The Center for Human Development offers low cost, sliding scale community mediation services.
CHD Resolving Disputes Together
Contact: 925 687-8844
Although businesses and organizations pay a flat fee that is less than half the cost of using a private mediator with the same expertise, no one is ever turned away for lack of funds.
According to the program, parties who take their dispute to Center for Human Development will leave with a resolution in the form of an agreement about 90% of the time.
How does it work?
A request is made to CRP and trained volunteer mediators can contact all the individuals involved, explain the process, and if all parties consent, offer to mediate. Under the service, mediation sessions are scheduled in a secure meeting place. All parties show up with the willingness to share their stories. If an agreement is reached, it is written down and everyone receives a copy. The entire process is confidential.
Some examples of cases handled under the program are:
- Business/workplace disagreements involving employees, management or contractors
- Organizational conflicts between groups such as school boards and parent associations
- Real estate issues between buyers, sellers, contractors and realtors
- Homeowners’ association/ member disputes
The Congress of Neutrals offers the community, attorneys and courts hands-on training in conflict resolution, mediation in the civil and family law courts to litigants wanting same day mediation as well as a Moderate Means Mediation Program to the community.
40 hour Training and Mediation Mentoring Program. The Congress of Neutrals regularly offers a 40 hour training to become a mediator and after that training, mediators can get hands-on experience in the courts in our Mediation Mentoring Program training with experienced mediators to gain experiential skills to mediate and able to join the Alternate Disputer Resolution (ADR) panels.
Same Day Mediation in Contra Costa Superior Court. The Congress of Neutrals provides mediation services in small claims, unlawful detainer and civil harassment cases throughout Contra Costa County. Participation in these mediations, which are held on the day of trial in all three of the local branch courts (Pittsburg, Richmond and Martinez) is free of charge, voluntary and confidential.
Moderate Means Mediation Program The Congress of Neutrals offers mediation who those of you who have cases needing mediation beyond the walls of the Contra Costa County Courthouses in which your client may not have the means to pay market rates. Our mission is to help meet the gap in the need for mediation at affordable rates.
Our highly trained mediators can mediate in a vast number of subject matters, as many of our mediators are trained attorneys and negotiators with backgrounds in finance, counseling, and many areas of civil law to include but not limited to real estate/unlawful detainers, construction defects, insurance claims, tort injury, money dispute, probate and much more.
As a non-profit and community minded, our goal is to provide our services to meet the needs of those who may not be able to pay the rates of other mediators. We offer better than competitive rates and we offer a need-based sliding scale for those eligible. Contact us at contact@congressofneutrals.org for rates.