The most important lesson we have learned is there is not a universal deprivation mediation model that will fit every county, city or state program.
Flexibility seems to be the core of any design scheme.
Georgia has joined Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Texas and Canada in implementing a deprivation mediation program. And while there are many similarities among the programs, there are equally as many differences. Interestingly enough, court programs within states vary as much as programs among the different states. Looking at the profiles of the dependency programs, there are some key similarities. Among them are the stages at which a case can be mediated, the issues to be mediated, the length of a typical session and program funding.