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Approach

The 2002 Alabama Access and Visitation Program will address the issues of custody and visitation in two approaches: first, further expansion of domestic mediation programs to divorced, separating and never-married parents. The program will offer the services of carefully screened, interviewed and trained citizen volunteers to serve as mediators, in teams of two, to assist parties in negotiating consensual informed parenting plan agreements; Secondly, the provision of a state-level administrative/research capability to provide a forum for the discussion of issues related to access/visitation and formulate new policies and procedures t. promote and enhance access/visitation issues. These issues are discussed in more detail below:

a. Further expansion of Judicial Volunteer Domestic Mediation programs.

Currently, pursuant to Rule 42, Alabama Rules of Judicial Administration, counties are authorized, with permission of the Administrative Office of Courts, a Judicial Volunteer Program consisting of either or both of (1) Juvenile Conference Committees (JCC) and/or (2) District Court Mediation. Volunteers of both programs are carefully screened, interviewed, trained and sworn under an Oath of Confidentiality before their direct involvement in the judicial system.

The Juvenile Conference Committees are comprised of screened and trained volunteers from the community who informally hear juvenile complaints that are referred by the juvenile court judge. The JCCs are primarily concerned with preventing future misconduct of young people and is specifically designed for first-time nonviolent offenders.

The District Court Mediation Program is comprised of screened and trained volunteers from the community to co-mediate small claims and/or district civil cases. The mediator’s role is to assist those parties involved in the dispute communicate with each other, thereby allowing them to resolve the dispute themselves.

Authorized by the Alabama Supreme Court, this Grant will be used to fund an expansion of the Judicial Volunteer Program, to mediate visitation issues and formulate a consensual parenting plan. Current Judicial Volunteer Programs are supervised by Judicial Volunteer Coordinators, whose responsibilities include recruiting, screening, assisting in training citizen volunteers and managing of the program at a local level. As structured, the Judicial Volunteer Coordinators within the pilot counties, will be trained in a 40-hour specific divorce mediation training from an outside accredited contractor from the Association of Conflict Resolution, formerly the Association of Family Mediators. Concurrently, Coordinators will begin observations of child support cases in court and begin recruitment of citizen volunteers, who are carefully screened, interviewed, trained and sworn under an Oath of Confidentiality. Once recruited, Volunteers will be trained in a 20-hour General Mediation training through a partnership formed with Jones School of Law, in Montgomery, Alabama. During the training, volunteers will learn valuable skills to bring parties to a mutual agreement. Volunteers will then receive additional 16-hour mediation training on parenting plans. The training will be conducted through a partnership with Jones School of Law. Volunteers will receive training from their local Domestic Violence Coalition on how to recognize the signs of domestic violence and procedures to take if domestic violence is suspected.

The mediators’ role is as neutral parties and to encourage and facilitate the resolution of a consensual and informed parenting plan agreement. Mediation sessions will be held in secure and private locations of the courthouse. All mediation sessions will be confidential proceedings.

Participants in cases filed in the domestic relations or juvenile courts will be given the opportunity to use the mediation services. After being screened for domestic violence and/or criminal activities, parties will receive a packet educating them as to the mediation process and goals of the session. Within the packet, parents are to complete a survey to measure domestic violence and a separate form related to concerns regarding spending time with their child(ren). Both forms are to he completed before the mediation session can begin.

If the parties are eligible for mediation, citizen volunteer co-mediators will meet with both parties and facilitate the discussion enabling them to reach a parenting plan agreement that is mutually acceptable. Mediation sessions will generally take place in one to three mediation sessions, each lasting one to two hours. A desired outcome of these mediation sessions is the development of a parenting plan agreement, which is a written and signed by the parties and presented to the court for approval and adoption as an enforceable order. Economic issues, such as alimony and child support, are not to be referred to the program for mediation. At any time, spousal or child abuse is suspected during the session, the mediators are obligated under state law to report such abuse to the appropriate officials.

The parenting plan agreement is to be detailed and clearly written concerning what duties and responsibilities such designation includes, and a complete schedule of the child’s time with each party, including holidays, vacation time, and special events. Mediators will encourage parties to have their attorneys, if available, to review the agreement with them before signing it. If acceptable, each party will sign the agreement which will be submitted to the court as soon as feasible. If the agreement is approved, the court will incorporate the agreement into a court order and the agreement will be enforceable. If there are any issues of visitation that were not resolved in mediation, the mediator should report this fact to the court. If no agreement is reached by participants, the mediator is responsible only to inform the court that mediation was completed but that no agreement was reached, at which time the issues will proceed to court. If parties are unable to resolve future issues arising from changes in circumstances, parties are encouraged to return to mediation.

Continued grant funding is requested to implement the provision of services mentioned above. County coordinators will be encouraged to partner with other community efforts, both public and private, that may provide needed supportive services, including counseling, transportation, general and technical education.

