Mediation and conferencing in child protection disputes: special issue of Family Court Review
May 10, 2009
In 1997, Family Court Review published the first special volume focused on child welfare mediation. At the time it was a relatively new field gaining ground in a number of states and provinces. Since then mediation and other alternatives to traditional and adversarial child welfare proceedings have been emerging and evolving across the United States, Canada, and the world. In this follow-up to the first special volume, the articles trace the history of the development of mediation and family group decision-making programs in the child welfare arena.
The Family Court Review: An interdisciplinary journal is the journal of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, published in cooperation with the Center for Children, Families and the Law at Hofstra University School of Law.
This special issue was guest edited by Bernie Mayer and Kelly Browe Olson. It is also a free sample issue that Wiley InterScience is making available online. The description above is from the Guest editors' notes that introduces the issue. Its articles (each of which is available in html or pdf formats) include the following:
Reflections on the state of consensus-based decision making in child welfare, by Bernie Mayer
What we know now: Findings from dependency mediation research, by Nancy Thoennes.
A guide to effective child protection mediation: Lessons from 25 years of practice, by Marilou Giovannucci and Karen Largent.
Family group conferencing and child protection mediation: Essential tools for prioritizing family engagement in child welfare cases, by Kelly Browe Olson.
Child protection mediation: A 25-year persepctive by Leonard Edwards.
Child protection mediation: The Cook County Illinois experience -- a judge's perspective, by Patricia M. Martin.
Building a child protection mediation program in British Columbia, by M. Jerry McHale, Irene Robertson and Andrea Clarke.
Empowering parents in child protection mediation: Challenges and opportunities, by Gregory Firestone.
Trends in child protection mediation: Results of the think tank survey and interviews,by Joan Kathol.
