Regional mediation center closes WHY MEDIATE?

BY AMY FLOWERS UMBLE

A tough economy and looming local budget crises have led one struggling nonprofit to close its doors.

The Rappahannock Mediation Center would have celebrated its 20th anniversary this year. Instead, the agency shut down Wednesday.

The group, which offered volunteer mediation in business disputes and divorces, received most of its money through localities and the Rappahannock United Way.

Facing budget shortfalls, those localities warned the center's director, Cheryl Dillard, to expect less--if any--money. And the nonprofit failed to meet United Way requirements for self-sufficiency, Dillard said.

Expecting funding sources to dry up, the agency chose to close.

The Rappahannock Mediation Center had seen a drop in both volunteer mediators and cases, Dillard said.

Local attorney A. Blanton Massey, who helped form the group, said the lack of cases represents a deficiency in support and understanding for mediation.

Massey runs another local mediation group, the Fredericksburg-based Mediation Center, which employs paid mediators. That group charges more for mediating divorces, custody issues, business disputes and other cases that would ordinarily clog court dockets.

Three lawyers started that center. They later launched the nonprofit mediation agency for smaller cases that didn't need professional--and more costly--mediators.

It is one of several local options for people looking to avoid courts--and thousands of dollars in fees.

Many area mediators were trained by the Rappahannock Mediation Center and later competed with the group.

"Mediation is important, but I don't feel like mediation is going away in the community," Dillard said.

The agency's co-parenting program also has shut down. As many as 25 parents participated in the classes, which are court-mandated for custody cases.

At least two other groups continue to offer the classes, so those, too, will still be available.

While area residents will be able to find the agency's services in other places, Massey called the group's closing "sad."

"Community mediation centers provide a real service," he said. "But there is no constituency that really cares or that has the clout to do anything about it."

Amy Flowers Umble: 540/735-1973
Email: aumble@freelancestar.com

A typical divorce can cost at least $10,000 including lawyers' fees, court costs and other fees. It also lasts at least a year. A mediated divorce, however, can cost as little as $100 and be over in one session, though it typically takes three sessions and costs about $300.

And the outcome can be better, too, said Cheryl Dillard, director of the closing Rappahannock Mediation Center.

"It's a chance for both parties to try and reach a resolution on their terms, so they're more likely to stick to that resolution that if it were imposed by a judge," she said.

Mediation first gained popularity in the '70s when lawyers realized "there must be a better way" to handle divorces, said local attorney A. Blanton Massey.

The first trained mediators were therapists and lawyers, but later schoolteachers, retirees and homemakers received training, providing the basis for community mediation centers, which offered lower fees and volunteer mediators.

Date published: 1/3/2009

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