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Mediation Tag

NYPI Launches New Landlord-Tenant Mediation Project in Partnership with NYC and other local CDRCs

New York Peace Institute is excited to announce the launch of a new program – the Landlord-Tenant Mediation Project – that is a direct response to COVID-19 and the adverse impact it has had on NYC tenants’ ability to maintain their homes. This new project, developed and implemented by NYPI in partnership with the City of New York and other local non-profit Community Dispute Resolution Centers (CDRCs), will serve hundreds of New Yorkers each month by addressing rent-related and other housing issues in a mediation setting outside of the housing court system, with a focus on neighborhoods most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Letter From The CEO

Dear New York Peace Community,

The current health crisis has tested all of us as individuals, families, mediators, community members and New Yorkers in immeasurable ways. Some of us are working from home for the first time. Some of us are spending more time with our family members, children and roommates. Some of us have gotten sick. Many of us have lost people dear to our hearts, and many more have lost their livelihoods. The disruption, stress, and grief we are experiencing as individuals and a community is unfathomable and unprecedented.

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NYPI Mediators Can Help with Escalating Tensions At Home

By Michele Kirschbaum, Director of Programs

As Anna Goldfarb observes in Roommates or Partner Getting on Your Nerves? Read This from the New York Times, the lockdown environment of COVID-19 is placing increasing strains on many family and roommate relationships. The article includes some excellent tips about how to manage conflict before it escalates out of control; however, readers should also know that mediation is a viable option to consider when self-help strategies don’t work.

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Apprenticeship From Afar

Training and Business Development Manager Ayanna Behin, Associate Director of Training Chris Daly, and Apprentice Ashley Smyth share how the Apprenticeship program has changed due to the current health crisis.

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Can Mediation Help Parents Deal With Joint Custody Right Now? NYPI Thinks So.

By Senior Manager Family Programs, Carol Himes

Deborah Copaken’s article entitled, “How Are Parents Supposed to Deal With Joint Custody Right Now?” (Atlantic, April 8, 2020) underscores the increased challenges the current health crisis is imposing on co-parents, as well as their children.

 

As the author observes, the COVID-19 pandemic is placing unprecedented pressures on families. Parents worry about their own health and that of their children and loved ones; they are working from home, recently unemployed, or are essential workers putting themselves and possibly their families at risk; and many are likely facing financial strains on food and rent budgets. Further, child-care is virtually nonexistent and school-aged children require additional educational support now that they are “attending” school remotely.

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NYPI Responds To Shrinking Special Education Services Amid Coronavirus Upheaval

By Senior Manager, Family Programs, Carol Himes

NYC gives the OK to shrink special education services amid coronavirus upheaval” (Chalkbeat, April 9, 2020) underscores the increased challenges imposed on students with disabilities, their families and educators as a result of the current health crisis.

New York Peace Institute and other Community Dispute Resolution Centers (CDRCs) across New York State provide free, legally binding Special Education mediation that empowers both parents and educators to find creative and durable solutions to disputes about a student’s educational plan (IEP).

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Conflict Ignored Is Never Resolved

By Jessiah Lucien

Jessiah is an intern through the organization Futures and Options.

Conflict is like an earthquake. It’s shocking and it comes abruptly, shaking up the lives of everyone in its wake. It’s fearsome and we try to avoid it at all cost, but despite that we still find it taking up parts of our lives. We can either run from it or face it head on and our choice in the matter certainly will dictate the effect it will have in our lives.

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Mediation Pilot Program in Brooklyn: Resolving Licensee Holdover Claims in Housing Court

By: Nick Schmitt, Program Manager

Just like our city, Housing Court can be an overcrowded and confusing place to navigate, especially for unrepresented parties. Chief Judge Janet DiFore recently formed a Special Commission to recommend improvements to NYC’s Housing Court, which is described in the Commission’s 2018 report as “one of the busiest and most overburdened courts in the nation.”*

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