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 Significant events in the history of community mediation and the Mediation Network of North Carolina:
1978
Orange County Dispute Settlement Center opens its doors
1982
Opening of Chatham County Dispute Settlement Program and Dispute Settlement Center of Durham
1983
Charlotte/Mecklenburg Community Relations Committee Dispute Settlement Program, Guilford County Dispute Settlement Center [becomes Mediation Services of Guilford County] and Neighborhood Justice Center of Winston-Salem [becomes Mediation Services of Forsyth County]
1984
First meeting of the North Carolina Association for Community Mediation Programs (NCACMP), November 19. Mike Wendt is elected acting Chair.
Alamance County Dispute Settlement Center
The Mediation Center [Asheville]
Henderson County Dispute Settlement Center
NC Association of Community Mediation Programs [became MediatioNetwork of North Carolina]
1985
Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation grants $25,000 to the NCACMP.
Alice Phalan is elected NCACMP President.
Chatham County DSC helps local schools establish state's first peer mediation programs.
NC Bar Foundation publishes report of the Task Force on Dispute Resolution
Mediation Services of Wake opens [became Carolina Dispute Settlement Services]
1986
NCACMP is renamed MediatioNetwork of North Carolina (MNNC).
Dee Reid is hired as MNNC Coordinator.
First issue of NC Mediator, MNNC newsletter published
Original policy on appropriateness of mediating cases involving alleged domestic violence is adopted.
First MNNC-sponsored "train the trainers" workshop is conducted by Community Board Program (San Francisco).
Guilford County Dispute Settlement Center establishes state's first Victim Offender Reconciliation Program (VORP)
Polk County Dispute Settlement Center opens [became Foothills Mediation Center]
UNC-CH Dispute Settlement Center [closed in 1990]
1987
MediatioNetwork of North Carolina is incorporated as 501©(3) not for profit corporation. Orange County DSC Director Claire Millar is elected MNNC President.
MNNC sponsors 3-day workshop Conflict Management for Educational Programs to support peer mediation in public schools.
Training curriculum guidelines and Guidelines for the Ethical Conduct of Community Mediators are adopted.
The NC State Bar 's Interest on Lawyer's Trust Accounts (IOLTA) program awards its first grant to MNNC, a six-month grant for $41,000.
MNNC sponsors two advanced training workshops for divorce mediation.
Orange County center establishes state's first Public Disputes Mediation Program with Andrew Sachs as program director.
Cumberland County Dispute Resolution Center and Piedmont Mediation Center open.
1988
MNNC Education Committee begins meeting.
National Institute for Dispute Resolution provides grant for New Options in Conflict Resolution: The First Southeast Conference on Mediation held at Guilford College in Greensboro; other co-sponsors are Guilford College Peace and Justice Studies program, and the NC Bar Association.
Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation grants MNNC $35,000 for public disputes training and mentor program. Susan Carpenter conducts the training. Ten experienced practitioners from across the U.S. are assigned to mentor trainees at 10 Network centers.
Opening of Goldsboro-Wayne Dispute Settlement Center [dissolved in 1995]
1989
First annual MNNC Board of Directors retreat held in Flat Rock.
Three NC law schools (UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke and Wake Forest) contract with MNNC for series of mediation trainings for law students, faculty and administrators.
300 people attend the Second Southeastern Conference on Mediation, Mediation in the Mainstream, at Guilford College, Greensboro.
State Justice Institute awards $162,000 to MNNC for two-year evaluation study to be conducted by Stevens Clarke, UNC Institute of Government.
Cumberland County Dispute Resolution Center becomes first center to mediate magistrate court small claims appeals cases.
Domestic violence policy is revised.
John Fenner, director of the Transylvania DSC, is hired as half-time MNNC Associate Director.
Mediation Center of Gaston County [became Mediation Center of the Southern Piedmont] opens
Mediation Center of Pitt County [became Mediation Center of Eastern Carolina]
Transylvania Dispute Settlement Center
Robeson County Dispute Resolution Center [closed in1998]
1990
Barbara Davis, director of The Mediation Center (Asheville) is elected MNNC President.
Frank Laney, dispute resolution coordinator for the NC Bar Association, is hired as MNNC Executive Director.
IOLTA awards MNNC $76,000 for calendar year 1990.
"Mediator Evaluation Guidelines" adopted.
MNNC Clearinghouse is established.
Third Annual Southeast Regional Mediation Conference, It's In Your Hands, is held at the Queen Ann Hotel, Statesville.
MNNC Family Mediation committee is formed.
Mediation Center of Gaston County establishes state's first Truancy Mediation Program
MNNC provides conflict management training for 90 Juvenile Court personnel.
1991
John Fenner is hired as MNNC Executive Director.
Eighteen long-range goals adopted by Board of Directors.
Charlotte, North Carolina hosts the National Conference on Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution (NCPCR) with former President Jimmy Carter as keynote speaker.
MNNC establishes Recommendations for Establishing Family Mediation Programs as guidelines for member centers.
1992
Jim Smith, director of the Robeson County Dispute Resolution Center, is elected MNNC President.
Scott Bradley, a long-time volunteer at the Orange County DSC, is hired as MNNC Executive Director.
MNNC receives grants from Adele Thomas Trust ($2000), Mary Biddle Duke Foundation ($2500) and computer from IBM's Fund for Community Service and establishes office in Carrboro.
