The Ulster County Dispute Resolution Center is currently recruiting new volunteers for its Court and Community mediation program.
DRC mediators currently provide service weekly in the Kingston City Court, as well as many other town and village courts throughout the county.
New volunteers are welcomed from all walks of life and professional backgrounds. Successful mediators have excellent listening skills, can remain calm even when others around them are angry or upset, can refrain from taking sides and are able to keep information confidential.
Once volunteers receive training, they undergo an apprenticeship, which involves observing live mediation sessions in the courts and in the office, as well as co-mediation with staff and experienced mediators. Becoming a volunteer mediator is an excellent way to both give back to your community and develop skills that apply to your personal and professional life. Once volunteers have experience in community mediation, they may have an opportunity to receive additional training to provide mediation for parents involved in the Family Court.
The Ulster County office of the DRC, located on Broadway in Kingston, provides free or low cost mediation services to the citizens of Ulster County for a wide variety of issues including: small claims, neighbor disputes, co-workers, businesses, consumer/merchant, landlord/tenant, agricultural and special education. The DRC’s family mediation programs include parent/child, custody/visitation, child support, legal separation and divorce as well as elder care mediation.
The Ulster County DRC is located at 280 Aaron Court (part of the Willow Park Office complex), Kingston, NY 12401. For more information regarding becoming a mediator or mediation services, please contact adrregional@drcservices.org, call 845-331-6136 or visit www.drcservices.org.
