Life can be complicated for a child of divorced or separated parents.

Custody disputes create a conflict between parents, but Douglas County District Court officials and volunteers say there’s a way to find compromise.

“Mediation is an opportunity for them to put behind everything that has gone wrong in that relationship and really be future-focused and have a conversation about what they do need to do as parents,” said Diane Oakes, coordinator of the Douglas County Domestic Mediation Project. “That will allow their child to have a positive relationship with each of the parents.”

It’s a pilot mediation project that gives parents, particularly those in low-income families, access to mediation to try to resolve issues by creating parenting plans outside of court.

Court Trustee Katy Nitcher and her staffers frequently get questions from parents, especially about custody and visitation issues.

But Nitcher’s office only has the authority to deal with enforcing and modifying child support.

“We would routinely get phone calls from parents saying, ‘I’m not seeing my kids,’ or ‘I don’t want to pay support,’ or just other issues going on,” she said. “So we felt there was a need to have some sort of mediation that we could refer them to.”

No county funds are being used in the project. The mediators have agreed to donate the fees collected back to the project, which will help cover supplies and administrative costs, Oakes said.

The program already has five active mediation cases. Leaders want to get through 15 cases as part of the pilot.

Oakes said both parents are required to participate. The mediators approved by the Kansas Supreme Court spend time first with each parent individually for one hour before the parents come together for a session that averages two hours.

“During a joint session the mediator guides the conversation and tries to facilitate a discussion between the parents, and those parents can make decisions in the best interest of their child,” said Oakes, the retired CEO of Girl Scouts of Northeast Kansas, who is volunteering for the program.

Hourly fees are based on a sliding scale based on individual gross income. Someone who earns less than $10,000 a year would pay $20 in hourly fees for mediation and $10 an hour for administrative costs. Someone who earns more than $50,000 would pay $100 per hour for mediation and $50 an hour for administrative costs.

Oakes said outside of the project, mediators typically charge $125 to $150 per hour while attorney mediators charge $200 or more per hour.

Interested parents can get more information from the trustees office by calling 785-832-5315.