CMC's Programs

Project Settle

In a project in association with Gallatin County Justice Court, since 1995, our volunteer mediators have settled 65–75% of cases sent to mediation, saving the county the cost of an additional half-time judge. Read more

Low-Income Family Mediation

Since 1997, the CMC has offered mediation services to low-income divorcing families. The program helps parents who are divorcing focus on what is best for their children. In 2001, CMC was awarded the Pro Bono Publico Award by the Gallatin County Bar Association for this program. Read more

Restorative Justice

The Restorative Justice Program has four facets. Read more

• Youth Justice Council (YJC)
• Victim Offender Mediation (VOM)
• Minor in Possession Impact Panels (MIP)
• Graduation Resource Council for Attendance & Truancy Issues (GRC)

Peaceful Schools Initiative

The CMC works with Bozeman Public Schools, Monforton School and Shields Valley School to train students to be "peer mediators." The program teaches students how to resolve disputes on their own before they escalate to violence. One middle school student served by the program wrote on an evaluation, "It is really easy for me to get into fights because the smallest things really get to me. Without mediation I would be a really unhappy person. Me and the others came out of it (the mediation) being very good friends, and now we know what to do if we get into a dispute again." Diana McDonough, principal of Sacajawea Middle School, is attributing a 67% decrease of the number of fights to the peer mediation program. School staff is reporting a remarkable turnaround in the behavior of some of the at-risk students trained as peer mediators. Entrusted with this responsibility, these students gain self-esteem and become positive role models. Read more

Conflict Resolution Training Workshops

We also offer one day workshops for students who are not part of the Peer Mediation program and a separate workshop for interested parents. In April 2001, CMC was one of four organizations worldwide invited to present its school program to an international workshop hosted by the United Nations Educational Cultural and Scientific Organization. Read more

Public Policy Facilitation Program

CMC has a list of private facilitators that will work with the general public to facilitate large public meetings. Historically, we have worked with the City of Bozeman and surrounding communities concerning Land Use Issues. Read more