The Illinois Equal Justice Foundation (IEJF) makes grants to provide mediation services to Illinois residents, as an efficient and cost-effective alternative to traditional legal processes.
Donor Name: Illinois Equal Justice Foundation
State: Illinois
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 07/28/2023
Size of the Grant: $4.8 million
Grant Duration: 1 year
Details:
The IEJF will support selected mediation programs whose purpose is to improve access to just resolutions of disputes for those who might not otherwise have such access.
Grants to support mediation services will be made to dispute resolution centers, which are not-for-profit organizations that offer free mediation services to the public that are provided by trained volunteers. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, virtual mediation services and centers will be considered.
For the purposes of these guidelines, mediation is defined as a voluntary process in which an impartial mediator actively assists disputants in identifying and clarifying issues of concern and in designing and agreeing to solutions for those issues. A mediator is defined as a person who has received at least 30 hours of training in the areas of negotiation, nonverbal communication, agreement writing, neutrality and ethics.
Funding Information
- The budget for 2024 grants will be approximately $4.8 million.
- Grant Period: September 1, 2023 – August 31, 2024.
Uses of funds
In the Mediation Services category, the IEJF will consider support for:
- New Dispute Resolution Centers: To increase the availability of mediation services throughout Illinois, the IEJF will consider applications for “start-up” grants to new dispute resolution centers – including those that have begun operation and those that will begin offering services during the grant period – that can demonstrate the ability to provide mediation services
- Existing Dispute Resolution Centers: The IEJF will consider applications for operating support from existing dispute resolution centers. These operating expenses include staff salaries and benefits, as well as other costs directly related to providing mediation services including activities required to measure success, effectiveness and efficiency as it relates to organizational mission and that are used for learning and improvement.
Eligibility Criteria
In the Mediation Services category, the IEJF will only consider applications from Illinois-based not-for-profit organizations that:
- Provide free mediation services to disputants
- Provide mediation services using volunteers who have received at least 30 hours of training as mediators
- Have operating procedures in place that demonstrate compliance with Section 5 of the Illinois Not-for-Profit Dispute Resolution Center Act (710 ILCS 20/5), including:
- Operating an ongoing peer review program for mediators;
- Scheduling mediations within 30 days of the commencement of a case;
- Maintaining records on mediated cases;
- Advising parties of the objectives of mediation, their roles and the mediator’s role;
- Considering disputes resolved when there is a written agreement.
For more information, visit IEJF.
