NEWS

FAMILY COMMUNICATION FACILITATION

 Quabbin Mediation is offering a new program to serve adolescents who are referred to us for anger management. In the past, we have held training groups separately for young men and young women. One encountered difficulty is that participants were required to wait while a large enough group was assembled. This often left participants without means to fulfill the requirements of the court in good time.

 We also saw that anger has more ramifications than those that occur in the court process. Participants often left trainings to face family relationships that flew in the face of the concepts learned in anger management. Clearly, the parent’s ability to understand and support the concepts and tools can help the young person deal more appropriately with frustration.

 With these hurdles in mind, we have developed a new program. In order to equip the parents’ ability to guide their child, we will conduct eight two-hour meetings with each child, and the parent that most interacts with the child, to first mediate the issues in their relationships

VETERANS MEDIATION PROJECT

Mediation services for Veterans, by Veterans

We mediate disputes that arise in all areas of life:
Parent/Child - Neighbors - Small Claims - Business
Divorce - Workplace - Landlord/Tenant 
Family - Minor Criminal

• Mend personal and professional relationships.
• Foster confidence, trust, and good relations.
• Solve conflicts among coworkers; help workers solve problems that prevent finding and keeping a job.
• Reach workable agreements within families such as between parents and teens in conflict.
• Work to make divorce or separation agreements, keeping the interests of the children in mind.
• Find workable solutions for caring for our elders.
• Settle differences among neighbors.

What Is Mediation?

• Voluntary: All parties agree to try mediation. Anyone can withdraw at any time.
• Neutral: Mediators are impartial; they do not take sides, give advice, or judge.
• Confidential: mediations are done in private. Under Massachusetts law, information from mediations will not be made public and cannot be used in court.
• Self-determined: People create their own solutions. Mediators do not tell people what to do.
• Informed consent: This means no agreement is signed unless everyone has the knowledge and ability to fully understand the process and their agreement.
   

13 South Main Street, Orange, MA 01364
Toll Free: (888) 924-2600; (978) 544-6142
 vets@quabbinmediation.org
Download our brochure or flyer
Services are free of charge or very affordable
 

TRIAGE, FAMILY RE-UNIFICATION PROJECT

Quabbin Mediation is working with the Franklin/Hampshire Juvenile Court and the Department of Social Services (D.S.S.) on an innovative pilot project, called the Triage Project, for situations in which the state may be required to remove children from their families for their care and protection.

The goal of the Triage Project is to take action as soon as a Care and Protection petition is filed, in order to try to work out a collaborative solution. This is a family-centered approach with the goal of reunification of the parent and the children in a way that protects the children’s health, safety, and welfare, safeguards their important family relationships, and ensures that they and their parents receive the services that they need.

As with mediation, the Triage cases are voluntary and confidential (by agreement of the parties and the court). The facilitators prepare a set of summary notes for each Triage case, which go out to all participants, but those notes do not become part of the court or D.S.S. record.  Any party can terminate his or her involvement with this process at any point, and return to the normal court process.  In order to protect the party’s right to withdraw without penalty, the identity of the withdrawing party is not disclosed to the court.

TRAINING ACTIVE BYSTANDERS

Training Active Bystanders (TAB) is a unique and innovative school-based program to reduce and prevent victimization and violence, developed by the multi-jurisdictional partnership of the Orange Police Department, the Athol Police Department, and Quabbin Mediation. This curriculum is different from all other victimization and violence prevention curricula, and it has the potential to avert disasters like Bimidji, Columbine, and to prevent other, less deadly, but painful, instances of harassment, intimidation and other forms of victimization and violence affecting youth.

The most inventive element of TAB is the trainers who will be co-presenters: 2 middle or high school students and a local police officer. TAB will encourage active bystandership by promoting caring for those inside and outside one's own group, a sense of responsibility for others, a willingness to help them, and moral courage. Studies have shown that 85% of students are bystanders and, as bystanders, they have considerable power.

Collaborators: Our partners are the Orange and the Athol Police Departments, the school districts in Athol and Orange, and Ervin Staub, Ph.D., director of the Psychology of Peace and Violence Prevention doctoral program at UMass-Amherst and an internationally known expert on bystanders, violence and what directs people toward constructive, non-violent behaviors. More about TAB