Tackling Cross-Border Family Issues with Mediation
On June 5, 2018,
International Social Service-USA (ISS-USA)
,
MK Family Law
,
The George Washington University School of Law
, and
Leslie Ellen Shear, Attorney at Law
, hosted a day-long conference,
Cross-Border Family Mediation: Dispute Resolution for International Families In Your Community
, in Washington, D.C. This event brought together over 50 participants representing a variety of sectors including the U.S. federal government, state governments, universities, private law firms, and NGOs. The conference gathered leading experts for workshops and networking sessions to discuss mediation as a key process to help cross-border families with their complex situations.
The workshops at the conference included
Challenges for Cross-Border Families: Mediation as a Key Tool
,
Case Assessment: Identifying Families for Mediation and Educating Them About The Process
,
Existing Global and Regional Mediation Programs
, and
What Next?: How to Ensure Mediation is Available in the U.S. for Families Involved in Cross Border Conflicts
. These workshops centered around the complex nature of international family disputes, identifying families where mediation would be helpful, identifying what global resources exist for engaging families in mediation processes, and ensuring that mediation is an available resource for international families.
Throughout the conference, participants were surprised to learn how complicated legal matters can become in cross-border family situations and how well mediation tools can assist with difficult conversations and negotiations. Since states in the U.S. handle and prioritize mediation differently, there was an understanding of the increased need for collaboration between experts across state lines and borders, to better understand when mediation is a viable tool.
The use of mediation to resolve cross-border family conflicts is currently in its infancy. In the future, the
International Social Service (ISS) International Family Mediation Program
aims to better protect children involved in cross-border parental conflicts and continue to expand their mediator’s list to all 130 member countries. To make use of cross-border mediation tools in the future, developing global awareness and capacity are essential. Investing in new technologies, including virtual mediation, will make mediation services more widely available to those in need.
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ISS-USA Welcomes Rodrigo Menino to the Board of Directors
ISS-USA is excited to welcome Mr. Rodrigo Menino to the ISS-USA Board of Directors. Mr. Menino will Chair the Board's Audit Committee.
Mr. Menino is currently a divisional Chief Financial Officer for the GEA Group in North America, where he supports the financial strategy of the Equipment division in the region. Prior to GEA, Rodrigo held various finance management positions over a 10 year span at General Electric Company. He is a graduate of GE’s prestigious finance leadership program and holds a Bachelors of Science in International Business from Drexel University.
Welcome to the ISS-USA team, Mr. Menino!
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Did You Miss Our
Live Chat
? Don't Worry, You Can Still View It!
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Supporting Separated Families
ISS-USA staff members Felicity Sackville Northcott and Elaine Weisman (right), met with Her Excellency Claudia Ivette Canjura de Centen, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of El Salvador, at the
Embassy of El Salvador
in Washington, DC on Tuesday, June 19th, 2018. They participated in a round-table discussion regarding the Trump Administration's recent "Zero Tolerance" policy and shared perspectives on how non-profits such as ISS-USA can offer support to separated families across international borders.
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Fostering Global Change with the FCN Foundation
ISS-USA staff members Marie Blum, Felicity Sackville Northcott, and Elaine Weisman (left to right) attended
The FCN Foundation
's
Alumni Powerhouse Networking Conference
on June 10th, 2018. Ms. Northcott participated in a panel discussion regarding global child welfare issues and cross-border family finding and engagement for children.
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Casework Corner: Reuniting Families Across Borders
14-year-old Danny* was living in Canada and lost both of his parents, who had passed away within a year of each other. It was discovered that Danny had an Aunt and Uncle in Tennessee who wanted to take care of him.
ISS-USA
conducted a homestudy on the Aunt and Uncle in Tennessee, and concluded their home would be a safe and healthy environment for Danny. It was also Danny's desire to live with his Aunt and Uncle, so he will soon be reunited with them permanently in Tennessee.
*names and locations have been changed for privacy reasons
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#KidsAreWaiting
ISS-USA is launching a
#kidsarewaiting
campaign to highlight the barriers children face in reuniting with their families across state and country borders. Here are some statistics to share on social media:
- 107,000 #kidsarewaiting to be adopted in the U.S.
- 100,000 #kidsarewaiting in U.S. foster care for their families in foreign countries to be engaged in permanency planning for them.
- 30,000 #kidsarewaiting to be deinstitutionalized in the U.S.
- 20,000 #kidsarewaiting to leave group homes in the U.S.
- 193,000 #kidsarewaiting in non-relative foster homes to be reunited with family.
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Looking for an Exciting New Position?
International Social Service-USA is hiring for multiple positions! Check out our
careers page
for information on open positions.
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Featured Blog From A Board Member:
Does the 1980 Hague Abduction Convention Apply to Separated & Detained Children in the USA?
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Read the blog
by our board member, Stephen Cullen, & his colleague Kelly Powers from
Miles & Stockbridge
, about how the
1980 Hague Abduction Convention
can help children separated from their families.
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