Review of Mentoring Plan- Adult Guardianship and Conservatorship

Mediator ______Mentor ______Review Date______

The primary purposes of the Mentoring Program of the Alaska Court System:

  • To promote quality services for users of the Alaska Court System mediation programs
  • To assist new mediators in their professional development and in particular in transitioning from an apprentice phase to a practitioner phase of practice
  • To evaluate the readiness of mediators to provide unassisted mediation to clients and to report to the Dispute Resolution Coordinator on their assessment of mediator strengths and weaknesses.
  • To assist experienced mediators transitioning from one area of mediation to another. This may involve acquiring substantive knowledge or skills in multi-party vs. two party approaches.

Goals of the Mentoring Program of the Alaska Court System are to assist the mediator to develop his or her capacity to:

  • Engage in self-assessment and reflective practice.
  • Conduct quality mediation sessions (includes preparation and screening, scheduling, the joint session(s), and appropriate follow through).
  • Understand when to mediate, when not to mediate, and how to terminate mediation safely and appropriately
  • Create quality written mediation agreements.
  • Feel comfortable in the mediator role, having and projecting appropriate confidence.
  • Maintain standards of mediator practice identified for program.
  • Understandand followadministrative requirements of program.
  • Understand and practice within the policies and procedures and general philosophy established by the Alaska Court System mediation programs.

Specific goal areas are as follows:

I.PRACTICE SKILLS(at all stages: screening;orientation and preparation; scheduling;joint sessions(including caucus);post-session)

  • Listens actively
  • Uses clear, neutral language
  • Effective in non-verbal expression
  • Demonstrates awareness and consideration of others
  • Engages participants, developing rapport and trust
  • Identifies and elicits relevant information
  • Identifies and separates the issues involved, framing them effectively for resolution
  • Managestensionand emotion effectively
  • Effective in developing strategy, managing process, working with conflict
  • Sensitive to strongly felt values of participants, including gender, ethnic, and cultural differences
  • Able to deal with complex factual materials
  • Demonstrates an overt commitment to honesty, dignified behavior, and respectfulness
  • Conveys patience, empathy, compassion, as appropriate
  • Effectively manages a diverse group of participants
  • Identifies and separates his/her personal values from issues under consideration
  • Understand and work with power imbalances
  • Screens effectively for domestic violence and other safety concerns
  • Accurately assesses appropriateness to mediate
  • Terminates mediation safely when needed
  • Understand the negotiating process and the role of advocacy
  • Converts participants positions into needs and interests
  • Able to screen out non-mediable issues
  • Helps participantsinvent creative options
  • Helpsparticipants identifying principles and criteria that will guide their decision making
  • Helps participantsfocus on how each person’s needs might be met
  • Helps participants recognize areas of agreement
  • Helps participantsmake their own informed choices
  • Helpsparticipantsassess the feasibility of their tentative agreements
  • Managesjoint session time in order tocapture, draft, review, and finalize the participants agreements
  • Understands, creates, and maintains the necessary momentum so that referrals are well managed from acceptance to completion, maximizing the potential benefits of each stage
  • Utilizes an approach to mediation that is consistent with the training provided and the program’s policies and procedures. This is a facilitative approach in which the mediator is non-directive, neutral and impartial, with no decision-making role.
  • (Feedback from mediation participants is characterized as positive)

II.WRITTEN AGREEMENTS

  • Recognizes importance of documenting and finalizing agreements reached in mediation
  • Create quality written documents of parties’ agreements:appropriate for situation;uses clear, neutral language;includes sufficient detail; well organized

III. SUBSTANTIVE KNOWLEDGE

  • Understandsand articulates differences between mediation and other dispute resolution processes (settlement conferences, early neutral evaluation, arbitration, etc.)
  • Has necessaryfamiliarity with:
  • Adult guardianship and conservatorship proceedings and system context
  • State statutes and court rules relevant to adult guardianship cases
  • Family functioning and dynamics
  • Abuse and exploitation of vulnerable adults
  • Understanding of the following as they may affect capacity, care-giving needs, and the support and service resources related to them:
  • Mental illness
  • Developmental disabilities
  • Substance abuse
  • Dementias including Alzheimer’s Disease
  • Aging
  • Has knowledge of the process that will be used to resolve the dispute if no agreement is reached, such as judicial or administrative adjudication
  • Understands legal standards, rights, and protections applicable in court case
  • Demonstrates cultural knowledge, awareness, and sensitivity, and
  • Understandsissues of diversity

IV.ETHICS AND PRACTICE STANDARDS

  • Understands and adheres to appropriate mediator standards of practice
  • Is familiar with commonly encountered ethical dilemmas
  • Commitment to program goalsto develop an approach to guardianship and conservatorship concerns which will:
  • Engage the adult, his or her family and others closely involved, in a productive, creative,problem-solving process addressing care, safety and capacity concerns
  • Protect the adult’s autonomy
  • Seek creative and least restrictive options by exploring alternatives to guardianship orconservatorship for meeting the needs of the adult
  • Increase communication and understanding among family members and others involved
  • Encourage consensus building among family and others closely involved
  • Maintain supportive family relationships
  • Prevent victimization of a vulnerable adult
  • Create plans that reflect the real needs of the adult
  • Provide the adult, family and others a satisfactory decision-making process
  • Avoid the trauma and adversarial nature of a court proceeding
  • Eliminate unnecessary appointments of guardians or conservators

V.PROGRAM POLICIES, PROCEDURES, AND ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS

  • Is aware of, understands, and follows program policies, procedures, and administrative requirements

VI.CONFIDENT AND SELF REFLECTIVE PRACTICE

  • Engages in self-assessment and reflective practice
  • Expresses plan for continuing professional development as mediator
  • Experiences and projects confidence in role of mediator

Review of Mentoring Plan

(Strengths; progress on goals; areas to develop; specific activities; communication; expectations; review process, etc.)

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MediatorDate

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MentorDate

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Dispute Resolution CoordinatorDate