AdoptDependencyMediation

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2022

Our Spring 2022 Fundraiser was our most successful to date.  

1. Technical aspects worked (Whew!)

2. Well-attended

3. Several great sponsors

4. We raised more then $20,000 to serve more families & kids in 2023.


New online, on-demand Mediation and Conflict Communication education system is rolling out.

2021

Phase III

With more than 600 families served , our Lessons Learned are extensive.  Our distance remote, online) mediation  process is showing signs of maturity.   Unlike in the courthouses when one person could administer the mediations, we now need a team of volunteers.  Thank you Naomi Tillman and Shirley Huang!!

2020

When they needed us most, SCFM was the first court-connected mediation program up and running, providing distance (remote, online) mediation services for families.   In 2020, we served more than 300 co-parenting families.   When faced with adversity, we were there when families needed us most.  

Settlement Day March 13, 2020

March 17, 2020 COVID Closes Courts

March 17, 2020 COVID Closes Courts

  

On Friday, March 13th, 2020, Settlement Day (described in 2019 below), the Children’s Courthouse was devoted to mediation. Working with the Loyola and USC Law Schools, Southern California Family Mediation served 40 families, in-person.  This was our last day in the courthouses for some time to come.

March 17, 2020 COVID Closes Courts

March 17, 2020 COVID Closes Courts

March 17, 2020 COVID Closes Courts

 On March 17th, the closure of the dependency courthouses was announced.


Our mediators & USC students met day and night by video conference, to answer: 

“How can we safely and responsibly serve the families when they will surely need us most?” 

March 25, Phase I

March 17, 2020 COVID Closes Courts

What Parents Said March-April 2020

By March 25th, our volunteer mediator teams were up and running, providing parents with remote video conference pre-mediation conversations. 


We listened to parents’ concerns, facilitated positive communication, and encouraged families to use facetime, Skype or similar applications to communicate with their children.  

What Parents Said March-April 2020

What Parents Said March-April 2020

What Parents Said March-April 2020

 

The mediators reached out…letting me know that we weren't forgotten. 


It was a healing thing…that has been a positive step for the family. 

The entire experience was great. …beautiful. 


This was put together nicely in such a short time span. 

What the Attorney Leadership Said

What Parents Said March-April 2020

What the Attorney Leadership Said

 

This is great news. 

Children's Law Center of California


We will do everything we can to assist you as you keep things going. Randy, I speak for all of LADL in expressing our appreciation for you and your efforts and the attitude of your team at this time! THANK YOU! 

Los Angeles Dependency Lawyers


Thank you very much! And please let me know if you need anything specific from County Counsel.  Office of the County Counsel, County of Los Angeles 

April 22, 2020 Phase II

What Parents Said March-April 2020

What the Attorney Leadership Said

Weeks out in front, mediators worked in teams to help parents develop their own plans to balance safety with well-being.


“…on a case by case basis, balance the public health directives and best interest of the child, and take into consideration whether in-person visitation may continue to be held safely.  Family time is important for child and parent well-being…during times of crisis.”

2019

First-Ever: "L.A. County Children's Courts All Hands Mediation Training"

January 11, Our team, accompanied by Ken Cloke, address the 450 dependency attorneys and judicial officers.  Notably, Ken remarked, “This is one of the premier mediation programs in the world. And nothing less than the lives of children are at stake.”  Thanks Ken!

First-Ever: L.A. County Children's Court 'Settlement Day'

The Edelman Children's Courthouse devoted this day in 2019 to settling all disputes with the assistance of mediators.  For us, this was an all-hands, exciting and challenging event.

USC Students Return

 January - April, our partnership with USC Law School, educating the next generation of great peacemakers continued.  

Agreement with the Court

Our new agreement with the Court  formalizes our relationship, and offers additional support and guidance.

2018

  • In 2018 our team has grown to 30 Volunteer Mediators.
  • January - April USC students returned.
  • Mediators from our inaugural class were promoted to Supervising Mediators.
  • We expanded to serve all 25 Los Angeles County Dependency courtrooms, at both the Edmund D. Edelman Children's Courthouse in Monterey Park, and adding the Alfred J. McCourtney Juvenile Justice Center in the Antelope Valley.
  • Our federal nonprofit application was filed.

2017

  • In 2017, our team of seven mediators served 684 co-parents & guardians, and helped 652 of them create agreements (95.3%). 
  • This was our second year partnering with USC, where students co-mediate with  volunteer mediators.
  • We began mediating open cases for when co-parents need help creating a temporary Parenting Plan, but are not yet exiting the dependency system. 
  • We added contested adoptions to our service offerings.  Contested adoption mediations are both technically and emotionally challenging, sometimes taking multiple days to reach an agreement.  We mediated 12 contested adoptions, and achieved 12 agreements, 100%.
  • October - December - 11 new volunteer mediators completed the 2nd annual Advanced Family and Dependency Mediation Training, 72 hours.  Congratulations and welcome!
  • November - We mediated a few settlement conference cases.  These are mediations, involving parents, attorneys, and the department (DCFS), as families enter the juvenile justice system.  With further development, a family's journey through the system could be eased and expedited from beginning to end.

2016

  •  In 2016, we mediated for 476 co-parents & guardians, and helped 456 of them create agreements (95.8%). 
  • January - We established a partnership with USC.  In the Spring, 2nd and 3rd year law school students get the opportunity to co-mediate with our volunteer professionals.
  • March - We became ‘Southern California Family Mediation’, a California corporation.  
  • Midyear - We established SCFM’s online presence.   Courts and attorneys celebrated the launch of our self-service, online appointment-booking system, which makes it convenient to select a mediation date, on or of the record.
  • October - We opened up the program to additional volunteer mediators.  Our inaugural class of Mediators, Marvin Whistler, Victoria Gray, Maria Brinson-Sampson, Alik Segal, and Leyla Balakhane, completed 55 hours of combined classroom and practical training. 
  • November - Pritzker, Foster Care Initiative became our fiscal receiver. 

2015

Each mediation serves two distinct but overlapping families.  The three of us served about 200 families.  


As the first transformation-based, court-connected mediation program created by mediators, every system was innovated to maximize benefits and results for families.  Every child and co-parent benefits from the creation of their own detailed, self-designed Parenting Plan.  


One early innovation was the stipulated co-parenting plan model, which avoided the need for parents to miss additional days of work, and the kids additional school days in order to properly close their cases.  A Supervising Attorney for the Los Angeles Dependency Lawyers remarked, “In all my years as a dependency lawyer, I have never seen that before." 

2014

August - Devastating budget cuts result in the closure of 48 courts and elimination of the Children's (dependency) Court’s Mediation program.  Faced with overwhelming recidivism, Commissioner (then, Referee) Mordetzky recruited Mediators Randy Drew and Stacey Lisk to establish a new, volunteer-based dependency mediation program. 


Custom, detailed, and durable Exit Orders are important, because they help reduce confusion, frustration, and conflict between co-parents.  Better agreements keep parents & children from returning to the court system.

Make History With Us

Thank you for GIVING PEACE A CHANCE!

 Southern California Family Mediation

PO Box 7576 Burbank, CA 91510


TO Contact us


Administration Office

Supervisor Naomi Tillman  818-575-6900 (no text)  nellieT@dependencymediation.org


Program Director

Mediator Drew  818-257-0007  drew@socalfm.org 

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