Week 6- February 11th

This week I signed on to be a mediator in a case involving a very dangerous use of a pellet gun on a highway. It is quite an interesting case for me, in that there was present danger to the parties involved. Also, I will be working with a mediator who is very skilled and knows so much about victim offender mediation as well as working with youth. I cannot wait to do the intakes next week. I am also thrilled that a majority of the victims are wanting to participate in the mediation process. It is sometimes hard to get victims on board with this process if they do not buy into restorative methods. Eugene has been pretty receptive so far in my time in this position, though.

We are also happy to close a few more cases this month. DYS will be very happy to know that we are applying the needed pressure on the offenders to complete their agreements in a timely fashion. I have signed on to be an observer in a separate case involving a mediator who I really want to observe. He is also very great with juveniles and parents. Sometimes, the hardest part of a VOM with youth can be the parents who do not let their children speak for themselves. Other times, parents are wanting their children to fully take responsibility and deal with the experience on their own. I enjoy working with parents such as these.

Week 5- February 4th

This week I was given information regarding a National Crime Symposium taking place in New Orleans, LA. I am eager to see if I will be able to afford going later this month. The key note speakers seem very knowledgeable in several areas in the field of RJ and juvenile justice. I would hope to make some connections there in order to broaden the scope of speakers we are looking for for the potential RJ Conference in the coming years. It is important to always see what news is trending in this field, as it is always changing. Also, new people with innovative ideas are always popping up.

I have also been trying to get mediators on a couple of new cases we have received. I would love to get these cases completed as soon as possible. DYS has been on top of us regarding getting the agreements fulfilled (or not) in a timely manner. Not to say that they do not understand the several issues that prevent us from doing timely work on a daily basis, but our problems are usually related to the youth being lazy. It sounds bad to say that, but usually the kids are just procrastinating. So for me, there is only so much that I can do to encourage them to hurry up their community service hours or restitution payments. Restitution is also tricky, given the economic downturn. Many folks do not have the extra funds to pay for the neighbor's window that their child broke on top of everything else in their lives. For me, I just try and make things clear about what will happen if they do not fulfill the agreement they created.

Week 4- January 28th

This week I was able to contact a few more offenders than I normally do whilst checking for updates on cases that we are still tracking. Usually, I have a hard time getting a hold of the youth once the mediation is completed. It is odd that they would be less willing to contact me during the stage of the process that affects them the most, the time when they do or do not complete the terms of the agreement. I know I always come back to the parenting, but it is such a factor when it comes to following through with the agreements. So many of the juveniles who do return calls appropriately and make the effort to get their agreements done on time, have supportive parents who are invested in their futures. I am often awed when I see parents who are MIA and do not care one way or the other about  their children's future, especially given that their children are already in the system. 

When thinking about my career goals, I would hope that as a PO, I would be able to help parents get a better idea of what to expect from their children's lack of cooperation (which translates into their own lack of cooperation). I know as a PO, the job description does not say advice-giver or psychologist, but I do think that many of the parents whose children are in the system are in need of some counseling. It is a shame that as a state and a country, we are not able to provide people with basic counseling to help people cope with the struggles of life in such a economically stressful environment. Those who are strapped for money are generally not worried about things such as counseling, instead, they worry about putting food on the table. This translates into a household that may or may not have the emotional support system appropriate for children.

Week 3- January 21st

This week we were able to close a few more cases. DYS has also sent over more cases for us too! This is very good news. I would ideally love the chance to mediate as many cases with different seasoned mediators as possible before I move away. Also, I really enjoy case developing, which is good considering my interest in juvenile probation as a career. It is important as a new mediator to get a well-rounded experience with many different mediators as mentors. So far, I have mediated with 5 different people, each one with their own extremely unique sense of style and structure during the mediation.

This week we I had to work a bit more from home due to my knee injury. It is hard to get around in general, but I cannot drive on my pain medication. While at the office though, I was able to discuss the potential opportunity to intern with DYS next term. I would love the chance to volunteer at that facility and see first-hand how processing works and all of the rules and regulations. I am so interested in the work that juvenile probation officers do. I think that there is a definite need for more POs to work with restorative approaches rather than retributive. Some are already doing more RJ focused work, such as sending their youth to do our program at CMS. Others do not agree with our methods here.