Page 16 - Meeting with Children Manual

Section 1 P a ge | 14

COMPLEXITY AND THE CHILD VOICE

A question that occupies the minds of many family mediators is; should any meeting with a
child occur when the case has been assessed as a high-risk family mediation?
 Safety is paramount
 Inclusion of children is normalised
 Meeting with children is different to reporting back to parents

These four levels are briefly outlined below:
Green Risk Lowest risk across the whole family system. No known complexity.
Yellow Risk: Slight risk to individuals or the family, due to historic complexity. No or
low-level fears or concerns reported.
Orange Risk Moderate risk to individuals or across the family. Risk is present and is
currently managed with protection agency involvement.
Red Risk High risk to individuals or across the family. Risk is present and is
currently NOT managed. There is no or limited protection agency
involvement.

Implications for ADR and Child Meetings
The parents in Green cases are capable of separating the loss of the partner
relationship from the continuing role as parents of their children. They are
interested in and use the language of collaborative parenting. They are reflective and
see that they each contributed to the breakdown of their relationship. They can
mediate together and work well within narrative mediation principles. Finally, their
parenting plans often do not require great detail as the parents demonstrate
flexibility and collaboration.

These cases are likely Child Centred Continuum Model Level 3 or Level 4 cases.

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