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Q&A
CCHR's mediation program
0:30:13
ยท
116 sec
Council Member Williams inquires about CCHR's mediation program, including staffing, case selection, and plans for expansion. CCHR staff provide details on the program and its future.
- Two new open positions coming to help staff up the mediation unit
- Cases selected for mediation when both sides are represented to avoid power imbalances
- Consideration given to whether discrimination occurred and if it's a repeat offender
- Confidentiality of mediation resolutions discussed
- Plans to grow the mediation team with two additional positions
Nantasha Williams
0:30:13
Okay, the MMR further stated the number of complaints successfully mediated decreased by forty four percent in the first four months of fiscal twenty twenty five to five from nine during the same period in fiscal twenty twenty four.
0:30:27
How does the commission staff its mediation program and how are case cases selected for mediation?
Katherine Carroll
0:30:37
So we are excited to have these new two open positions that are going to be coming to help staff up our mediation unit.
0:30:44
The way that we determine whether a case is good for mediation is you know we require both sides be represented so that there's no power imbalance when they're presented in front of the mediator.
0:30:55
In addition to that, we look to see if it's a case where there really is a question of whether discrimination occurred or not so that there isn't a power imbalance over who has a stronger case versus the other side.
0:31:07
And we also look to see, like I mentioned before, if it's a repeat bad actor that we've seen, we want to make sure that they are getting the benefit of our full investigation and full litigation and our mediation resolutions are kept confidential.
0:31:22
And so we want to make sure that if there's a repeat bad actor we're not giving the option to settle confidentially, that we're going to have a public settlement where they're going to be named and shamed for having violated the law.
Nantasha Williams
0:31:34
Okay, what staffing do you think would be needed to mirror the pre complaint intervention numbers and rates?
Katherine Carroll
0:31:42
I'm sorry I missed the end of that question.
Nantasha Williams
0:31:45
What staffing would be needed to mirror pre complaint intervention rates with the mediation program?
Mariela Salazar
0:31:54
For us I think what we since what we proposed for the City of Yes was in our intention to grow our mediation team so as of now we think that with the two additional positions that that is enough at least in for right now for our team.