NCJ Number
198668
Journal
Juvenile and Family Court Journal Volume: 53 Issue: 4 Dated: Fall 2002 Pages: 49-65
Date Published
2002
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This article reflects on the strengths and weaknesses of dependency mediation in the juvenile court system as it is utilized in the Santa Clara County, California, Juvenile Dependency Court.
Abstract
Defining dependency mediation as a confidential process in which specially trained neutral persons, with no decision making authority who make no recommendations to the court, help families, social workers, attorneys, and others involved in child dependency cases resolve disputes and problems, the authors evaluate the Santa Clara County Juvenile Dependency County Mediation Program. After describing the Santa Clara model’s utilization of a female and male co-mediation team of licensed psychotherapists, the authors discuss how the issues of whether dependency is needed, the language of the petition, the case plan and services, the placement or return of a child, visitation rights, and conflicts are among the appropriate topics for mediation. Indicating that over 75 percent of Santa Clara County’s mediation cases result in full agreements, the authors detail dependency mediation as a cooperative effort to explore disputed issues existing in child abuse and neglect cases in a non-adversarial setting. Contending that most mediation efforts can resolve contested issues in a manner that is satisfactory to all parties, even in cases that seem destined to be heard in the courts, the authors suggest that agency attorneys play important roles in facilitating the mediation process. The authors suggest that because the law is ill-suited to address many of the issues that come before the courts, dependency mediation is an effective tool for resolving the problems and disputes that face families in a non-legal environment in order to best benefit the needs of children. 3 Endnotes