Fourth Southeastern Mediation Conference, The Benefits of Mediation: Now and the Future held in Greenville at the Hilton Hotel.
Membership Criteria for New Centers adopted by the MNNC Board.
MNNC Life Associate Memberships are established. Frank Laney is the first to sign up.
Board agrees to make all future decisions by consensus.
State Justice Institute sponsored evaluation study is completed by Stevens Clarke, UNC Institute of Government
Opening of Blue Ridge Dispute Settlement Center
1993
North Carolina General Assembly adopts new reporting requirements for community mediation centers; state appropriations to 16 centers totals $480,183.
National Association for Community Mediation (NAFCM) is established. Scott Bradley elected co-chair, and with Durham center director Mike Wendt, serves on the founding board of directors.
IOLTA, celebrating its tenth anniversary, grants MNNC $60,000 for calendar year 1994.
Dispute Settlement Center of Cape Fear [changed name to Community Mediation Center of Cape Fear]
1994
John Fenner is elected MNNC President.
The Art of Conflict Resolution: Fifth Southeastern Mediation Conference is held at the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly in Black Mountain.
Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) issues report, North Carolina Dispute Settlement Centers: Evaluating Center Effectiveness and the Need for Expansion and issues new Activity Report.
Network implements voluntary certification process; Qualifications and Standards for Certification of Member Centers' Mediators is adopted.
First MNNC Summer Educators Institute is conducted to train school personnel to implement conflict resolution and peer mediation programs.
Mediation Center of Eastern Carolina develops RESOLVE, the state's first family systems approach to conflict resolution.
Swain County Dispute Settlement Center opens [became Mountain Dispute Settlement
Center]
1995
North Carolina General Assembly appropriates in its expansion budget for the 1995-97 biennium $363,500 per year for new and additional funding for centers to total $859,660 to 25 centers.
MNNC assists in starting the NC Victim-Offender Mediation Resource Group.
IOLTA awards MNNC $60,000 for the calendar year.
Governor Jim Hunt appoints MNNC director Scott Bradley to the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission.
MNNC hires its first part-time office assistant.
MNNC publishes conflict resolution and peer mediation curriculum for grades K-3, 4 & 5, Middle, and High schools.
Cabarrus County Mediation Center, Mediation Services of Rockingham County, Dispute Settlement Center of Moore County, Sandhills Mediation Center, Duplin County Dispute Settlement Center [became Dispute Settlement Center, serving Duplin, Jones, Onslow and Sampson counties] open
1996
Sixth Annual Southeast Regional Conference: Exploring the Depths of Mediation is held in Wilmington.
NC Department of Human Resources contracts with Mediation Network to provide mediation across the state in disputes involving services to Willie M. children.
Appropriations by NC Legislature to centers increases to $931,660 to 26 centers.
MNNC initiates the Campus Mediation Program Contact Group to promote and assist with the development of conflict resolution and mediation programs at NC colleges and universities.
Opening of Albemarle Dispute Settlement Center
1997
MNNC Family Mediation Committee becomes an independent entity, the North Carolina Association of Professional Family Mediators (NCAPFM).
Frances Henderson, director of Orange County DSC is elected MNNC President.
IOLTA funds Mediation Network for the tenth year.
Mediation Network receives Z. Smith Reynolds electronic networking grant.
Mediation Network and several member centers are cited in US Department of Justice study Community Mediation Programs: Developments and Challenges.
The Conflict Resolution Center opens to serve Catawba, Burke, and Caldwell counties
1998
MNNC receives grants from Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation and Governor's Crime Commission to implement 2-year Restorative Justice projects involving juvenile and adult offenders; Jan Bellard becomes Director of Restorative Justice Projects.
Melissa Johnson, director of Blue Ridge DSC is elected MNNC President.
Mediation Network partners with the Institute of Government and NC Department of Public Instruction to train nearly 60 mediators from member centers for mediation involving special education issues.
Mediation Network receives grant from NC Bar Association Foundation Endowment to develop a train-the-trainer manual, curriculum and training to enhance the skills of volunteer mediators.
Legislature appropriates funds [$25,000] to MNNC for first time; total appropriations to Mediation Network and 26 member centers is $1,110,494.
1999
Mountain Dispute Settlement Center develops CIS case management and database software made available to all centers through voucher program from National Association for Community Mediation.
NC Bar Association Board of Governors adopts Guidelines for the Ethical Practice of Mediation and to Prevent the Unauthorized Practice of Law developed by the Dispute Resolution Section Task Force on Mediation and the Practice of Law.
NC General Assembly passes legislation [GS 7A-38.5] supporting the work of centers "in facilitating communication, understanding, reconciliation, and settlement of conflicts in communities, courts, and schools and to promote the widest possible use of these centers by the courts and law enforcement officials across the state."
Mediation Network's Seventh Annual Southeast Regional Conference: The Future of Dispute Resolution: Building Community through Partnerships is postponed due to hurricane Floyd, then held in Charlotte with US Attorney General Janet Reno as keynote speaker.
2000
NC State Bar contracts with Mediation Network to provide mediation of Client-Lawyer Fee Disputes across the state.
Legislature increases total appropriations to Mediation Network and centers to $1,603,124 and transfers responsibility for the Annual Report on the Funding and Activities of the Community Mediation Centers to Mediation Network.
Tammy Childress Willcox, director of the Conflict Resolution Center [serving Burke, Caldwell and Catawba counties] is elected MNNC President.
Founding of Mediation Center at Johnston Community College
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