Dispute Resolution Center of King County

Conflict is Everywhere. Let us Help. 

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 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 offer mediation access in a variety of languages through interpreter services.

Conflict Resolution for Everyone (CoRE)

We are excited to introduce CoRE™ Conflict Resolution for Everyone: a new, culture-forward basic training program. CoRE will be offered free to residents of King County throughout 2024. We designed CoRE to make conflict resolution training and services more relevant and accessible to everyone. We believe everyone can strengthen their ability to resolve conflicts in everyday life. Listening sessions and focus groups with residents and organizations in South King County informed the development of this program. We heard a wide range of perspectives from people of color and marginalized communities, including LGBTQ+, immigrant, formerly incarcerated, and more. Topics covered in CoRE include intentional listening, careful observation, conflict style, and empathy in negotiation. Whether you want to become a formal mediator, or to improve your skills of helping and working with others, we think CoRE is for everyone. 

Improving Housing Stability

VISTA (Voluntary Initiative for Stable Tenancy and Affordability) is a new housing program of the DRC. VISTA assists with a wide variety of conflicts in rental housing throughout King County. Our VISTA team uses conflict coaching and mediation to prevent eviction and deescalate conflicts to improve housing stability. The CoRE program can help with leasing violations, including unpaid rent; neighbor dispute such as noise, parking, and use of common spaces; and disagreements regarding property maintenance, repairs, and amenities. VISTA services are free for tenants and landlords. 

Empower Youth to Resolve Their Own Conflicts

For more than five years, KCDRC has used peer mediation, restorative circles, and facilitated conversations to help youth in South King Couty find alternatives to more punitive disciplinary actions. We have created strong relationships with Showalter Midde School and Foster High 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 trained more than 100 peer mediators who understand the conflicts students experience, and they help their classmates come up with their own solutions to problems in a healthy, more productive way. 

Making King County More Peaceful

For nearly 50 years, KCDRC has helped residents and businesses in King County to find alternative solutions to their problems. With the generous support of our community, we continue to support our community in return. Your gift today will give you that good feeling that we have everyday knowing that we are making our communities more peaceful. GiveBIG now and you will make a BIG difference in peaceful interactions.  

Recognition

KCDRC has earned the 2024 Candid/Guidestar Platinum Transparency Seal.