ACR Bulletin - March 2008

Support our local chapter. Send dues to:

Arthur L. Finkle                                                  215-860-3991

Advanced Mediator

209 Shady Brook Dr.

Langhorne, PA 19047                                       215-860-3992  FAX

Israel-Palestine and Conflict Resolution

On Wednesday, April 16, 2008 at 6 PM there will be a sandwich and salad bar followed at 6:30 by a presentation by Cheryl Cutrona of the 9 day effort in Palestine and Israel to listen to citizens of the region.  If you want to attend, then please provide your name to Randy Duque at  rduque@phillymediators.org  so you can be on the access list for Wolf Block's office on the 22nd fl. of the building at 16th and Arch St., Philadelphia.  Cost for the sandwich and salad and soft drinks and wine provided is $ 17.00 payable also to Randy Duque.

ACR in the News

ACR President Proposes Win-Win Solution to Foreclosure Crisis

Writing in the op-ed section of the January 29th edition of the Minneapolis Star

Tribune, ACR President Marilyn McKnight, co-authoring with Stephen Erickson,

proposed mediated settlements for troubled home mortgages. Such

settlements would keep funds flowing to the lender, albeit at a lower amount,

prevent upheaval of the family, and provide the lender with a pre-negotiated,

faster remedy than foreclosure if the agreement is breached.

Could it work? McKnight and Erickson point out that a similar approach in

Minnesota during the farm crisis of the 1980s kept family farmers on the land

and reduced lender losses. In today’s markets, negotiated settlements would

keep the problem between the parties and avoid the domino effect on

neighborhoods, Main Street, and Wall Street. For the full article, go to

www.startribune.com/opinion/commentary/14441221.html

Grant to Benefit ACR Youth Intern Program

ACR has received the James B. Boskey Memorial Foundation Grant to support an intern at ACR headquarters. The Youth Intern Program trains the next generation of leaders in the conflict resolution field. Working with ACR staff and volunteer leadership provides our interns with the unusual opportunity to learn from the best in the field and gain first-hand experience. With the generous support from the James B. Boskey Memorial Foundation, ACR will provide stipends to three interns allowing future leaders to become active participants in the emerging conflict resolution community. 

Our Youth Intern Program allows us to develop the leadership skills of future conflict resolution practitioners who will become intimately involved in various key projects such as the ACR’s Annual Conference, Conflict Resolution Day, and fundraising, membership and publication efforts to help ACR expand. 

Workplace Section 2008 Teleseminar Series Announced

The Workplace Section will be hosting a Teleseminar Series for 2008 featuring authors from the Fall 2007/Winter 2008 issue of ACResolution magazine and other guest speakers.

The first seminar in this series, “Enhancing Your Conflict Competence:  Skills That Can Prevent Workplace Disputes,” will be on Tuesday, February 26, 2008, Noon – 1:00 p.m Eastern Time/9 a.m. Pacific Time, hosted by Tim Flanagan and Craig Runde, authors of Becoming a Conflict Competent Leader. See the Workplace Section website for more information on their dynamic presentation and for information about the 2008 Teleseminar schedule. To receive email reminders of these exciting programs, join the WPS for only $15/year. What a deal! Follow this link for information on joining.

Mediation, Inc. Gives Free Sessions to Solve the Problem

            FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – Not long ago, a 13-year-old girl and her younger brother called Michael Carbo for help. Their recently separated parents were yelling about who would “get them” for Christmas. They wanted Carbo to arrange a mediation to settle the visitation question peacefully.  Luckily the kids’ intervention worked and a temporary truce was called.

For the past ten years, Mediation, Inc.'s Holiday Project has provided free mediation conferences to help parents solve scheduling disputes for the holiday season. They mediate dozens of Holiday Project cases each year.  Both parties must agree to attend the session or be ordered to do so by the court.  

