Community Disputes

• Neighborhood Disputes - parking, noise, pets, property lines, common driveways, trash, overhanging trees
• Petty Offenses - vandalism (graffiti, destruction of property, keying cars, puncturing tires), minor assault, harassment, missing items
• Small Claims - debt repayment, consumer-repair person, consumer-merchant, consumer-service person, consumer-travel agency
• Housing - landlord-tenant, real estate, condominium boards and owners, roommates
• Employment - workplace disputes between co-workers, supervisor-employee, board member-staff involving issues such as discrimination, discipline, salary, policy, personality conflicts

Family Disputes

Parent-Youth Mediation

Parent-youth mediation is designed for parents and care-takers that are experiencing conflict with their children. Disputes that come to parent-youth mediation include issues such as

Divorce, Custody and Domestic Partnership Dissolution

For most families in transition, mediation is a faster, less expensive, and more effective method than litigation for resolving financial and child-care issues, such as:

• Parenting arrangements/child custody
• Child support

Disputes Involving the Elderly

Isolation and conflict may have an adverse effect on care givers, care recipients and the quality of care. Even when conflict does not exist, many care givers have difficulty accessing information and resources, and communicating with family members and service providers. The stress of care giving can leave individuals feeling vulnerable, overwhelmed and without the energy to organize help from family, friends, and the community. Low and moderate income families cannot afford to pay for many needed services and are left to navigate the public system or fend for themselves. Left unaddressed, isolation, stress and conflict may create a context for elder abuse and neglect.

Multi-Party Disputes

Mediation may also be used for large-scale situations that involve groups. Multi-party mediation is used to address intra and inter-group issues. As a community mediation center, NDS may be called upon to mediate issues involving neighborhoods, community-based organizations, and public-private issues where diverse interests have caused divisiveness in the group, such as: