings were cancelled after 51% of the mediations were held. The evaluators recommended further examination of the relationship between mediation and vacated hearings.
Other recommendations included expanding the use of mediation to all stages of the case, as most mediations occurred at the TPR stage; assessing implementation of domestic violence screening protocols; and enhancing mediator training to include additional strategies for effectively listening to participants and stakeholders and making them feel heard.
