Week 7- November 7th

This week's mission was to complete the follow-up surveys to the best of my ability, which I did. I went through all of the surveys and had a large number of people willing to talk with me about the mediation process. The surveys will be used to compile data statewide on how mediations are effective and the general feelings of those involved. I got to hear many uplifting stories about offenders who have been doing much better since the mediation and victims who were greatly satisfied with the process. Most of the victims were happy to see youth taking accountability for their actions and a certain level of responsibility in completing the agreement. Many of the parents felt similarly. It was somewhat discouraging to hear stories that were negative about the process, but it seemed to me that those were mostly outliers to the general population. Other tasks I conducted were drafting last chance letters, scanning and documenting apology letters, mailing out surveys, and closing cases in MadTrack. Closing cases are important when it comes to the monthly DYS report. I was happy to try and close a case on my own and learn the basics of how to do that on MadTrack because it is somewhat of a complicated process.