Outcome Evaluation of the Second Judicial District Court’s Dependency Mediation Program (Washoe County, Nevada)

In August 2011, the Second Judicial District Court of Nevada in Washoe County implemented a dependency mediation program. The overarching goal of the mediation program is to reduce the time to permanency for children. The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) has conducted research on the impacts of dependency mediation programs in the SJDC and other selected jurisdictions in Nevada.This report examines a range of performance indicators and outcome measures related to the impacts of mediation in both dependency and termination of parental rights cases in Washoe County and expands upon the initial outcome evaluation studies conducted in 2013. However, while this report expands upon the initial 2013 studies, it is important to note that the current study represents a first phase outcome analysis with subsequent research anticipated to extend beyond this study.