About Children First Mediation: We are a team of professionals with backgrounds in psychology, marital mediation, conflict resolution, education and human resources. We are dedicated to respectfully and skillfully guiding parents through the separation and divorce process while assisting you in continually focusing on what matters most—your children.
We provide Comfort through Knowledge:
Above all else, mediation is an empowering process that works to protect and ensure the rights of everyone involved. A core aspect of this is our Comfort through Knowledge approach.
This method empowers parents to confidently navigate the complex and voluminous amounts of state forms and paperwork required for divorce. We are with you every step of the way, providing expert guidance, explaining options and answering all your questions in a respectful and caring manner, while encouraging you as parents to retain your right to make decisions for your family.
Our wealth of knowledge and experience gives parents much needed comfort through what many label as one of life’s most challenging times.
Confidentiality and Impartiality:
The mediator does not make decisions or impose a settlement, but encourages and facilitates a mutually acceptable settlement to the dispute, which is decided by the parties themselves. Family mediation is an inclusive process respecting the entire family.
We do not take one parent’s side over the other. As an alternative, we courteously and thoroughly listen to each parent’s thoughts on all matters. Each parent’s thoughts are rephrased by the mediator to ensure we understand correctly. When we accurately understand both parents’ viewpoints we are able to move forward with our proven strategies of opening new avenues of communication, understanding and potential compromise. In doing so, parents gain valuable insight into healthy ways to create balanced, child-focused parenting solutions.
Additionally, many parents find that just having a neutral third party present allows them to see beyond past problems and feelings of being unheard/misunderstood and enables communication to take place that otherwise seemed impossible.
All communications (with very limited exceptions) are kept confidential. Parents are required to sign an agreement that states Children First Mediation professionals will not be used as witnesses for either party in any potential future litigation. We do this to allow parents to fully and openly participate in the mediation process without fears that their communications during mediation will be used against them in court.
Dedicated to Preserving Your Financial Worth for Your Children’s Benefit:
Divorce is inherently difficult and stressful. With the advent of family courts and family law attorneys it has also become financially destructive. According to Divorce Care (a national program for people recently divorced or divorcing), many couples end up splitting their financial worth into thirds: one third goes to the mother’s attorney, one third to the father’s attorney and the remaining third to the mother and father. Sadly this can result in parents trying to raise their children on borrowed or stretched funds, selling their homes, raising their children at much reduced standards of living and in cases has resulted in parents for the first time needing state assistance.
Unfortunately, the benefactors are family law attorneys who typically charge $150 to $300 per hour, in which adversarial situations are purposefully created to out-position each other in hopes of gaining leverage in the eyes of the court. This strategy quickly goes out of control and is fueled by anxiety, stress and heavy financial burdens. However, a much healthier, less stressful and financially sensible manner to divorce exists: Children First Mediation.
Our services typically save parents 80% or more compared to many divorce proceedings where attorneys represent the parties in Court. We accomplish this in two ways:
