Oregon PTOC Program: Domestic Violence Screening Process for Mediators Overview and Instructions OVERVIEW The Parenting Time Opportunities for Children in the Child Support Program grant (Oregon PTOC Program) provides funds for mediation of parenting time plans. The contexts in which parents establish parenting time arrangements sometimes involve relationships in which domestic violence has occurred. For that reason, the Oregon PTOC Program developed a Family Violence Action Plan to ensure that the program addresses any domestic violence safety concerns of participants. For the purpose of this project, the Oregon PTOC Program defines domestic violence as: A pattern of behavior in which one intimate partner uses physical violence, coercion, threats, intimidation, isolation, and emotional, sexual, or economic abuse to control the other partner in a relationship. Stalking or other harassing behavior is often an integral part of domestic violence (FBI, 2001). The PTOC Program believes that the ability to identify the potential for immediate danger and the likelihood of post relationship violence are both important in the context of mediation. In addition, awareness of the presence of coercive control in less obviously dangerous situations will help guide mediators actions in working to minimize power imbalances and intimidation in mediation. Mediators in the Oregon PTOC Program will use the Oregon Domestic Violence Screen for Mediators (DVSM) Questionnaire and Mediation Plan to screen all participants and make decisions in collaboration with domestic violence survivors about: when to address immediate danger and make referrals to domestic violence service agencies, whether mediation is appropriate, and what safeguards should be in place if mediation occurs. CORE PRINCIPLES REGARDING MEDIATION & DOMESTIC VIOLENCE Responding to Risk: Mediator ethical codes of conduct permit and require mediators to take appropriate steps to respond to identified risk for harm to a participant. Safety precautions should always be in place if mediation is going to proceed in cases that present with domestic violence concerns. Impartiality: Mediators have an ethical responsibility to maintain impartiality regarding participants perceptions, positions, and proposals. This does not require mediators to be neutral about violence. Mediators may interrupt abusive or intimidating behaviors during mediation.
Fair Negotiation: Where violence and/or coercion are present, it is important that mediators make efforts to mitigate the power imbalance in the negotiation process. The Right to Self Determination: The PTOC Program respects the right of survivors to make informed decisions about participation in mediation and does not automatically exclude survivors from the process. Domestic violence survivors in high danger situations may still want to mediate. A survivor may feel the violence is far enough in the past that there is little immediate danger or may see mediation as a more self-directed process than a Court proceeding. Survivor Empowerment: Survivors have important information about the dynamic of violence or coercion in the relationship. Mediators should have conversations with survivors about the use of threatening language and gestures, or other behaviors associated with the domestic violence dynamic prior to mediation. Relying on the Experts: Domestic violence service agencies have the expertise to respond to risk and provide appropriate services to domestic violence survivors. Mediators should refer clients to these resources for safety planning and services as soon as possible upon identifying the presence of domestic violence. Mediator Discretion and Safety: Mediators are encouraged to trust their instincts in situations in which they believe they cannot provide mediation safely, even if the survivor is willing to mediate. Survivors are generally the experts on their situation. However, some research has found that in very high danger situations, survivors accurately identified their level of risk about 50% of the time (Campbell, 2003). Bi-lateral Violence: Both parents in a conflict may engage in physically aggressive behaviors. However, a dynamic of intimate partner violence has very different characteristics and outcomes for survivors than bi-lateral relationship aggression (Kimmel, 2009). Where bi-lateral violence is identified, the mediator s role is to help each parent decide whether mediation can occur safely and establish safety precautions for both parents if mediation proceeds. Mediators should consider that many batterers claim bi-lateral violence to minimize and distract attention from their abusive behaviors (Bancroft, 2010). THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SCREENING PROCESS FOR MEDIATORS The Oregon Domestic Violence Screen for Mediators (DVSM) process includes the oral administration of the DVSM questionnaire and the completion of the DVSM Mediation Plan. It is based on elements of two evidenced-based, domestic violence screening protocols. The first portion of the DVSM Questionnaire is a modified version of the Lethality Assessment Protocol (LAP) developed in Maryland for first responders to use in assessing immediate danger to domestic violence survivors. The LAP is derived from
Jacqueline Campbell s Danger Assessment and statistically correlated to risk for domestic violence homicide (Campbell, 2003 & 2010). The second portion of the DVSM Questionnaire includes items related to coercive control developed for use in the Mediator s Assessment of Safety Issues and Concerns or MASIC (Holtzworth-Munroe, etal. 2010). Research supports that in some situations identifying coercive control has more predictive validity than discreet acts of physical violence in identifying risk for post-relationship violence (Beck, etal. 2009; Holtzworth- Munroe, etal. 2010 & Stark, 2012). The DVSM Mediation Plan form includes best practice options for mediation in situations in which domestic violence or coercive control are present. The Mediation Plan should reflect appropriate responses to identified risk and the active involvement of a participant with a safety concern in the planning process. USING THE DVSM QUESTIONNAIRE The DVSM questionnaire includes items to assess both immediate danger and the presence of coercive control. It is a one-page guide for mediators to use in asking participants questions about their experience with the other parent in the relationship. The DVSM Questionnaire should be administered in keeping with the following guidelines. The DVSM Questionnaire is administered orally, ideally in person or over the telephone. It should never be handed to a participant as a form. The DVSM Questionnaire should be administered in private and not in close proximity to the other parent. Each question on the DVSM Questionnaire relates directly to risk factors for domestic violence. Skipping any one item compromises the evidence based validity of the tool. Mediators must inform participants that responding to DVSM Questionnaire items is voluntary. The DVSM Questionnaire should not be labeled with a participant s name or placed in the mediation file. The decision about whether or not to go forward with mediation must include a conversation with the participant with a safety concern and reflect her/his wishes regarding whether or not to proceed. In situations in which both parents indicate concerns about their safety, mediators must work with both parents to incorporate their requests regarding proceeding safely with mediation.
The LAP section of the DVSM Questionnaire includes 12 items that relate specifically to immediate danger. Questions 1, 2 and 3: A positive answer to any one of the first three questions requires that PTOC Program mediators have an immediate conversation with the participant about their safety and make a referral to a domestic violence service agency. In addition, a positive response to any of these items strongly suggests that mediation is not appropriate. Questions 4 through 11: Positive responses to any four of these questions, even if 1 through 3 were negative, also requires the mediator to have a conversation with a survivor about safety and make a domestic violence service referral. Again, mediation may not be appropriate. If mediation does occur at the request of the person with the safety concern, the mediator must discuss and establish safety precautions. Question 12: Question 12 provides an opportunity for a participant or mediator to identify any additional immediate safety concerns and proceed accordingly. The Coercion section of the DVSM Questionnaire includes 8 items specifically designed to assess the presence of coercive control. Coercive control questions appear separately from LAP items because they are not part of the same evidence based tool. The distinction does not necessarily suggest that positive responses in the coercion section indicate less seriousness or risk than positive responses in the LAP section. If participants endorse three or more items in the coercion section, a conversation about their current safety and possible domestic violence service referrals must occur. In addition, since the presence of coercive control is correlated with post-separation violence, mediators are encouraged to take note and make adjustments to ensure that mediation can proceed safely and without intimidation. USING THE DVSM TO MAKE DECISIONS & PLAN FOR MEDIATION The Mediation Planning Form relates to the plan for mediation based on responses to the screening items on the questionnaire. It indicates whether mediation will occur and identifies safety procedures for participants with domestic violence concerns. Section A reflects the actions taken by the mediator in response to specific safety concerns and the joint decision of the mediator and the person with a safety concern regarding whether or not to go forward with mediation. It also identifies when there is no
safety concern. Mediators are encouraged to note referrals to domestic violence service agencies as well as pertinent details about steps taken to deal with immediate danger. Section B provides a list of options for mediating safely. Mediators may select more than one option. The participant with a safety concern may also identify alternative options not listed. For example, The parents have agreed that the survivor s advocate may be present in the waiting room during mediation. It is very important that mediators have a conversation with a survivor about the need to talk with the other parent about safety protocols. It may be important for the mediator to have strategies for establishing safe procedures that do not out the survivor s disclosure of a safety concern. Note: Mediators may keep the planning form in the mediation file in order to keep track of the safety plan and information from the participant that will help the mediator respond to risk. In situations in which both participants have identified safety concerns, the plan should reflect each participant s decision about mediating as well as safety protocols for both parents.