Child Custody Mediation Two Models MP3 Instant Download

Since its mandated inception in California courts in 1981, court-connected child custody mediation has been conducted in two ways. One is commonly referred to as Confidential Mediation and the other as Recommending Mediation. Currently 38 courts/counties offer the Recommending Model and 20 courts/counties offer the Confidential model. These two forms of mediation, which have also been called facilitative and evaluative by some (Riskin, Harvard Negotiation Law Review, 1996), correspond to differences in mediators orientations. In turn, ones orientation changes how a mediator (and the institutions she serves) sees her role; how a mediator strategizes within a session, given the model used; how the mediator defines the problem-to-besolved in a particular mediation; how family law attorneys adjust their practices to work with clients in a county which has one model or the other; and even, how private mediators adjust their practices to work with the clients in their particular county forum. This workshop will explore the pros and cons of each model; the collaborative aspects of each model with professionals also working with the same family (attorneys, evaluators); problems with making the process (whatever it is) make sense to the participants. The panelists will attempt to make sense of all of this within the development of child-custody mediation in California from an historical perspective, and will invite participation from attendees about their experiences.

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