Association of Family and Conciliation Court Guidelines for Child Protection Mediation

• Author: Karen Largent,Marilou Giovannucci
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12056
• Date: 01 October 2013
• Published date: 01 October 2013

SPECIAL FEATURE

ASSOCIATION OF FAMILY AND CONCILIATION COURT

GUIDELINES FOR CHILD PROTECTION MEDIATION

With an Introduction by Marilou Giovannucci and Karen Largent

Workgroup Co-Chairs

The Child Protection Mediation Guidelines Workgroup came together under the auspices of the Child Welfare Collaborative

Decision Making Network to examine program development and the practice of child protection mediation.The Workg roup

convened and began its work in 2010.The resultant Guidelines for Child Protection Mediation were approved by the AFCC

Board of Directors in 2012.

Keypoints for the Family Court Community

• Child protection mediation provides an opportunity for families and professionals involved in child abuse and neglect

matters to resolve disputes in a safe, inclusive and thoughtful manner.

• The Guidelines for Child Protection Mediation establish core principles and strategies for establishing and maintaining

high-quality child protection mediation programs and practices.

• The Guidelines for Child Protection Mediation can serve as a roadmap for programs and practitioners to follow in their

day-to-day work with families and children who are involved with the child welfare system.

Keywords: AFCC Guidelines for Child Protection Mediation;Child Protection Mediation;Child Welfare;Families and

Children;and Mediators.

INTRODUCTION

Child protection agencies and courts who handle cases of child abuse and neglect often struggle

with decision making about how to address the complex, emotion-laden issues presented by families

and children. Families engaged in the child protection system present with a myriad of problems and

concerns. Primary among them is ensuring child safety while preserving or repairing important family

relationships. Oftentimes, the child protection system itself and its associated processes, including

child welfare agencies and court proceedings, contribute to the lack of attentiveness to the needs of

families; understanding the important role families and others play in helping to ameliorate problems;

and the need for timely resolution of issues in the critical decisions they make on behalf of children.

Some thirty years ago, a number of jurisdictions began experimenting with the use of mediation in

child protection cases. Early practitioners borrowed from what was known about family (custody and

visitation) mediation to develop processes using multiparty mediation to resolve child protection

cases that came before dependency/child protection courts. In the ensuing years, the practice of child

protection mediation (CPM) spread throughout North America.

What was lacking was a comprehensive way to capture the body of knowledge that was assimilated

by the many innovators who developed and implemented CPM programs and trained and supervised

mediators conducting these mediations. Also, as practice emerged and grew in various jurisdictions,

program managers and practitioners became increasingly concerned about maintaining the integrity

of the CPM process and preserving and growing the field of CPM practice for the future.

Correspondence: mtgiovannuci@gmail.com; mklargent@gmail.com

FAMILY COURT REVIEW, Vol.51 No. 4, October 2013 605–636

© 2013 Association of Familyand Conciliation Cour ts

In 2007, with the support of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC), a think

tank of CPM systems experts was convened. From that convening and sharing of ideas and informa-

tion came the creation of the Child Welfare Collaborative Decision Making Network (Hereinafter the

Network). One of the initiatives of the Network was to examine practices around North America and

beyond and develop best-practice guidelines. As a result, the Child Protection Mediation Guidelines

Workgroup (hereinafter Workgroup) was formed to carry out that project. The Workgroup comprised

judicial, legal, mental health, mediation, other child welfare professionals, and national professional

organization representatives from many jurisdictions in the United States and Canada.The Workgroup

received support and guidance from a number of organizations including AFCC, the American

Humane Association, the National Center for State Courts, the National Council of Juvenile and

FamilyCour t Judges, theWerner Institute of Creighton University,and the University of South Florida

Conflict Resolution Collaborative.

The drafters of the Guidelines for Child Protection Mediation (hereinafter Guidelines) soon realized

that they had been presented with an opportunity to help existing and emerging CPM programs and

practitioners. The scope of the document was expanded to provide guidance about program develop-

ment and management, engaging and training CPM mediators in the practice of CPM to recognize

complementary collaborative decision making processes and consider CPM in relationship to them.

The Guidelines were drafted through a collaborative consensus process. The drafters’ work was

informed along the way by many systems experts. During the comment period, the drafters benefitted

from thorough and thoughtful commentary by numerous individuals and organizations.

The Guidelines are grounded in core values about child welfare practice and guiding principles of

mediation practice in this context. The core values threaded throughout the document recognize that

safety, permanency, and well-being of children is essential; families and their children are critical

participants and partners in decision making; cooperative relationships and collaborative decision

making enhance the effective resolution of child protection concerns; individual differences must be

respected; and urgency to resolve disputes is critical.

