Utilizing communication and negotiation to resolve a dispute
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The Asian Pacific American Dispute Resolution Center (APADRC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides mediation and conflict resolution services to the diverse communities in the Los Angeles area, with a focus on the Asian Pacific Islander Population. We strive to improve human relations and race relations by addressing complex, cross cultural community conflicts and their root causes with community partners through education, training, and development of new models and techniques. The APADRC looks toward the future by training youth in the techniques of mediation and conflict resolution. The APADRC is the only center in Southern California whose service population routinely includes the often excluded, monolingual Asian Pacific immigrant communities.
County of Los Angeles Support Statement:
These services are made possible through major support from the Los Angeles County Department of Workforce Development, Aging & Community Services through the California Dispute Resolution Programs Act.
Contact us at 213. 250. 8190 or contact@apadrc.org for more information.
– Model Standards of Conduct of Mediators (American Bar Association, American Arbitration Association, Association for Conflict Resolution)
See how we work.
We start with getting the facts and assessing the issue at hand.
We listen to both parties and their side of the story to understand their needs, interests, and emotions. We then update both parties with the conversation's progress.
We brainstorm a variety of options and solutions with the parties in order to reach a resolution.
Review all options presented and reach an agreement.
– $25 allows us to waive the fee of a low-income client so they can receive our mediation service for free.
– For $100, we can provide a conflict resolution training to a school or nonprofit organization for one hour.
– For $500, we can offer a scholarship to a student who needs help affording the tuition and costs of attending a university.
– For $1,000, we can run our peer mediation program in a school or waive 50% to 100% of the cost for a couple to go through divorce mediation.
With the current economic downturn many of our clients face more difficulty and stress, resulting in increased conflicts in the home and community. We have seen a 16% increase in housing/family/divorce cases and a 24% increase in consumer/merchant debt cases.
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What we do.
The APADRC mediates many different kinds of mediations, including (but not limited to): Family Disputes (couples and marital issues, parent/child conflicts), Housing (landlord/tenant, neighbor/neighbor) , Workplace (wage issues, employer/employee, co-worker disputes) and many more situations.
APADRC’s Restorative Justice program provides opportunities for collaborative, group dialogue with the goal of both healing and empowering diverse communities through the development of relevant, peaceful solutions and positive, ongoing relationships.
We provide both direct mediation services and conflict resolution training to students, teachers, and administrators. Conflict is a regular and inevitable aspect of life. Schools are increasingly recognizing the importance of training staff, teachers, and students the skills necessary for managing conflict in a productive and nonviolent manner.
The APADRC Divorce Mediation Program was created to provide affordable family law mediation services to the diverse inter-cultural Los Angeles communities. It is administered through the Asian Pacific American Dispute Resolution Center (APADRC), which was founded in 1989 pursuant to the California Dispute Resolution Programs Act.
We provide both direct mediation services and conflict resolution training to students, teachers, and administrators. Conflict is a regular and inevitable aspect of life. Schools are increasingly recognizing the importance of training staff, teachers, and students the skills necessary for managing conflict in a productive and nonviolent manner.
This program provides students with a sense of responsibility, ownership, and the ability to both lead and work collaboratively with others. PM² has provided training and technical assistance to many schools in the greater Los Angeles area.
“The service from APADRC is amazing. I could not have resolved this issue alone. However, with the help of our mediator, he was able to make it happen and have all issues resolved. Our mediator is informative, prompt, and intelligent, not to mention caring and understanding. I was able to get my security deposit back from my landlord and resolve my utility issues with my agent/landlord. This service helped me understand that there is help out there, and getting the fair service I needed is only a phone call away. I would definitely use this service again and recommend it to friends and family that cannot resolve issues themselves.”
“The service helped me by reaching out to my neighbor in a non-threatening manner. It made it easier for both of us to communicate and reach a workable agreement. I would recommend APADRC to others and would use it again in the future. Thank you for your assistance.”
“I want to thank you so much for having such a professional person like our mediator. I felt helpless, but I thank you so much for having such a polite and extraordinary person. I absolutely will recommend Dispute Resolution programs to my family and friends. God bless you for what you do for the community.”
“The contractor did not pay me. And thanks to this service, you helped me very much to recuperate the wages. This is a great organization! This service is a great help to the Latin community, and needed because there is a lot of fear.”
“I would like to say thank you very much for this community, because my English not very much, but the people in this community try to help me very well. I very happy to say thank you to our mediator very much to help me in this case.”
“I am very pleased with the services and our mediators. I am glad that I found APADRC. My son and I can better communicate and come to understand each other. Our mediators took my son to a level of openness and caring that he is willing to talk and understand. It helped me look at my sons and love them more. Thanks to the people I met.”
By Zachary Everson The treetops along the west coast of Japan had already long-since begun the cascade of harvest hues, yet my friend and I still had not reserved a location for our English-speaking community’s annual late-autumn pitch-in dinner. We organized many events throughout the year, but none would bring together as diverse a crowd …
by Hansol Choi We have all been there before: we are in what initially begins as a friendly discourse with someone when all of a sudden, we find ourselves in the heat of an impasse about a disagreement that seems to have lodged itself right between us and the other party. As the conversation transforms …
Jacob Yum Conflict Mediation Specialist As a law student, I initially wanted to work at the APADRC because I believed it would greatly enhance my ability to properly resolve conflicts while providing an avenue for me to utilize my skills to help others. Today, after working at the APADRC, I can confidently say that I …
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The APADRC has been working closely with the community for the past 32 years to resolve conflict. During our continued commitment to peace, we have empowered community members to voice their concerns together because their voice matters, our collective voice matters – we are all human beings. As a non-profit organization, we work diligently to support and help all underserved and underrepresented members of the community, including those from an AAPI background. Our mission is to build community bridges for strengthened human relations and the opportunity to live in peace and meaning.
Ways to Support the APADRC