To assist the participating jurisdictions, the Administrative Office of Courts will continually monitor Judicial Volunteer Domestic Mediation county programs and will provide such reasonable support as may be requested. Any program income subsequently realized will be treated according to the additive method under 45 CFR 92.25(g)(2).

October-December 2002

• Hold a minimum of one Planning Committee for Access and Visitation with participating Judicial Volunteer Program coordinators to discuss the program manual draft detailing goals, objectives and policies. Request feedback for final approval from coordinators and judges on UJS forms, i.e. parenting plan agreement, voluntary agreement form, mediator report, Domestic Mediation evaluation and domestic violence measure.

• Hold a minimum of one Administrative Office of Courts (AOC) Family Court Divisional meeting to update progress of the program.

• Hold a minimum of one meeting with the Information Subcommittee on Access and Visitation to discuss needs and issues as they relate to Access and Visitation. Begin research and development of Parenting Plan Video and related booklets for parents and children.

• Research other states’ dissemination of material as related to Access and Visitation. Research parenting education videos and informational documents available.

• Hold a minimum of one Advisory Committee meeting on Access and Visitation. Update committee members as to current status of the program.

• Disseminate UJS forms to participating Judicial Volunteer counties, i.e. parenting plan agreement, voluntary agreement form, mediator report, Domestic Mediation evaluation and Domestic Violence measure.

• Meet with Domestic Violence Coalition Representative(s) to finalize in-service component and information for Judicial Volunteer Coordinators, volunteers and Judges.

• The Administrative Office of Courts’ personnel will monitor and provide administrative support to the pilot counties. Site observations will be made to the four pilot counties to observe their mediation sessions.

2^nd Quarter

January-March 2003

• Hold a minimum of one AOC Family Court Divisional meeting to update progress of the program.

• Hold a minimum of one meeting with the Information Subcommittee on Access and Visitation to discuss needs and issues as they relate to Access and Visitation in the state. Draft content for written materials for parents and children for review a next meeting. Begin drafting content and script for Parenting Plan Video. Begin bid process to contract for Parenting Plan Video and recruitment of recognizable community leaders for the video.

• Hold a minimum of one Planning Committee for Access and Visitation with participating Judicial Volunteer Program Coordinators and Judges to discuss Program Manual draft. Gauge program’s success based upon evaluations, observations by staff and judges. Discuss options to maximize the program’s resources to individuals’ in the community.

• Hold a minimum of one Advisory Committee meeting on Access and Visitation. Update the committee members as to current status of the program. Survey members on the need of a Supreme Court Rule on statute for minimum standards for parenting education classes. Request feedback for innovative ideas/programs to address the needs of families within the state.

• Research other states’ dissemination of materials as related to Access and Visitation. Research parenting education videos and informational documents available.

• Select additional Judicial Volunteer Program counties to implement program. AOC staff will meet with the judges and other community leaders in these jurisdictions to validate the need for the program and also to gauge the level of enthusiasm by local officials. Once approved, Judicial Volunteer Program Coordinators will begin the procedures at a local level; i.e. site observations of child support docket to assess the number of volunteer mediator teams needed.

• Participating Judicial Volunteer Coordinators will begin volunteer recruitment and community partnerships for program support.

• Conduct 40-hour Divorce Mediation Training, accredited by the Association of Conflict Resolution, for participating Judicial Volunteer Coordinators. Training will be conducted by an outside contractor.

• Conduct 20-hour General Mediation training(s) for volunteers as a pre-requisite for Domestic Mediation program counties. Training will be conducted through a local partnership with Jones School of Law in Montgomery, Alabama.

• The AOC’s personnel will monitor and provide administrative support to the program sites.

3^rd Quarter

April-June 2003

• Hold a minimum of one meeting with the Information Subcommittee on Access and Visitation to discuss current status of written material(s). Discuss survey results on the need of a Supreme Court Rule or statute for minimum standards for parenting education classes.

• Hold a minimum of one Planning Committee for Access Visitation with participating Judicial Volunteer Program coordinators and/or interested counties to discuss current status. Request feedback on video and material(s).

• Hold a minimum of one AOC Family Court Divisional meeting to update current status of program.

• Hold a minimum of one Advisory Committee on Access and Visitation. Request feedback on program development. Request feedback for Supreme Court for the standardization of a minimum set of standards for parenting education classes.

• Research and draft Supreme Court Rule authorizing the standardization of a minimum set of standards for parenting education classes. Under the Supreme Court Rule, minimum standards will be outlined for parenting education classes, i.e. definitions, length and nature of the program, program requirements and program evaluation.

• Participating Judicial Volunteer Coordinators continue volunteer recruitment and community partnerships for program support.

• Conduct 20-hour General Mediation training(s) for volunteers as pre-requisite for Domestic Mediation Program counties. Training will be conducted through a local partnership with Jones School of Law in Montgomery, Alabama.

• The AOC’s personnel will monitor and provide administrative support to program sites.

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