COUNTYWIDE : Dispute Resolution Program Launched

A program designed to resolve consumer, landlord and neighborhood disputes before they ever get to Orange County’s already crowded court system was officially begun Wednesday.

“It certainly holds the promise of reducing court congestion,” Supervisor Roger R. Stanton said. “It is certainly a cost-effective option . . . and a user-friendly system.”

The Dispute Resolution Program, which receives $410,000 in county funds, involves volunteers from five agencies to work as mediators. Wednesday marked the graduation of 61 volunteers, the first group trained for the program.

The groups working in the mediation program are the Human Relations Commission, Central Orange County YWCA, Community Services Programs Inc., Saint Vincent de Paul Society and the Center for Community Mediation.

“The program is designed to relieve court congestion, offer a low-cost, speedy alternative to the court system and prevent escalation of conflict that would lead to personal and community-related violence,” said Joan Conroy of the county Community Services Agency.

Conroy said the program is funded under state law by a $3 surcharge on local court filings.

The newly trained volunteer mediators received 25 hours of training and will spend the next year as trainee mediators. The five nonprofit agencies estimate that they could handle as many as 1,300 mediation cases annually.

Some groups, for example the YWCA, have acted for years as mediators in landlord-tenant disputes, but because of small budgets have been able to handle only a few clients at a time.

“We are excited about this first graduating class,” Stanton said. “With our overcrowded legal system, who couldn’t be in favor of a program like this that offers alternatives to litigation and the escalation of issues?”