Birth to 3 Program: Mediation

Disagreements can happen.

Do you have a concern or disagreement about services or decisions made by the Birth to 3 Program?

If talking to the team didn’t help fix it, the Birth to 3 Program Mediation System can help!

Key actions

 

  • Mediation is when a neutral person called a mediator helps solve disagreements between two parties.
  • For the Birth to 3 Program, it can be used when parents or caregivers and program staff don’t agree on decisions about eligibility or services on the Individual Family Service Plan.
  • In mediation, you have a safe place to openly share your views.
  • Mediation is free, private, and voluntary. You decide if you want to use mediation or not.

  • Mediation often finds a solution that everyone agrees to.
  • The mediator helps come up with options but doesn’t decide for you.
  • You can talk openly.
  • Your child still gets services from the Birth to 3 Program during mediation unless you say no.

You might choose mediation if you don’t agree with:

  • Decisions about your child’s eligibility
  • The evaluation process
  • The services being offered
  • How the services are being provided

  • Parents or caregivers
  • The local Birth to 3 Program
  • Both parties together

  • Parents and caregivers
  • Two representatives from the local Birth to 3 Program
  • Other parties, with the permission of both the parents or caregivers and the Birth to 3 Program representatives.

  1. First, you will fill out the Request for Mediation Form (PDF).
    You can either:
    • Fill it out with your local Birth to 3 Program
    • Fill it out on your own
  2. Next, mail or email the form.
    • Mail the form to:
      Wisconsin Special Education Mediation
      System (WSEMS)
      Gia Pionek
      PO Box 70693
      Milwaukee, WI 53207
      OR
    • Scan and email the form to gia@wsems.us
  3. Last, get a mediator assigned.
    • If you submit the form with signatures from parents or caregivers and local Birth to 3 Program staff, a mediator will be assigned right away.
    • If either party submits the form individually, the other party will be contacted to see if they want to participate. They have three days to agree. If they do, then a mediator will be assigned.

  • A mediator will help guide a conversation between the two parties and help them work toward an agreement.
  • Mediation will begin within 14 days after the mediator is assigned. You will meet at a time and place you both agree on.
  • If an agreement is reached, it will be put in writing. Everyone will sign it and it will become legally binding.

Birth to 3 Program mediation is provided by Pionek Valle Law Group, LLC. They are a neutral provider of the intake, screening, and mediation referral process.

Find more information on who mediators are.

You can contact Pionek Valle Law Group, LLC:

Get more information. Read and print a copy of the Mediation System brochure, P-23117.

Glossary

 
Last revised July 8, 2024