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Community Dispute Resolution Referral |
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Disputes referred include any conflict between community and/or family
members who do not qualify for or do not request police intervention.
These can include but are not limited to: neighbour to neighbour conflicts;
family conflicts; organizational conflicts. The objects of Community
Dispute Resolution (CDR) is to facilitate open dialogues between the parties
involved. |
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Any community conflict situation will be considered, upon presentation to
the program. All parties involved will be contacted by the program
coordinator who will then determine their eligibility according to the
program criteria. |
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The process requires open dialogue in order to be successful.
Therefore, all parties to the dispute must be willing to participate in
order to proceed. |
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| 2. |
Referral Criteria |
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 | Must be willing to participate in the process |
| No litigation may be in progress |
| Financial issues (e.g. debt collection, rental collection, court
directed payments) will not be considered. |
| No age restrictions. |
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| 3. |
The Referral Process |
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One or more party in the conflict will contact the Arrowsmith Community
Justice Society (ACJS) coordinator. A meeting or phone
conversation will be arranged to discuss
the particulars. The coordinator will contact the other parties by
either a phone call or letter requesting participation. All parties wishing to participate will sign the
"Agreement to Participate" form. the program coordinator
will then set the facilitation process into motion and assign a conference
team. |
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| 4. |
The Community Dispute Resolution Process |
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The coordinator identifies a team of trained volunteers. This team
determines roles and responsibilities to best meet the needs of those
involved. A volunteer to liaise with the coordinator is designated.
The conference team organizes the community dialogue conference. |
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Pre-Conference |
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Designated member(s): |
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| Contact the participants to arrange individual pre-conference meetings at which
they: |
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| review the community dispute resolution process |
| hear the participant's account of the situation and clarify the
issues, |
| encourage participation |
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| More than one meeting may be required. |
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| Notify all participants of the conference date/time/place. |
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Conference: |
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The conference, facilitated by the designated member(s),
evolves approximately as follows: |
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| Prepare seating plan |
| Introduce participants and review the process and its guidelines. |
| Facilitor to state the incident, including relevant circumstances. |
| In turn, the participants are asked to describe the incident and how
it affects them. |
| When all participants have had a chance to speak, the facilitator(s)
initiate the discussion about what is required to resolve the conflict.
This may require the facilitator(s) to take an active role in questioning
the participants ad in reframing the issues. |
| When agreement is reached, the facilitator(s) restate the decision for
clarification and confirmation. A written summary will be prepared. |
| The facilitator(s) brings closure to the conference, which includes
the opportunity for any last words and an invitation to all involved to
stay behind for refreshments. |
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Post-Conference |
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Team member(s) are designated to follow up with participants after the
conference. |
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Designated team member(s): |
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| When requested, make the participants aware of appropriate community
resources. |
| Team members to be debriefed |
| Report to the coordinator at completion of conference. |
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