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NON-COURT FAMILY MEDIATION

Parent-Teen Mediation
ACCORD offers Parent-Teen mediation in which one or both parents and the adolescent meet together with one or two volunteer mediators. The goal of Parent-Teen mediation is to provide a safe place where the parents and the adolescent can discuss difficult issues with each other and with the support of neutral mediators to help resolve conflict within the family. Mediation is a voluntary process and ACCORD can provide services only if both the parents and the adolescent are voluntarily requesting mediation.

Parent-Teen mediation does not imply that the parents are not the ultimate decision-makers in the family, but rather that facilitated communication can help both the parents and the adolescent better understand each other and come to an agreement that meets the needs of the parents, the adolescent, and the family. Typical issues discussed in Parent-Teen mediation include curfews, dating issues, schoolwork and or attendance, or the rules that everyone in the house is expected to honor. ACCORD staff and mediators are not attorneys and cannot give legal advice. Nor will staff or mediators determine who is "right" or "wrong."

Parent-Teen mediation can also be used for PINS (Persons in need of supervision) diversion. If you desire ACCORD's services for PINS diversion, please discuss your situation with the appropriate probation officer or Social Services Caseworker to see whether they agree Parent-Teen mediation is appropriate for your family's situation.

As with any ACCORD mediation, any agreement the parties reach may be written or verbal. However, ACCORD encourages written agreements to help avoid later confusion and so that both parties may have a copy of the document.

Other Non-Court Family Mediation
ACCORD can provide mediation services to families or partners who no longer live together and whose situations are not involved in Family Court. In such cases, the parties meet with one or two neutral mediators whose role is to facilitate communication between the parties. The goal of any mediation is to help the parties communicate and - hopefully - to come to an agreement that is mutually acceptable to all parties. Agreements may be written or verbal. However, ACCORD encourages written agreements so that all parties may have a document to refer to and to help to avoid later confusion. The written agreement for this kind of situation will likely be in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding that both parties could sign, and could take to an attorney for evaluation, but that would not be submitted by ACCORD to court. ACCORD staff and mediators are not attorneys and cannot give legal advice. Nor will staff or mediators determine who is "right" or "wrong."

Elder Mediation
ACCORD is currently in the process of developing a formal Elder Mediation Program that will offer increased opportunities for families and/or agencies to meet and discuss a variety of issues relating to senior citizens. Currently, though ACCORD's mediators have not been trained in specialized issues faced by senior citizens, our community mediation program may be able to assist with your discussion of such issues. If you or your family are involved in such a dispute, or would like mediation assistance to aid your discussion of senior citizen planning or care decisions, please contact ACCORD.

When fully developed, ACCORD's formal Elder Mediation Program will strive for the goals established by the Elder Caregiver & Guardianship Mediation Initiatives of the New York State Unified Court System Office of ADR Programs. These goals are to:

• Help families explore available alternatives when disputes arise
• Encourage empowerment, autonomy, self-determination and personal efficacy
• Minimize unnecessary relational trauma involved with illness, dying and death
• Support consensus building with clarity, communication and recognition
• Foster the preservation of important relationships for safety, health and well-being
• Improve family capacity for problem solving short term and long term changes

ACCORD plans to establish a variety of community linkages to assist in the development of this program. These linkages will include organizations such as the following: Offices for the Aging; ombudsmen programs; elder law attorneys, judges and court staff; organizations, agencies, and services for seniors; health and medical community; as well as the Departments of Social Services', Adult Protective Service unit.

It is anticipated that ACCORD's services will encompass topics such as:

• Individual and or family decisions regarding health care
• Financial arrangements
• Living arrangements
• Individual and or family discussions with the staff of alternative living/care settings such as home-care, hospital, assisted living or nursing facility
• Other disputes involving both new and long-term issues of family communication and relationship.

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