            “Sometimes children show more common sense than their parents,” says Carbo, a Fort Lauderdale attorney and Certified Family Mediator with more than 30 years of experience in resolving differences as an impartial third party. “Emotions run high for parents during the holidays – but do you really want your kids calling for help?”

            Through the years, Carbo has been called upon to mediate many difficult visitation cases – including family pets. And the parental battles over Fluffy can be as traumatic as those over children.

“There is no better gift than to have both parents call a truce for the holidays,” says Carbo, a member of the Fort Lauderdale firm Mediation, Inc.

One of the nicest compliments the firm ever received was from a mother who said, “Thank you, last year we exchanged our kids in the lobby of the police station.”

 “There is no question that one of the best gifts you can give your child – or your pet – is to resolve these highly emotional issues in advance.”

As an expert in mediation – the voluntary process for settling disputes through an impartial third party – Carbo offers practical advice for divorced or separated parents:

• Don’t try to “bribe” your kids with a holiday trip. Reach an agreement with your ex-spouse before mentioning travel plans to children.

• If you can't agree on a holiday visitation schedule, at least agree to discuss it.  A compromise might be closer than you think.

•Allow your child to spend time with each parent on the actual holiday, if possible.

•Consider giving a joint gift from both parents to show that your child always comes first.

• If you can’t solve custody issues, consider professional mediation. Usually, it’s best for parents to come without their child.  

http://www.mediationinc.com/news120605.htm

This section contains a series of recommended links to websites. We have listed here sites we believe may be helpful to you. Some of these are divorce-related. Some are mediation and Alternative Dispute Resolution sites.

Divorce

Association for Conflict Resolution – Association of Family & Conciliation Courts.

Divorce HQ – A useful site for divorce information.

SupportGuidelines.com is the comprehensive resource for the interpretation and application of child support guidelines in the United States.

Custodysource.com – Child Custody & Divorce Recourses State by State.

www.dhr.state.md.us/csea/worksheet.htm – Maryland’s child support calculator.

Divorcelinks.com – State and Federal Divorce Law Directory Center.

www.divorceNet.com – One of the major sites for divorce information.

www.divorceSource.com – Another major site for divorce information. Has information on state divorce laws.

Divorceinfo.com –Lee Borden, a Southern divorce mediator, puts his opinions out there.

Kelley’s Blue Book – Car values.

www.irs.gov/publications/p504 – The IRS Publication 504, “Taxes for Divorce or Separated Individuals.”

Edmunds.com – Edmunds used car prices.

www.mcps.k12.md.us – The website for Montgomery County Public Schools.

www.zillow.com – Help with determining a fair market value for your home.

www.equifax.com Information on your credit history.

Mediation

MACRO: Maryland Mediation and Conflict Resolution Organization – This is the website of MACRO, the Maryland Mediation and Conflict Resolution office, the agency which is the alternative dispute resolution resource for Maryland.

Network of Communities for Peacemaking & Conflict Resolution

Maryland Council for Dispute Resolution (MCDR) – This is the Maryland organization of professionals in alternative dispute resolution.

Mediation Information and Resource Center (MIRC) – This is the major on-line resource page, with articles on mediation, training information, directories of mediators, etc.

World Mediation Forum

www.MediationNOW.com – Has a directory of mediators.

National Association for Community Mediation (NAFCM) This is the national organization for community mediation centers.

Search for Common Ground

Victim/Offenders Mediation Association – The national organization working in the area of restorative justice.

Graduate Theological Foundation (GTF) – The Graduate Theological Foundation's mission is to foster and facilitate a personally tailored postgraduate education for professionals in the cognate fields of ministry -- faith communities (Christian, Jewish, Islamic), education, health care, counseling, mediation, spirituality, and administration.

