Community Mediator Institute: Reknitting Community Cohesion

Community safety

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

Two neighbors are threatening violence over street parking.
Your child is suspended for multiple fights with the same kids on and off-campus; other students have filed complaints of unfair or disrespectful staff treatment.
Your mother stops going to senior activities because loud arguments at the park scare her. Staff unable to resolve conflicting interests of park users have restricted facility access. Neighborhood Council arguments are blocking a traffic safety plan. Whether students, neighbors, or passers-by, we are too often unwilling witnesses, or participants, in unexpected disagreements in our own neighborhoods, schools, and public places. Solutions escape us. Authorities are called to control physical disputes, but most conflicts just fester, fueling antagonisms, community hostility, mistrust and disconnection. With the right structure and support, LA-area residents are willing to work together and take action to restore safety and cooperation in their communities,

In response to community requests and with impacted community members on the design team, Centinela Youth Services (CYS) developed its Community Mediator Institute (CMI) to equip trusted credible messengers to effectively resolve conflicts and build connections of care in their neighborhoods.
Partnerships in Lennox, Compton and Florence-Firestone have identified resident bridge-builders and will support their efforts with formal mediation certification and peer convenings. Two 25-hour trainings for 25 trainees each will be followed by 24 hours of apprenticeship for certification. Quarterly mediator convenings will support skills mastery, data collection on conflicts they’ve resolved “at large,” and strategizing to leverage mediations and healing circles to increase community cohesion. Of the 50 trained mediators, three pairs will be identified to host twice weekly Mediation Office Hours (MOH) at three community locations; Compton schools, Lennox Park and near South Park. Additionally, they will facilitate community healing circles at the parks with community members involved in and impacted by local violence. At least 450 disputes directly impacting 900 disputants will be mediated. Hundreds of additional residents, park users, and students will indirectly experience the ripple effects of strengthened community cohesion that comes from the capacity of residents empowered to resolve most of their own conflicts, reducing reliance on police and courts, while improving safety.

Imagine that in 10 years, no matter where you live in LA, you will know exactly where to turn for skilled support to resolve community disagreements, BEFORE they escalate to open aggression and police calls. Imagine that people you know have resolved a conflict, are certified mediators, or are in dialogue to heal a long-standing issue during Mediation Office Hours at the park. You feel confident that even with differences, fairness, mutual respect, and cooperation are values that connect you and most people in your community. CYS is confident that this future is fully achievable having successfully scaled community-led services that advance equity through individual and systems transformation. In 2011, CYS initiated California’s first youth pre-arrest diversion program in one LAPD division, expanded it to 19 police stations, achieved national recognition, and continues to propel LA’s Department of Youth Development’s countywide approach to ending inequitable criminalization of youth.

Initial piloting of this model is receiving overwhelmingly positive reviews from our community, requests for rapid expansion, and incredible stories of repaired relationships. Training attendees report the new skills are “life changing.” Youth report finally being “heard” by adults in power. Community members report feeling safer and more connected. CYS monitors data to ensure quality and impact of all its services. Since 1992, CYS has taken a data-driven approach demonstrating its programs reduce rearrest by 70% as compared with the courts.Restorative Justice and family mediations result in agreements 99% of the time, with 86% of agreements met in full, and 97% of participants affirming satisfaction.
CYS’s mediator training includes session feedback, observation, certification, and satisfaction surveys. Mediation impacts will be measured by local safety data, participant surveys, and follow-up at six-months to assess broader impacts on community safety and relationships.