The Office of Dispute Resolution’s Fiscal Year 2022 Annual Report summarizes the number and types of disputes handled by the approved mediation centers, the disposition of those cases, as well as challenges faced and recommendations. The approved centers handle a wide range of cases from family, general/community, child welfare, juvenile restorative justice, adult criminal, and parenting plans, including for modifications, as part of a full divorce, for parents that were never married, and those also needing a child’s financial plan.

Parenting plan mediations account for 59% of the total case volume, or 2,582 cases, across the six centers. Child welfare and juvenile restorative justice account for 23% of the case, with 533 and 486 cases respectively, while 15% of cases are categorized as general/community such as neighbor issues, landlord/tenant, employment, or business/consumer. The remaining 3% of cases are adult criminal, family (non-parenting plan), or undefined.

Of the 2,190 cases that resulted in a mediation/facilitation, there was a 79% resolution rate. This is significant because these parties, with the help a trained mediator, came up with a plan that works for them. The mediator assists by providing a process and a safe space to have a productive conversation; the parties are the ones that create the agreement. People that develop their own outcomes are more likely to follow through with agreed upon plan.

Read the Office of Dispute Resolution’s complete Annual Report here.