The new year begins!  It is such a hopeful feeling to start out with a huge to-do list and what seems like a whole year stretching out before us.

As most of you know by now, our Juvenile Court Judge, Carey Garrett, passed away on December 1, 2005, after an extended absence from the bench.  It goes without saying that we will miss him and will always appreciate what he did to assist families and children in Juvenile Court.  He was an early and strong supporter of the CMC mediation programs, and paved the way for our community mediators ability to work with juveniles and parents.  He had announced his retirement earlier this year, to coincide with the end of his term in 2006.  Two candidates were running for office:  Cynthia Chapman, the chief referee at Juvenile Court; and Tim Irwin, a local attorney and President of the Boys and Girls Club in Knox County.  When Judge Garrett died, Knox County Commissioners had to appoint a replacement, and chose Tim Irwin in December, 2005.  Judge Irwin is now on the bench at Juvenile Court and Referee Chapman has decided to work with him and withdraw from the judge's race.   I will be sure to report to all of you any news from Juvenile Court.  I expect the new Judge to be encouraging and helpful to CMC!

CMC received a technical assistance grant at the end of last year from Knoxville Leadership Foundation.  We are networking with all their members and experts, and will be receiving help throughout the year, especially in the realm of marketing, outcome evaluation, and fundraising.  This is a great opportunity for CMC to enter fully into the community of the area's service oriented nonprofits and make the most of other's experience in the field.  If any of our volunteers would like to attend these meetings or be considered as someone who could provide technical assistance to other groups, please contact me.

Big changes are coming this year!
Volunteer TLC:  First, we will be creating a mentoring program for our volunteers.  New and old volunteers will agree to participate in regular retraining, refreshers, readings and discussion groups; as well, volunteers will be required to observe mediations and help debrief with mediators afterward.  No matter how experienced, mediators need to keep up with developments in the practice, to refresh themselves about ethical issues, and to have a professional posture toward their volunteer activity.  CMC is so lucky to have so many collegial and experienced mediators to help with this new program...I thank all of you in advance.  We will be starting our Mentoring Breakfasts in March, after our new volunteer training in February, so stay tuned for more announcements on the schedule.

We will also be holding a quarterly celebration and gathering of volunteers and friends of CMC.  Our holiday party at TVUUC went so well had had such positive response that we decided to have another one on March 17, to observe St Patrick's Day and the Spring Equinox!  Again, it will be at TVUUC, from 5:30-8:30pm, in the big fireplace room.  (There's also a patio, so we could have some outdoor mingling too.)

Our new volunteer training will take place this year in collaboration with the UT College of Law Mediation Clinic, with Professor Becky Jacobs.  We have reserved the first two weekends in February, 2/3-5 and 2/10-12.  I would welcome any of our volunteers, as well as local Rule 31 mediators, attorneys and judges, to contact either Becky or myself to assist in or to attend any of the training sessions.  Our goal is to put forth a clear and concise community co-mediator training curriculum of a high quality.  That, coupled with a good mentoring program, will go a long way to providing the support that volunteer mediators need in our community to do the very challenging and difficult work they do for us.

Another big change this year will be CMC's move toward charging all incoming mediation parties an administrative fee to cover the significant overhead cost involved in intake and scheduling.  (Our average intake and scheduling time is 2-4 hrs before the case is closed.) 

In earlier times, these costs have been covered to some degree by state and federal grants; but in recent years, there has been a steady decline of available funds coupled with more mediation centers to share the ever-smaller pot o' funds. We will still fulfill our mission by providing mediation services, through our volunteers, to those who cannot otherwise afford it.  At the same time, CMC must become sustainable by asking those who can afford to pay to do so.

I will keep you all posted on these and other developments.  Please send me any and all comments and input.  I would welcome the dialogue!
 

--Jackie Kittrell, Interim Executive Director