Introducing The NAFCM Clearinghouse

NAFCM is pleased to announce the most exciting resource it's ever produced, one which will change the way our community collaborates and shares information. Introducing: the NAFCM Clearinghouse!

Overview

The NAFCM Clearinghouse is the field’s one-stop-shop for community mediation resources. From archived content to ongoing projects, this resource compendium is a home for the field’s digital and intellectual assets. Through the collaborative engagement of NAFCM program members, the Clearinghouse serves as an aggregated, searchable hard drive containing all the best of what was once scattered across centers and software. It’s a place to source and share materials that chronicle our accomplishments and propel our progress in ways which are faster and more connected than ever before.

2012 Year in Review

Happy New Year, Community Mediation!

2013 marks NAFCM's 19th year as the Voice of Community Mediation, and we're planning to take that voice into some pretty exciting new directions! Before we do, however, let's take a look back at some of our notable 2012 accomplishments... countdown style!  

10. New Member Benefits

As a member-supported organization, NAFCM is always seeking ways to support those who support us. Our growing package of member benefits is one way we're pleased to say "Thank You!" In 2012, we added several new options, including the ability to secure professional email addresses for all NAFCM members and the continued discount on Mediate.com's Case Manager for program members.

9. Community Calendar

Community mediation happens. When and where it does, NAFCM has it scheduled! This past year we continued to expand our Community Mediation Calendar by freely promoting over 600 local community trainings, gatherings, and celebrations. 

8. Conference Circuit

Each year brings a new slate of exceptional international and regional ADR conferences. This past year we had the pleasure of connecting with community colleagues at the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution, ACR, and SCMA annual conferences. We're planning even more gatherings for 2013! 

7. Webinar Series

2012 was a smashing success for NAFCM's new Community Mediation Webinar Series. We hosted over a dozen sessions on all manner of topics, most of which were FREE for current members! Moving into 2013, we'll continue to expand our offerings, including access to recordings from many of our archived events.

6. Publications Revisions

Early in 2012, NAFCM concluded the monumental task of completely revising many of our key publications. Thoroughly updated to reflect the field's evolving wisdom, NAFCM now offers the most up-to-date set of community mediation guides available anywhere. Moving into 2013, many of these will be available digitally to current program members! 

5. PeerMediators.org

Constructive youth-focused conflict resources are a must-have in today's schools. This past year, NAFCM collaborated with APADRC and Wendy E. H. Corbett to develop a new set of peer mediation resources that are now freely available to schools and community mediation programs everywhere. Available at PeerMediators.org, these training manuals, implementation guide, and digital resources, have already been shared with colleagues literally across the globe!

4. New Board Members

NAFCM is driven by the creative energies and dedicated work of its exceptional Board of Directors. This past year, NAFCM grew its Board by 50%, adding five inspiring field leaders and plenty of new energy to our continued renaissance. Our Board now includes representatives from 12 states and D.C. 

3. Outreach & Policy Committee

Capitalizing on the increased size and energy of the NAFCM Board, 2012 saw the establishment of our Board-level Outreach & Policy Committee. This committee will tackle some pretty important issues, including a number of pressing community mediation advocacy and public awareness initiatives. New Committee members are always welcome!

2. State of Community Mediation

For the first time in nearly a decade, NAFCM has outlined the contours and complexity of our field in its State of Community Mediation report. This extensive review included the contributions of over 100 field leaders and includes dozens of never-before-reported statistics about who we are and what we help our clients and our communities achieve. The entire report is freely available online and has been the subject of numerous presentations throughout the preceding year.

1. NAFCM Clearinghouse

One of NAFCM's top focus areas for 2012 is about to make 2013 unbelievably exciting! The NAFCM Clearinghouse, a digital, crowd-sourced collection of 6,000+ resources for and about community mediation, is now ready for its grand debut! Stay tuned to NAFCM's discussion group for release details and take a sneak peek at all that we've included.

Here's to an amazing year ahead!

In community,

Justin R. Corbett

Executive Director, NAFCM

New Community Mediation Webinar Lineup

NAFCM's pleased to announce a fresh set of webinars in our ongoing Community Mediation Webinar Series.

