Discussion Guide for Communities Implementing Child Protection Mediation

The Community Checklist from the London Child Protection Mediation Project

Alison Cunningham & Judy van Leeuwen (2005).
The companion document to the research report detailing the pilot testing of child protection mediation in London, Ontario, Canada. Funded by Legal Aid Ontario, the Department of Justice and the Ministry of Children and Youth Services.

After piloting child protection mediation in London, we cannot recommend one model appropriate for anywhere in Ontario or Canada. Instead, we created this checklist as a tool for communities planning the development of a local mediation service. This discussion guide takes you step-by-step through the who, what, where, when and why. Like any other intervention, mediation is not inherently good or bad, effective or harmful. What is important is HOW we do mediation. The checklist can facilitate a group discussion, or perhaps many discussions, on how child protection mediation can be used to greatest effect in your community.

Download the Checklist

Discussion Guide for Implementing Child Protection Mediation: The Community Checklist from the London Child Protection Mediation Project

The London Child Protection Mediation Project

The LCPMP offered our community the opportunity to explore how child protection mediation might help resolve disputes between a child-protection agency and its clients. We tracked 20 mediated cases -- case outcomes, satisfaction of parties, costs, and follow-up -- and compared them with 20 cases processed in the conventional way. Seventeen recommendations are offered.

For more information on the London Child Protection Mediation Project, see the full report:

Finding a Third Option: The Experience of the London Child Protection Mediation Project (2005).