We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
An evaluation of remote child custody mediation in San Mateo County, California.
- Authors
Ni, Daisy
- Abstract
The COVID‐19 pandemic forced courts to virtualize proceedings almost overnight, resulting in both an array of new technological tools as well as important questions about their long‐term effects. This article studies the impact of the shift from in‐person to remote child custody and visitation mediation in San Mateo County, California. Through surveys with parents, interviews with mediators and parents, and participation and outcome data, it captures the early experiences and results associated with remote mediation. The findings suggest that while remote mediation can offer benefits such as accessibility, comfort, and safety, other challenges persist. The study seeks to enable courts to better understand the obstacles and opportunities that arise from online platforms and inform future policy‐making on the use of technology in their practices. Key points for the family court community: Administrative data from the first two years of the pandemic indicated that participation rates increased while agreement rates decreased after mediation sessions became remote.Benefits of remote mediation most commonly cited by parents and counselors included greater convenience, comfort, and safety.Drawbacks of remote mediation most commonly cited included the loss of non‐verbal communication, privacy concerns, and additional distractions.Though technical difficulties were present at the start, many counselors were able to take advantage of features such as audio and video controls to better organize their sessions.
- Subjects
CUSTODY of children; DOMESTIC relations; FAMILY mediation; FAMILY counselors; NONVERBAL communication
- Publication
Family Court Review, 2024, Vol 62, Issue 2, p359
- ISSN
1531-2445
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/fcre.12782