disrupting mass incarceration

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Community mediation provides an alternative to calling 911. The community mediation movement is rooted in principles of community justice, where conflict belongs to the people and communities involved. As community members seek alternates to calling the police, mediation can be used to: 

• Resolve disputes with neighbors and family without involving the police or courts, 
• Prevent violence by addressing underlying conflicts before escalation.
• Support difficult conversations that harness conflict energy among community organizers to help movements for community safety sustain and grow.

Conflict management and communication skills training is provided to individuals involved in Drug Court Programs. The training responds to the need to address communication, conflict, and relationships as part of a comprehensive addiction recovery program. Drug Court diversion participants who also had conflict management training had a 14% lower probability of being re-arrested as compared to participants that did not have training.

Training and providing law enforcement with referral information can allow community members to resolve the conflict and decrease calls to police reducing the likelihood of arrest. Research shows a decrease of 853 calls to the Baltimore City Police Department in the six months after mediation for each case that was mediated verses cases that were not mediated.

Police complaint mediation brings residents and police officers together in a face-to-face dialogue about difficult interactions. Mediation gives both the residents and the officer a voice in direct communication where both can explain their experience. This allows community members and officers to build bridges between law enforcement and the community.

The State's Attorney's Office can refer cases to mediation prior to the court date. Generally, if both participants agree that the situation is resolved, the SOA will close the case. This prevents individuals from receiving criminal convictions. Mediated cases were almost 5 times less likely to return to criminal court in the subsequent 12 months than cases that were not mediated. 

Re-entry meditation responds to the well established need for individuals returning from incarceration to have a positive relationship with family and friends in the community. Just one 2-hour re-entry mediation session decreased the predicted probability of re-incarceration by 10%, with each additional session decreasing it by another 7%.

Conflict Management Training features an interactive learning environment where participants learn listening skills, skills to speak about their own needs, and collaborative problem-solving strategies to develop methods so everyone can get their needs met. The training is provided in schools as well as to community groups.

Attendance mediation responds to the challenges of school attendance by bringing together parents, teachers and students to identify issues and develop a collaborative plan to address these issues. Research confirms that good attendance is critical to academic success. Students who are not in school are more likely to drop out and become involved with the juvenile justice system. Based on data collected by CMM, 64% of the students attendance improved following the mediation.

Dialogue Circles foster community building, problem-solving, and authentic dialogue. It provides a safe space for participants such as students, teachers, and parent volunteers to feel heard and understood. Participants gather in a circle to discover solutions through collaboration: removing barriers such as set assumptions and group think. Circles give a sense of empowerment and creativity while promoting habits of respect, responsibility, and accountability.

Student-to-student Mediation provides a safe space for students to mediate. Mediation services are available in school to resolve a range of conflicts, including many disciplinary issues. Through mediation, everyone has a chance to speak for themselves, feel heard, understand each other, and engage in collaborative problem solving to meet the needs of everyone involved, reducing the likelihood of exclusionary discipline.

Youth-Police Dialogue Circles supports relationship building between police and youth in the community. Everyone has a chance to speak about their experiences, hear different perspectives on divisive issues, and build new understanding. Dialogue circles allow those inolved to address the broader sense of mistrust between youth and police officers in a safe and confidential space.  A study by Johns Hopkins School of public Health showed that 24% of officers reported trusting youth in the community before the session: while 57% did afterwards. (JHSPH Center for Gun Policy and Research 2019).