It all started with barking dogs.
In 1994, Jefferson County’s animal control division faced a high number of repeated barking dog reports. Officers would respond to calls, write citations and often the problem continued as did tension between neighbors.
Borrowing from a similar effort in Boulder, Mark Loye helped develop the Jefferson County Mediation Services program starting with a small staff and budget and around 20 volunteer mediators.
“We give those neighbors the opportunity to sit down and talk about the situation, give them a plan that is their own on how this will work better,” said Loye, who is now the program’s executive director.
The growing program now has around 200 volunteer mediators who manage roughly 1,500 cases a year, reaching compromises in a variety of disputes that impact multiple county departments with an estimated total cost savings of more than $200,000 a year, according to a release from the county.
“If parties didn’t go to mediation, it would just be burdensome on my staff,” said Katie Smith, the court team supervisor for , which refers willing parents to the program, often saving them a court date requiring time from attorneys and a judge.
Most municipalities refer disputing parties to private mediators, which might charge anywhere from $30 to $150 an hour for services. Jefferson County’s Mediation Services are free for any county resident referred by a county agency or whose case would impact a county agency if it went to court.
The only and , for which the program has list of preferred mediators.
So, instead of calling the sheriff’s office on a noisy neighbor, or taking a landlord to court over a rental deposit, a resident can refer themselves to mediation to see if the issue can be resolved across a table first.
Matt Jarvinen is one of the volunteer mediators and said that on top of saving legal costs and court time, meditation can be empowering for people who feel locked in conflict.
“They can decide what the answer is rather than have someone else tell them how to resolve their dispute,” he said. “You don’t get that in court, you don’t get that from a judge or jury. In mediation, (the people in a dispute) maintain control.”
Jarvinen and Mark Allen, also a volunteer mediator, both say that tempers cool quickly once the parties sit down and each has a neutral party to hear their side. It also helps that mediation is confidential, and the mediator is simply a facilitator to draw out what solution each side wants and where those desires can meet.
“One of the things I’ve learned going through school for mediation is, if I’m trying to fix the problem, I’m not listening to the parties,” Allen said.
The program’s co-mediation model means that, most often, there are two mediators, one who is more experienced and another who is training. The goal is usually to have one male and one female mediator, especially in domestic cases.
Anyone can be a volunteer mediator, provided they commit to at least a year, pass a background check and complete the training course, which requires between 24 and 40 hours to complete.
Many volunteers have prior experience in some form of mediation or law, or are practicing professional mediators. Jarvinen, for example, is retired from a career in labor relations; Allen is a psychotherapist. A good portion of volunteers also come from the University of Denver’s conflict resolution program to earn credit hours.
Loye is a contract employee of the county; the Mediation Services Program operates with 10 administrative staff on a budget around $250,000. Loye said that with the robust volunteer base, the program is equipped to take on a growing number of cases, and he loves it.
He added: “Put me in a room full of 20 people who don’t like each other and don’t agree on anything, and I’m in my space.”
Josie Klemaier: 303-954-2465, jklemaier@denverpost.com
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