Mediation is available to residents who have filed civil rights complaints and is designed to help residents work out mutually acceptable solutions to their civil rights differences and to help prevent eviction for all parties. Mediation contains the following set of principles which can assist parties to reach an agreement about a civil rights dispute. Mediation is:

• VOLUNTARY: All parties must agree to participate. Any party can call the mediation off at any time.

• CONFIDENTIAL: Nothing that happens during the session will be reported to anyone. Only the agreement is "public information."

• THE GOAL: Mediation is intended to assist the parties to reach a mutually acceptable solution for the concerns at hand in the form of a written and signed agreement.

• THE AGREEMENT: The terms of the agreement are decided by the parties themselves and expressed in their own words. The mediator will write it down; both parties will sign it.

• THIS IS YOUR PROCESS: Mediators are volunteers trained to help you find your own solutions. They are not judges. They will NOT take sides or decide who is "right" and who is "wrong." You determine the outcome. Your agreement will be subject to review by the Legal Department to assure compliance with the BHA policy and applicable laws.

• MONITORING: BHA will monitor the agreement to ensure success.
   

Pre-Session Procedures

Any employee may refer a case to mediation. As a first step, the development staff, where the dispute occurred, will contact the parties, briefly explain the program and determine if the parties will voluntarily participate in the mediation process.

Once the disputing parties have been contacted, the Mediation Referral Form must be completed and sent to the Office of Civil Rights.