Advisory Committee on the Judicial Family Network Resource Contact Program

[Date]

[Address]

Dear [Name]:

Thank you for volunteering to be a resource contact for the Advisory Committee on the Judicial Family Network! Because you are experienced in the "art of judicial living" and enjoy it, you will be a great asset to our program!

As a resource contact, you will share your knowledge gained as a judicial partner, and in doing so, will help someone new appreciate the joys of judicial life while considering the issues associated with it. Your role as a resource contact will force you to reflect on what you have done, what you are doing and allow for a new appreciation of your life which has been so positively influenced by your partner's decision to be a judge!

We look forward to working with you!

[Signature]

Chair
Resource Contact Subcommittee

Leslie Fine, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, The Max M. Fisher College of Business, The Ohio State University, and
Judith B. Fountain, Assistant Vice-Provost for Women's Policy Initiatives and Director, The Women's Place, The Ohio State University.

A mentor is someone with experience related to the role who is willing to share that experience with someone new in the role.

1. Issues and feelings judicial spouses may encounter.

   1.1 Job change required for the spouse due to conflict of interest issues related to the judgeship.

   1.2 Isolation due to the changing nature of relationships with attorney friends and others in the community.

   1.3 Financial adjustments if the judicial salary is lower than the former salary.

   1.4 Support of children being raised in the "public eye" (security, media, peer relationships, family relationships).

   1.5 Security for the family away from the courthouse.

   1.6 Campaign recovery.

   1.7 Media attention.

   1.8 Inappropriate comments and questions about cases and politics from family and friends.

2. The mentor's basic goal is to help the mentee deal with issues in a non-emotional way. Rather than respond immediately to the mentee's situation, the mentor should:

   2.1 Stop.

   2.2 Step back.

   2.3 Detach.

   2.4 Analyze.

3. To clarify the mentee's issues, the mentor should ask her/himself the following questions.

   3.1 Does the issue relate to judicial family life? If not, to what does it relate?

   3.2 Do I have enough information from the mentee to understand the issue or would additional facts be helpful?

   3.3 Have I detached myself emotionally while analyzing the issue?

   3.4 Have I provided appropriate resources?

4. What is mentoring? Mentoring is not counseling, coaching or supervision.

   4.1 Mentoring is not counseling. A counselor is a person who has a set of objective listening skills and uses those skills to allow the person being counseled to come to her/his decision. In a mentoring relationship, the mentor shares experiences and personal opinions with the mentee who uses that information in the decision making process. The mentor might say, "This is what I wish I had done when I first experienced this."

   4.2 Mentoring is broader than coaching which is skill-based training without an emotional component. Mentoring may involve some coaching, but there is also a responsibility to engage in a caring relationship.

   4.3 Mentoring is not supervision. The mentor does not tell the mentee if she/he is doing well. There is not an evaluation component. The mentor offers advice and support and shares experiences.

   4.4 Two key categories of mentoring are role-related and psychosocial.

   4.4.1 Psychosocial functions offer caring support to someone new in the role.

4.4.2 Role-related activities are specifically related to situations that a person encounters in her/his role.

1. Description of the OJFN Mentor Program.

   5.1 The mentees will be assigned to mentors based on gender, community size (urban or rural) and, if possible, court jurisdiction.

   5.2 The mentor period is two years.

   5.3 If, at any time, a mentee is not comfortable with her/his assigned mentor, the Supreme Court program staff member will reassign the mentee. Each mentor and mentee will have an evaluative discussion at six months.

   5.4 The OJFN Steering Committee chair, the mentor and the Supreme Court program staff member will each write a welcome letter to the spouse of every new judge upon her/his election or appointment to the bench.

   5.5 The mentor will contact the mentee no less than quarterly.

   5.6 The Supreme Court staff member will provide a quarterly informational piece (example: article, newsletter) to the mentors to be forwarded to the mentees.

   5.7 Annually, there will be at least two educational programs that focus on judicial family life for spouses of new judges

   5.8 A Mentor Program evaluation will be done, and the data will be used to revise the program for the following year.

Judicial Family Life, Spring 2001
Mary F. Moyer

The Ohio Judicial Family Network (OJFN) Mentor Program was initiated in October 2000 to offer role-related support and psychosocial support to the spouses of newly elected and appointed judges. The mentors, partners of experienced judges, are matched with mentees using the following criteria: gender, community size (urban or rural) and court jurisdiction.

To enhance the skills of the mentors, Leslie M. Fine, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Marketing, Fisher College of Business, The Ohio State University, and Judith B. Fountain, Director, The Women's Place, OSU, facilitated a three-hour training.

Leslie Fine presented "Mentoring: Paying Back and Paying Forward." She stated that mentoring is not counseling, coaching or supervision. "A mentor is someone with experience related to the role who is willing to share that experience with someone new in the role."

Mentoring is not counseling. A counselor is a person who has a set of objective listening skills and uses those skills to allow the person being counseled to come to his/her own decision. In a mentoring relationship, the mentor shares experiences and personal opinions with the mentee who uses that information in the decision-making process. The mentor might say, "This is what I wish I had done when I first got into this."

