NCJ Number
118336
Date Published
1989
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Evaluation results are favorable for the Children's Aid Society's PINS (Persons in Need of Supervision) Mediation project, established in 1981 as an alternative to the court for status-offender cases throughout New York City.
Abstract
The mediation project is voluntary for all families who petition the court for help in controlling their children. Intake workers in each of the family court buildings in the city accept referrals from the Department of Probation before a PINS petition has been filed. All family members must agree to participate. Mediators are lay volunteers trained in mediation skills and techniques. They act as neutrals, encouraging parents and children to communicate with one another and helping them reframe the issues and explore solutions which will be stated in writing and monitored weekly. Written agreements are obtained with about 73 percent of the families. The evaluation involved contacting families 2 months after their last mediation session to query them on five factors. The factors pertained to whether parents felt the mediation had been helpful, whether the child was more manageable, whether the presenting problems had been resolved, whether the family completed mediation, and whether the child had returned to court in the 8 months after beginning mediation. Based on questionnaire responses, 77 percent of the families had been moderately or highly successful. Of the 23 percent who evidenced little or no success, the majority reported one factor as positive. 2 references.