The Guidelines, which were adopted by theAFCC Board of Directors in 2012, are more of a primer

on CPM. The Guidelines encompass many topics but are by no means the last word on CPM. Rather,

the drafters see the Guidelines as a first step in promoting the practice of CPM that serves to educate

and engage a wide range of stakeholders in the field of child welfare.The CPM Guidelines Workgroup

members hope the creation of these Guidelines will assist current and future practitioners and promote

CPM as a highly regarded and effective practice.

Table of Contents

Section 1: Introduction...................................................................................................................608

1.1 What is Child Protection Mediation?..................................................................................608

1.2 Benefits of CPM..................................................................................................................608

1.3 History and Mission.............................................................................................................609

1.4 How the Guidelines were Developed...................................................................................610

Section 2: Philosophy.......................................................................................................................610

Section 3: Guiding Principles..........................................................................................................611

3.1 An Inclusive Process............................................................................................................611

3.2 A Collaborative Process.......................................................................................................611

3.3 A Timely Process.................................................................................................................611

3.4 A Safe Process.....................................................................................................................611

3.5 A Confidential Process........................................................................................................611

3.6 An Ethical Process...............................................................................................................612

3.7 A Supported Quality Process...............................................................................................612

Section 4: Program Development Design and Operation............................................................612

4.1 Planning the Program...........................................................................................................612

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4.2 Program Design and Operation............................................................................................613

4.2.1 Program Startup.......................................................................................................613

4.2.2 Program Location....................................................................................................613

4.2.3 Program Administration...........................................................................................613

4.3 Cases and Timing of Referrals.............................................................................................613

4.3.1 Pre-Petition..............................................................................................................614

4.3.2 Emergency Removal................................................................................................614

4.3.3 Preliminary Hearing................................................................................................614

4.3.4 Adjudication and Disposition..................................................................................615

4.3.5 Permanency Planning..............................................................................................615

4.3.6 Termination of Parental Rights/Relinquishment.....................................................615

4.3.7 Status Review Hearings...........................................................................................615

4.3.8 Adoption..................................................................................................................616

4.4 Participants..........................................................................................................................616

4.5 Roles of the Participants......................................................................................................616

4.5.1 Roles of Parents.......................................................................................................616

4.5.2 Role of Parent’s Attorney........................................................................................ 617

4.5.3 Role of the Child Protective Services Representative.............................................617

4.5.4 Role of the Agency’s Attorney orAttor ney for State/Province..............................617

4.5.5 Role of GAL or CASA............................................................................................617

4.5.6 Role of Attorney for Child......................................................................................618

4.5.7 Role of the Child.....................................................................................................618

4.5.8 Role of Other Participants.......................................................................................618

4.6 Time Allotted for Mediation................................................................................................618

4.7 Mediation Communication Privilege/Confidentiality..........................................................619

4.8 Mediator Assignment and Selection and Co-Mediation.....................................................619

4.9 Agreements and Reporting Outcomes of Child Protection Mediation...............................620

4.10 Program Funding and Institutionalization...........................................................................621

4.11 Mediator Recruitment and Training....................................................................................621

4.11.1 Recruitment........................................................................................................... 621

4.11.2 Standards of Practice.............................................................................................621

4.11.3 Training Requirements..........................................................................................621

4.11.4 Mentoring and Supervision...................................................................................622

Section 5: Conducting Child Protection Mediation.....................................................................622

5.1 The Role of the CPM Mediator..........................................................................................622

5.2 Conducting CPM in a Culturally Appropriate Manner.......................................................622

5.3 Use of Language Interpreters...............................................................................................623

5.4 Mediation Safety and Capacity...........................................................................................623

5.4.1 Safety Considerations..............................................................................................623

5.4.2 Family Violence.......................................................................................................624

5.4.3 Capacity...................................................................................................................624

5.5 Power Imbalances................................................................................................................625

5.5.1 Nature of the Imbalances........................................................................................ 625

5.5.2 Strategies to Address the Power Imbalance between the Parents and

the Child Welfare Agency........................................................................................625

5.6 Maintaining Impartiality and Neutrality and Avoiding Conflicts of Interest......................625

5.7 Participant Preparation........................................................................................................625

5.8 Roles and Responsibilities of the Mediator: Conducting the Session............................... 626

5.9 Concluding Mediation.........................................................................................................626

Section 6: Monitoring and Evaluation..........................................................................................626

6.1 Program Monitoring............................................................................................................626

6.2 Program Evaluation.............................................................................................................627

Giovannucci and Largent/GUIDELINES FOR CHILD PROTECTION MEDIATION 607