Dispute Resolution Center of King County

Mission

The Dispute Resolution Center of King County promotes meaningful pathways for everyone to engage with conflict, to learn from each other, and to grow in community. Our vision is inclusive communities where everyone reaches across differences with openness, creativity, and respect. Our operating values are equity, collaboration, community-focus, learning, and trust.

Description

The Dispute Resolution Center (DRC) provides free and low-cost mediation and conflict resolution services to individuals living or working in King County. We help people resolve conflicts outside of court for a variety of disputes including neighbors, businesses and consumers, divorce, separation, parenting plans, organizational conflict, workplaces, schools, elder care, parents and teens, large groups, and landlord and tenant issues. To keep our costs down we use professional mediators from the community who volunteer their time. The DRC provides cross-cultural mediation such as issues involving diverse cultural practices and beliefs and or social justice concerns. We can offer mediation access in a variety of languages through interpreter services in Small Claims Court.

The DRC also offers a rigorous Basic Mediation Training program and a mentored practicum for people who want to learn facilitative mediation. We also provide customized training for businesses and nonprofit organizations, continuing education for professional mediators, and workshops in conflict resolution skills for community members.

Empower Youth to Resolve Their Own Conflicts

When you support KCDRC in this year's GiveBIG, you are empowering youth in South King County to use restorative practices to resolve conflicts. Using peer mediation, restorative circles, and facilitated conversations, the youth are finding alternatives to more punitive disciplinary actions. 

For five years, we have created strong relationships with Showalter Midde School students, staff and administrators, proving that this work is needed, and it works! We have a well-developed peer mediation curriculum which includes analysis of the school-to-prison pipeline and discussion about systemic racism and oppression. 

We have conducted three yearly peer mediation trainings resulting in 53 trained peer mediators, 96% of whom are BIPOC youth! This school year, the peer mediators have conducted 24 mediations with 100% feedback that the mediators listened to them and treated them fairly. These students in conflict felt the mediators understood their needs and helped them come up with their own solutions to the problem. 

Your gift today will help us to continue working with youth to give them the skills to work through conflicts in a healthy, more productive way. GiveBIG now and you will make a BIG difference in the lives of these youth!   

Recognition

KCDRC has earned the 2021 Guidestar Gold Transparency Seal.