Law Reference

FindLaw – Internet legal resources

The Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Maryland’s web page

http://www.mediationmatters.com/websitelinks.html

ACR's Legislative and Public Policy Leadership

ACR's Legislative and Public Policy efforts are focused on promoting the field of conflict resolution to the general public; informing members about, and shaping, important public policy developments in the field; and creating the structures for ACR to support the growth of the field. The Legislative Public Policy (LPP) Committee, chaired by Gregory Firestone, Ph.D., coordinates ACR's legislative and public policy initiatives, which include:

• Revised Uniform Arbitration Act (RUAA) —ACR endorsed the RUAA in June, 2006. The resolution adopted by the Board of Directors reads: “Resolved, that the Association for Conflict Resolution approves the Revised Uniform Arbitration Act (RUAA), promulgated by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) in 2000. The RUAA is an appropriate Act for those states desiring to adopt the specific law suggested therein, without modification, but with acknowledgement of the concern that the RUAA does not expressly exclude application to labor arbitration under collective bargaining agreements.” The endorsement concludes a process that included legislative analysis, a proposal  submitted for member comment, a review by leaders of key ACR Sections and a final legislative review using principled criteria. For more information, contact Richard D. Fincher (rdf@workplaceresolutions.com). To read the press release, click here. The RUAA was drafted and adopted in 2000 to update the Uniform Arbitration Act (UAA) of 1956, and now is being considered at the state level.

• Conflict Resolution Day —ACR has created an international day of recognition for conflict resolution, in order to increase public awareness about conflict resolution and its many benefits. The event is held on the third Thursday in October each year. The first Conflict Resolution Day was celebrated in 2005, and involved events in several countries and 22 U.S. states. For more information, please contact Sharon Press.

·         Uniform Mediation Act (UMA)— ACR, through its Official Observers, was involved in the drafting process of this uniform law, and ACR has conditionally approved the UMA with specific conditions related to confidentiality, impartiality and child protection mediation privilege. For more information, please contact Gregory Firestone.

·         Unauthorized Practice of Law (UPL)/Authorized Practice of Mediation (APM)— ACR's Task Force on the Unauthorized Practice of Law, made up of ADR professionals from a variety of backgrounds, has produced a draft report examining the UPL issue in relation to the practice of mediation. For more information, please contact Sharon Press.

http://acrnet.org/lpp/

MCDONALD'S AND ILAC AVOID HIGH COURT

Feb 9, 2008

FAST-food giant McDonald's and Irish Life have agreed to go to mediation in a bid to resolve a multi-millioneuro row over McDonald's branch at the Irish Life-owned Ilac Centre.

McDonald's had initiated legal proceedings against Irish Life because of the "unacceptable conditions"at the Ilac centre branch, alleged to have cost the fast-food giantmore than EUR1m in lost profits and lost"brand presence".

The case was due to be entered into the big business division of the High Court yesterday, however Mr Justice PeterKelly was told that the parties had agreed to a mediation process.

McDonald's had launched the case against both Irish Life and Joseph O'Reilly who had been engaged to carry out works at the unit.

McDonald's claims that its lease with Irish Life entitles it to have a shop front visible to customers fromParnell Street, as well as a direct-access entrance from Parnell Street.

In 2003, McDonald's says it reached an agreement with Mr O'Reilly and a company, Firmount Ltd, agreeing to certain works being carried out to reconfigure its unit.

http://tinyurl.com/283ror

If HR gets back to basics it can prove what it is worth – UK

SECTION: OPINION

Mediation needs regulation and codes of practice

I read with interest the editorial comment in last week's Personnel Today (12 February) about workplace mediation, and the impending increase in demand with the forthcoming legislative changes.

I'm glad the topic of regulation of mediators has come to the fore. As one of the many unregulated industries in the UK, along with psychotherapy and counselling, plastic surgery and estate agents, mediation needs policing. Too many people are just jumping on the bandwagon since the Gibbons report, and there is little monitoring of what mediators are doing.

We register mediators for non-profit purposes and provide a set of standards, codes of practice, and complaints procedures for any suitable person who wishes to practise as a mediator.

Most credible organisations are now accredited by the Civil Mediation Council and most of these provide mediation through the courts, on the National Mediation Helpline.

http://tinyurl.com/2gndod

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