OMA Membership Meeting

                                                                                 Distribution: Post to mediate.com/ohio

Date:               October 6, 2006

Time:              11:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Location:        MCL Cafeteria on Schrock Road

Attendees:      21 members and 3 non-members

1.  Welcome and Introductions.  All attendees introduced themselves by providing their name, location of services, and a brief description of their mediation job or cliental. 

2.  President’s Comments.  OMA has increased its fiscal health as can be seen in the treasurer’s report.  Jay also believes that OMA has also grown professionally through the support and participation of the organization’s members.

3.  Vice President’s Comments.  Phil Dunfree provided copies of the draft OMA brochure; any comments should be provided as soon as possible.  Phil also solicited members to work on OMA’s annual conference.

4.  Immediate Past President’s Comments.

a.       Per Shirley Cochran, OMA membership currently stands at 129; this is more than at the end of last year.  However, we have had 35 former members not renew their memberships so she encouraged attendees to spread the word.

b.      Any member needing copies of the OMA brochure or the handouts provided by Richard Benjamin at last year’s conference should contact Shirley.

c.       OMA has received four donations this year in addition to memberships.

d.      Shirley is always looking for articles to include in the newsletter.  She needs submittals by the 20^th of each month.

5.Treasurer’s Comments.  Dan DeStephens shared that OMA currently has $4,324 cash on-hand and $7,000 in CDs.  The only major expenses for the remainder of the year are $1,700 to Mediate.com and approximately $200 for printing the OMA brochure.

6. Secretary’s Comments.  Christy Radigan completed the minutes from the August meeting and posted them to the website.

7. Old Business. 

            a.  Intern.  Dan DeStephens provided an update on OMA’s work with Capital University to establish an intern position.  Duties/assignments for the intern have been developed and prioritized.  Eileen Pruett suggested that OMA also consider working with Franklin University on an intern position; Jacquie Hagerott would be a good contact point.

            b. Summit Meeting.  The next meeting will be held on October 16, 2006.  The group is currently working on a marketing plan and a survey to collect mediation data.

8. New Business. 

            a. Case Study Group:  The OMA Board is currently reviewing a proposal for sponsoring a case study group.  Judith Thomas described the case study approach including information on facilitating the group, presenting a case and subsequent discussion by the group.  The initial group meeting will be held after December’s OMA membership meeting.  Reminders will be provided to OMA members via email and information will be included on the website.

            b. Shirley Cochran stated that the amended Rule 16 will be effective on January 1, 2007.  All courts will be required to screen for domestic violence prior to scheduling a mediation.

            c.  The next conference of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts will be held in Washington, D.C. on May 30 through June 2, 2007.

9. Program.  Personnel from Montgomery County and Summit County domestic court systems provided insights on how they established and maintain outstanding mediation programs.  Participants included: Judge Carol J Dezso, Magistrate Edward Schneider and Sandra Wintz, LSW, from Summit Count, and Chief Magistrate Christine Magee and Sandra Fredrick, LSW, from Montgomery County.  One of the keys to the success of their court programs is the use of the co-mediation model.  Participation by both a magistrate as well as a social worker supports consideration of both legal and social work aspects during the mediation.  The panel members strongly endorsed the advantages of mediation over evidentiary hearings.  Benefits include the ability for participants to represent themselves and the capacity for mediation to deal with emotional issues as well as legal.  Thanks to the enthusiasm and knowledge of the panel members, this was an excellent presentation!

10. Adjourn.  The next bimonthly meeting is scheduled for December 1, 2006 at the MCL Cafeteria.

Prepared by:  Christy Radigan, OMA Secretary