2018-412-E Finance - Dispute Settlement Center outside agency agreement

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DocuSign Envelope ID: D068E7B0- D869- 43F4- B35C- 428F10E3BDC1 EXHIBIT A: PROVIDER'S OUTSIDE AGENCY APPLICATION Chief District Court Judge Joseph Buckner has said that his courthouse would "be in lock - down" without the assistance of Dispute Settlement Center mediators relieving the courts. Most important, offering disputants a chance to sit down with mediators helps them reach lasting resolutions so that behaviors leading to warrants are less likely to be repeated. These are public safety issues. Families in Orange County need affordable mediation services when faced with separation and divorce. While there are private mediators, we are the only mediators with a sliding scale fee structure. Low to moderate income couples — and those unemployed- need this support. In addition, as the population ages, more families struggle with transitions around care of elders. We offer a different way, beyond fighting, litigation, or suffering in silence. This includes assisting the Orange County Clerk of Court with family situations at his request. Finally, having a place to contact for help and support with neighborhood or other conflicts means we can be a gentler community — where people try to talk to each other over differences, rather than litigating, fighting, or avoiding each other. j) Describe what would happen if requested funding is not awarded at all or if a reduced allocation is recommended. Without funding, we could not attend Criminal District Court. After the NC Legislature de- funded mediation throughout the state for FY11, Orange County picked up support for this needed service. Note that in FY02, the NC Legislature was providing $84,530 in support for this program. Over time, we have found some general support for mediation. We believe that it can be agreed that court mediation, however, is properly supported by government. Our expenses have continued to go up with this program, while we receive less than we did 17 years ago in government support, due to the state budget pullbacks. We are so grateful for Orange County's leadership (the only County in NC to support court mediation in this way) but we do struggle to keep up with our costs. k) What percentage of your target population is low- moderate income? Court: We understand most of our clients to be hourly workers who are missing work to be in court. We do not have absolute data to support this, but this is our experience. Family: Divorce mediation is open to all income levels, but the reality is that our clients tend to be moderate income, with about one - quarter being low- income or unemployed (paying the minimal on our sliding scale.) Medicaid: All clients are either disabled or very low- income. PROGRAM INFORMATION 1/22/2018 4:11:17 PM -_� a g � I , nF f