Improving Mediation Success through a County-Court Partnership

About the Program

Category: County Administration and Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2015

The Department of Consumer and Business Affairs (DCBA) administers a Dispute Resolution Program that provides consumers with an effective alternative to resolve their disputes outside of the courtroom. From 2005 through 2013, the department’s program resolved between 400 and 500 cases each year. Over the past two years, the Dispute Resolution Program has experienced exponential growth. Due to severe budget cuts in 2013, the Los Angeles Superior Court had to close their Alternative Dispute Resolution Services program. Faced with this impending closure, the County and the Court looked for ways to continue providing these invaluable services to Los Angeles County residents. Through a partnership with DCBA, the County’s Department of Community and Senior Services and the Court, the County was able to reallocate some funding from court fees to allow DCBA to provide court-connected mediation services. Utilizing those funds, DCBA partnered with the Court to expand its existing mediation program to provide mediation services to County residents with cases pending in the Court. In the first year of the new partnership, DCBA’s mediation program resolved 1,981 cases. In the current fiscal year, the program is on target to resolve over 3,300 cases. DCBA mediators resolved 71% of court-connected cases in the first year. With enhanced training and leveraging the combined resources of DCBA, the Court and Community and Senior Services, DCBA’s court-connected program is now resolving 83% of cases this current fiscal year. The effective collaboration between the County and Court was a key factor in achieving the 12% increase in the resolution rate in a single year.