Policy Consensus E-News — January 2004
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Strategies for State Programs: Focus on Policy Issues
The
National Policy Consensus Center (NPCC) has undertaken a strategy for
communicating with state leaders through focusing on policy issues and
how collaborative approaches can be employed to address these issues.
To date, NPCC has examined the issues of watershed management, sustainability, transportation, and health care access.
We believe a similar strategy can work for state conflict resolution and consensus building programs. As an example, the Florida Conflict Resolution Consortium (FCRC) launched a transportation initiative a number of years ago. According to Bob Jones, FCRC's Executive Director, "The goal of the initiative is to assist public and private entities in using collaborative planning, facilitated sessions, mediation and other consensus building tools to both make and successfully implement public decisions on transportation."
Since the early 1990s, FCRC has worked on various transportation issues with the Florida Department of Transportation (DOT), the 25 federally funded Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), and other state agencies and local governments. This has included public involvement and consensus building on drafting the state transportation plan in 1995 and 2000 with the DOT and transportation partners around the state, strategic visioning efforts with MPOs, partnering efforts among regional state agency offices, local project development, and corridor planning. Funding has come from state, regional and local levels on a project-by-project basis.
Alabama Attorney General Initiates
Mandatory Early Case Assessment for ADR
This
month, Alabama will begin implementing a new strategy to increase appropriate
use of mediation in resolving disputes. The initiative, spearheaded by
Attorney General Bill Pryor, requires state attorneys to assess all their
cases to determine whether they are suitable for mediation.
Assessments occur at the early, pre-litigation stage, with the aim of saving both in staff time and agency budgets. Attorneys also are required to report results of early case assessment for all disputes involving state agencies, whether the agency is the initiating party or not.
According to Pryor, integrating ADR procedures in state government “is a highly effective, cost-savings tool” and a priority for his administration. “The use of a mandatory early case assessment format is an effective method to ensure the use of ADR by representatives of state entities, including attorneys,” he said.
Seeking Model Programs
Does your state have a specific ADR approach that could serve as a model for others? Programs such as the Alabama AG's ADR case assessment initiative for state attorneys, or the mediation program of the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals, can offer useful templates for other states seeking to establish similar approaches. To discuss or publicize a model ADR program or initiative in your state, please contact Drew Strayer at PCI.
Changing Faces at the Montana Consensus Council
Matt
McKinney, founding director of the Montana Consensus Council (MCC) has
been named Director of the Public Policy Research Institute at the University
of Montana . The move comes following legislation earlier this year that
made MCC an instrument of state government, attached to the Department
of Administration, but with its own governing board.
Judy Edwards has been named MCC's new Executive Director. A native of Montana , Edwards worked in Utah state government for the past 15 years. For several years she served as the Utah Health Department's Liaison to tribes for health policy issues. In that role, she facilitated many issues involving the state and tribes. Edwards also assisted the Governor's Office in resolving other kinds of policy issues. One such issue concerned religious freedom for American Indian inmates, which brought tribal and spiritual leaders to the table with state officials, including the Governors Office, Department of Corrections, legislators, and the Attorney General. The effort resulted in the Indian Religious Freedom Act, which passed the Montana Legislature.
An ADR Approach to School Financing Disputes
The
State of New Jersey and the Education Law Center in Newark , an advocacy
group for urban schools have negotiated an agreement in Abbott v.
Burke , a lawsuit that was before the New Jersey Supreme Court for
22 years.
The mediated settlement created a process for the parties to work collaboratively on critical issues such as regulations to implement court decisions regarding school supplemental programs, administrative matters, and classroom instruction in 30 of the state's poorest districts.
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