The Center for Social Gerontology, Inc.
2001

Reviewed by Loree Cook-Daniels

The Center for Social Gerontology, Inc. (TCSG) has issued an important, comprehensive report, “Evaluating Mediation as a Means of Resolving Adult Guardianship Cases.”

The report examines in detail four guardianship mediation programs located in Summit County, Ohio; Hillsborough County, Florida; Dane County, Wisconsin; and Oklahoma. Although the mediation programs were explicitly designed to exclude cases that involve abuse, APS agencies were involved in at least one of the four programs studied.

The study should be read multiple times by anyone seeking to develop a guardianship mediation program, as it details both what went right with the programs and what went wrong. Because of that detail, this reviewer believes the report would be useful to anyone involved with any type of alternative dispute resolution service involving elders, including those provided by long-term care ombudsmen.

For instance, one of the programs that got the lowest marks from those who participated in the mediation and other professionals with a stake in the program apparently did not follow its own intake guidelines, resulting in the program taking many cases that were not appropriate and, arguably, leading to the program’s ultimate demise. Other programs ran afoul of poor planning on financial issues, an assumption of court opposition and the consequent decision not to advertise the program to court personnel, and poor mechanisms for integrating the mediation process with the court. On the other hand, the personality of the mediators was crucial: one person who was dissatisfied with the process nevertheless said, “The only good out of this was getting to meet the mediator.” Surely there are lessons in here for all of us.

The report is available for downloading at www.tcsg.org/mediation/SJI_01.pdf.