Mentoring is broader than coaching which is skill-based training without an emotional component. Mentoring may involve some coaching, but there is also a responsibility to engage in a caring relationship.

Mentoring is not supervision. The mentor does not tell the mentee if he/she is doing well. There is no evaluation component. The mentor offers advice and support and shares experiences.

Leslie Fine stated that the two key categories of mentoring are role-related and psychosocial. Role-related activities are specifically related to situations that a person encounters in his/her role. Psychosocial functions offer caring support and friendship to someone who is new in a role.

Judith Fountain facilitated large and small group discussions related to the components of mentoring. She offered guidelines to accomplish the mentor's basic goal: help the mentee deal with issues in a non-emotional way. Rather than responding immediately, she suggested a mentor 1) stop; 2) step back; 3) detach; and 4) analyze. To clarify that the mentor understands the mentee's issue, she suggested the following questions be asked.

1. Do I have enough information from the mentee to identify and understand the issue?
2. Do I understand how the issue relates to judicial family life?
3. Have I detached myself emotionally while analyzing the issue?
4. Which facts will be helpful to the mentee?
5. Have I provided the mentee with resources that are appropriate to the issue?

At the conclusion of the mentor training and based on the experience, the mentors developed the following documents and program plan.

1. "Mentor Attitudes, Attributes and Skills" and "Mentor Qualities" were written (see expandable sections below).
2. The mentees will be assigned to mentors based on an "arranged marriage" model (assigned by third person who matches mentee and mentor based on specific criteria) versus a "dating" model (mentee selects mentor after spending time with all those available to mentor) due to the short timeframe available in which to make the match.
3. The "official" mentoring period will be twelve months with the knowledge, that for some, a friendship may follow.
4. If, at any time, a mentee is not comfortable with his/her assigned mentor, the Supreme Court program staff member will reassign the mentee. Each mentor/mentee team will do an evaluation after six months.
5. The OJFN Steering Committee chair, the mentor and the Supreme Court program staff member will write to each spouse of a new judge upon the judge's election or appointment to the bench and welcome her/him to the judicial family.
6. The mentor will contact the mentee no less than quarterly.
7. The Supreme Court staff member will provide a quarterly informational piece (example: article, newsletter) to the mentors to be forwarded to the mentees.
8. There will be a minimum of two educational programs for judicial spouses focusing on judicial family life issues.
9. There will be a Mentor Program evaluation completed after nine months, and the data will be used to revise the program for the following year.

Attitudes
(Feelings or emotions)
Calm
Compassionate
Empathic
Enthusiastic
Non-judgmental
Positive
Realistic
Respectful of judiciary

Attributes
(Inherent characteristics)
Approachable
Authentic
Ethical
Flexible
Honest
Objective
Patient
Positive judicial family experience
Sense of humor
Tactful
Tolerant
Trustworthy
Values public service
Willing to share time with others

Skills
(Learned tasks or developed aptitudes or abilities)
Analyzes problems
Deflects questions when appropriate
Encourages and affirms others
Follows through
Good listener
Knowledgeable about resources for judicial family life
Sets limits
Shares knowledge and resources
"Thinks on his/her feet"

1. A mentor truly enjoys living in the family of a judge and is able to articulate what has been helpful to her.
2. A mentor is experienced in judicial family life.
3. A mentor is able to share resources about ethics, security and other information helpful to judicial families.
4. A mentor provides encouragement and affirms the abilities and competencies of the mentee to increase her strengths.
5. A mentor does not overwork the issues of the mentee.
6. A mentor makes time for their mentee.
7. A mentor makes herself familiar with the particular issues a judicial family faces specific to the mentee's spouse's jurisdiction.
8. A mentor has a non-anxious presence and a positive, yet realistic, attitude.
9. A mentor has humility and understands that a solution for an issue in one judicial family is not necessarily the solution for another.
10. A mentor honors the differences between her community and professional and personal life experiences and those of her mentee.
11. A mentor considers the "bigger picture" and values public service to the rule of law in a free society.
12. A mentor strives to meet the mentee's needs, not the mentor's need for friendship.
13. A mentor resides, whenever possible, in a county other than the mentee's to enhance the mentee's sense of privacy and confidentiality.
14. A mentor is the same gender as the mentee.

Ethics
Rick Dove
Director, Board of Professional Conduct
614.387.9370

Insurance
Human Resources Specialist
Supreme Court of Ohio
614.387.9470

Judicial Family Institute
jfi.ncsconline.org
jfamilyin@aol.com

Advisory Committee on the Judicial Family Network
Dean Hogan
Judicial Services Program Manager, Supreme Court of Ohio
614.387.9766

Ohio Lawyers Assistance Program
Scott Mote, Esq.
Executive Director, Ohio Lawyers Assistance Program
800.348.4343

Ohio Public Employees
Deferred Compensation
Customer Service
877.644.6457

Payroll
Human Resources Specialist
Supreme Court of Ohio
614.387.9470

Security
Local law enforcement
911/local number

Supreme Court
Dean Hogan
Judicial Services Program Manager
614.387.9766