In recognition of the value of a peaceful community the agency provides the skills and processes that help people handle conflict in a constructive way.

    Mediation is a voluntary, confidential process which brings disputing parties together with a trained, neutral third party in order to define the interest involved and reach solutions which are practical and beneficial to all parties.
    Compared to litigation, mediation is less costly, faster, more private, and produces results that are more satisfying and longer lasting.  Because mediation results in fewer cases being resolved in the courts, it is an effective way to save tax dollars as well.

   The Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution, Inc. is a non-profit, community based organization established in 1979 by local Quakers to provide mediation services to family, neighborhood, landlord-tenant and business related disputes.
    The Center is part of the New York State Unified Court System's Community Dispute Resolution Centers Program.  The Center has a pool of nearly sixty mediators.  These volunteers, nearly all of whom have professional backgrounds, are trained and certified in basic mediation skills through a process overseen and monitored by the New York State Unified Court System.  The Center's mediators are dedicated professionals who have a wide variety of knowledge and expertise in addition to their mediation skills.  Some have taken additional training in a specialized skill such as Divorce Mediation, Special Education Mediation, or Lemon Law Arbitration.

    The agency administers the following programs: Safe Schools, Family Court Mediation, Community Mediation, Lemon Law Arbitration, Divorce Mediation, Court Appointed Special Assistants, Multi-Party Mediation and Facilitation and Special Education Mediation.

    During 1998 the Center mediated or arbitrated over 650 cases of all kinds, and served nearly 1,500 individuals.  The Center was successful in reaching agreements in over 75% of those cases, with very high rates of satisfaction among disputants.  The result is a reduction in violence and litigation, and tremendous savings of tax dollars due to reduced civil court dockets and decreased use of the criminal justice system.
    In addition, during 1998 the Center provided training and classroom activities to over 500 individuals through its Safe Schools Programming.
    In order to generate these statistics, our 51 volunteer mediators and 9 CASA volunteers donated over 2,200 hours of their time to the agency during 1998.