Community Mediation Center

The Carroll County Community Mediation Center (CCCMC) started as a parent-teen mediation program in 2000 with the support of the Department of Juvenile Services (DJS), the Family Law Administrator, the Maryland Mediation and Conflict Resolution Office (MACRO), Community Mediation Maryland (CMM) and the Carroll County Youth Services Bureau (CCYSB). The vision was to provide families with a collaborative process to work out issues such as school attendance and performance, curfew, chores, friends, communication and more. The parent-teen mediation program was unique in offering a co-mediation model where the mediators mirrored the participants, having one adult and one teen mediator.

Over the years, the CCCMC expanded their services to include other family relationships such as couples, parents, siblings and in-laws. In addition to family conflicts, the CCCMC broadened its services to more community-based disputes including neighbor-neighbor, landlord-tenant, business-consumer, employee-employer, co-workers and neighborhood associations.

The CCCMC was part of the CCYSB from 2000 to 2008. In April 2008, the CCYSB decided that the focus of the CCCMC on community-based disputes no longer fit with their mission of providing a continuum of community-based mental health services for children, adults and families in Carroll County.

Carroll Community College (CCC) was approached about taking on the CCCMC in June 2008, and in October 2008, the Mediation Center officially began operating under the auspices of CCC. The Center’s office is accessible and easy to find in the Nonprofit Center Building on Clifton Boulevard in Westminster.

Over the years, many members of the Carroll County community have been served by the CCCMC, and thousands of mediation sessions have helped residents resolve their conflicts nonviolently. The volunteers and staff of the CCCMC look forward to providing more county residents, businesses and organizations with education and training opportunities in addition to conflict resolution services.

Carroll County Community Mediation Center’s vision is for every Carroll County citizen to have awareness of and access to high quality conflict resolution services at the community level, such as mediation and conflict coaching.

The Mediation Center promotes peaceful resolution of conflict and collaborative problem solving by providing a range of conflict resolution services, education and professional training to the Carroll County community.

Mediation helps people reach agreements, rebuild relationships and find permanent solutions to their disputes. It is a process that lets people speak for themselves and make their own decisions.

The 10-point model of community mediation strives to:

1. Train community members who reflect the community’s diversity with regard to age, race, gender, ethnicity, income and education to serve as volunteer mediators.
2. Provide mediation services at no cost or on a sliding scale.
3. Hold mediations in neighborhoods where disputes occur.
4. Schedule mediations at a time and place convenient to the participants.
5. Encourage early use of mediation to prevent violence or to reduce the need for court intervention, as well as provide mediation at any stage in a dispute.
6. Mediate community-based disputes that come from referral sources including self-referrals, police, courts, community organizations, civic groups, religious institutions, government agencies and others.
7. Educate community members about conflict resolution and mediation.
8. Maintain high quality mediators by providing intensive, skills-based training, apprenticeships, continuing education and ongoing evaluation of volunteer mediators.
9. Work with the community in governing community mediation programs in a manner based on collaborative problem solving among staff, volunteers and community members.
10. Provide mediation, education and other conflict resolution processes to community members who reflect the community’s diversity with regard to age, race, gender, ethnicity, income, education and geographic location.

Mediation is a conflict-resolution process in which mediators assist two or more participants with a dispute or conflict, helping those who need to have a difficult conversation clarify what is important to everyone and make decisions that meet the needs of those involved. Mediation is confidential, voluntary and nonjudgmental.

Learn more about mediation:

• FAQs
• Printable brochure
• Maryland Mediation and Conflict Resolution Office (MACRO)
• Community Mediation Maryland

Mediation Video

Conflict coaching is a conflict management process where a coach works one on one with a participant to address a specific conflict situation or to improve one’s conflict management skills. Conflict coaching sessions may take place in person, online or over the phone, and are scheduled for 45 minutes to an hour at convenient times. Participants may have as many coaching sessions as they need to meet their goals. Coaching is a voluntary and confidential process which may be helpful in preparing for a mediation or challenging conversation, or when mediations cannot be scheduled. Conflict coaching can be used as a stand-alone service.

Facilitation services are available for groups of 10 or more people. The Center’s facilitators work with meeting organizers and participants to design a process that helps promote dialogue, clarity and efficiency to attain the goals of the group. As third party neutrals, the facilitators guide the process with all participants and remain impartial to the outcomes. The facilitators assist in keeping the meeting on track and record notes and action items.

The CCCMC provides education and training to community groups, churches, schools and government agencies. Presentations and trainings are tailored to meet the needs of each agency, organization or business.

Facilitators work with the parent(s) and the school to foster constructive communication and collaboration to develop an effective educational program. The facilitator talks to the parents and the IEP Chair in advance to support the development of an agenda and helps make sure everyone has a chance to speak and be heard at an IEP meeting. The facilitator keeps the discussion focused and assists the team to resolve disagreements.