Take a look at the exciting topics and expert presenters we'll be featuring:

• 2012-10-11: "Accommodating Mental Illness in Mediation" by Dan Berstein

• 2012-10-18: "Enhancing Mediation Skills through Online Simulations" by Giuseppe Leone

• 2012-11-08: "Understanding Mediation Program Influences Using TIMS" by Dr. Rebecca Storrow

• 2012-11-15: "Offering Elder Mediation Services to Your Community" by Crystal Thorpe

• 2012-12-12: "Advocacy Tools & Tips for Mediation Programs" by Joe Brummer & Daniel Kos

• 2013-01-10: "Grow Your Community Mediation 'Brand' through Fresh, Relevant Online Content" by Ben Ziegler

• 2013-01-17: "Adopting & Implementing the New Peer Mediators Curriculum" by Charles Chang & Wendy E.H. Corbett

• 2013-01-31: "Nipped in the Bud, Not in the Butt: Introducing ADR to Animal Conflicts" by Debra Vey Voda-Hamilton

Registration for many of these events is FREE for current NAFCM members and -- for most events -- only $25 for non-members. Secure the greatest savings by joining NAFCM or renewing your membership. For the next couple days, you can still snag your annual membership during our closing September special for only $38 (individuals) or as low as $75 for programs!

Have something you'd like to see included in our Webinar Series? You can now submit webinar proposals online via our ongoing RFP!

In community,

Justin R. Corbett

Executive Director, NAFCM

Sustainability Research on Community Mediation

Community mediation programs regularly search for new ideas and resources to address issues of center sustainability -- and sometimes even survivability. Given the painfully slow economic recovery and several states' still worsening financial woes, I'm glad to share a recent research article specifically focusing on community mediation sustainability. 

This article was originally published this past Spring and is co-authored by myself and Wendy E. H. Corbett, Program Coordinator for Solve-It! Community Mediation Service, a Ph.D. student at ASU studying conflict resolution in market economies, a NAFCM Elder, my lovely bride, and consistent competitor for my job! It was published in the Nevada Law Journal as part of a UNLV symposium issue on Conflict Resolution and the Economic Crisis, at which we also presented our initial research findings. The article analyzes numerous surveys administered during 2009 and 2010, and provides a number of sustainability recommendations for programs continuing to feel the economic pinch. 

Thanks to the generosity of the Nevada Law Journal, you can access the complete article to read about our findings and recommendations. I've also included a short excerpt which introduces the article's recommendations section:

Community mediation centers are weathering possibly the most challenging iteration of what has become a cyclical affront to their sustainability. These centers, serving as the nation’s constructive, structured, and professionalized mechanism through which the conceptual benefits of community mediation are realized, again confront economic challenges detracting their attention from a mission-oriented community focus and toward an operational defensiveness at ever increasing acuity and regularity. This shift from a ‘community’ to ‘continuity’ concentration threatens local impact, responsiveness, and overall relevance as the hastening whirl of expending resources in pursuit of resources further stresses staff, strains optimism, and distances centers from actualizing their principled objectives. 

This shift reflects neither the desire nor intent of the field’s dedicated professionals. Rather, it highlights a historical reality of the field’s precarious parabolic coupling with larger economic booms and busts. For while it is a cyclical certainty this current economic downturn will meet its sister’s rise, the nation’s network of community mediation centers will have suffered lasting injuries from the field’s contraction and distractions.  

Decoupling the field from this subjugation, thereby hastening our current ascension and shoaling future crevasses, requires operational measures practical within current limited resource realities. The following recommendations proffer several such measures. Some focus on individual centers’ activities, while others require the collaborative efforts of broader state and national actors. Many of these recommendations have been previously suggested in times of both economic certainty and distress—a testament to their foundational importance to the field. New insights gleaned from current research are incorporated where applicable to further enhance their practical benefit. All recommendations should be considered, chosen, and implemented in light of the realities within which individual centers currently operate.  [continue reading] 

We hope you find this recent research practically valuable and a solid contribution to the field's growing literature. We (Wendy, especially) look forward to continuing to provide fresh research that both analyzes and informs our field.

In community,

Justin R. Corbett  [email]

Executive Director, NAFCM