7 More Mediation Specialists to Be Hired for Custody Cases

In an effort to settle child custody quarrels before they get to a judge, the Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved hiring seven more mediation specialists.

The county now has eight family court mediators, who must have master’s degrees in psychology, social work or a related field, court officials said. San Diego County, with about the same population as Orange County, has 22.

Superior Court Judge Donald E. Smallwood, supervisor of the judges who hear family law cases, said the heavy caseload means mediators often do not have enough time to spend on cases that could be settled, and they send them to a judge.

“In addition, the sheer number of mediations being attempted by current staff has reached such a level that many of them are exhausted physically and emotionally,” Smallwood said in a letter relayed to the supervisors.

The state requires parents who are divorcing to use a mediator if custody of a child is in question.

Because of the volume of cases, mediators now spend only half an hour on each case, according to Alan Slater, the Superior Court executive officer. If the quarrel is not resolved, it goes to a judge.

Slater said an hour of a mediator’s time, including clerical help, costs $49.45. An hour of court time costs $320.

Smallwood said that in Alameda County, which has half the number of divorce cases but twice the number of mediators as Orange County, only 12 child custody disputes went to trial.

“In each month, Orange County judges try in excess of 15 contested custody cases of one day to four days in duration,” he said. He said judges in other counties “are astounded at the amount of custody litigation that we attempt to handle through our courts rather than resolving them through mediation.”

The supervisors also approved hiring four more clerks. The cost of the 11 new positions will be $433,066 a year, to be paid from increased fees for those who receive the mediation services and from state funds.