I’m a data geek. I love poring over data and running analyses to see what story unfolds. On the national level, data can tell us the story of our rise as an industrial power and how that changed how people lived and worked. On a local level, it can tell the story of how the closing of a factory affects the fabric of a community and the institutions that bind it. For foreclosure mediation programs, the data can tell the story of how homeowners are affected by changes to the program. Thus, I was eager to find out how changes to the court rules in the 19th Judicial Circuit of Illinois at the beginning of this year would play out. What story would the data tell? (more…)
Archive for the ‘Program Evaluation’ Category
Maryland Research Offers Insight into What Works (And What Doesn’t) in the Mediation Room
Jennifer Shack, June 29th, 2016I had the honor of presenting at the Maryland Judiciary’s ADR Research Symposium a couple of weeks ago. The purpose of the symposium was to inform judges and court personnel of the results of a six-year research project examining ADR programs and processes. It reminded me of just how well Maryland has planned and implemented its ADR system. Because it serves as a model, I’d like to provide a little background about this before discussing the research. (more…)
Lessons Learned from Foreclosure Mediation
Susan M. Yates, June 14th, 2016It is heartening to see that titles of two recent publications include the phrase “lessons learned” as they explore Illinois’ experience with foreclosure mediation. That phrase reflects Resolution Systems Institute’s perspective that we should consistently seek the lessons from current mediation programs to apply to the next ones to be developed. Not surprisingly, RSI staff wrote one of these articles!
These pieces – the one by RSI and the other by the Woodstock Institute – outline four and twelve “lessons learned” respectively. The publications are:
- “Promoting Access to Justice: Applying Lessons Learned from Foreclosure Mediation,” written by RSI’s own Director of Research, Jennifer Shack, and Director of ADR Programs, Hanna Kaufman. It appears in the Spring 2016 edition of the ABA Dispute Resolution Section’s Dispute Resolution Magazine
- “Lessons Learned from the Circuit Court of Cook County Mortgage Foreclosure Mediation Program,” a study by Spencer M. Cowan, Senior Vice President of the Woodstock Institute. It was published by the Woodstock Institute on May 18, 2016.
Model Mediation Surveys Are Now Available
Jennifer Shack, April 6th, 2016I’m so happy to introduce the Model Surveys, a toolkit that enables court-connected mediation programs to obtain reliable data. The toolkit includes post-mediation surveys for parties, attorneys and mediators, as well as a mediator report. The surveys are all annotated, with explanations for the rationale for each question and discussion of the wording. The toolkit is rounded out with advice on how to use and modify the surveys.
The whole idea behind the project is that courts and their associated programs often don’t have the necessary resources to obtain good information about program functioning. In RSI’s experience, the courts’ biggest need was for well-designed participant surveys and set out to develop them in collaboration with the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution and with the help of a fantastic group of nationally-known experts in ADR research and program administration. (more…)
