Katrina collaborative among conflict resolution orgs

[Sandy]

A collaborative group led by SY Bowland of PRASI (Practitioner Research and Scholarship Institute), has been working via email and conference call for the last week and a half to develop a letter to be signed by a number of conflict resolution organizations.

These are many of the same organizations I and a number of NCDD reps will soon be meeting with in Philadelphia prior to the Victim-Offender Mediation Association (VOMA) conference. PeaceWeb, the Natâ?€?™l Association for Community Mediation (NAFCM), VOMA, and others will probably sign on to the letters, which encourage community leaders and public officials to utilize the services of the organizations listed in order to resolve conflict, promote healing, provide an alternative to litigation, etc. I'll post the current draft of the letter as a reply to this topic, and I'll keep us updated on this project here.
_________________
Sandy Heierbacher
Convenor, National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD)

[Sandy]

DRAFT REVISION

We the representatives of the seven conflict resolution organizations listed below offer our support as you assist the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Conflict is an inevitable feature of crisis and of recovery, and it is important that victims (and the people serving them) get help managing that conflict along with the tangible help and the mental health services they need.

Beyond the hard and valiant work of restoring Katrinaâ?€?™s victims to functional lives, the disaster offers an opportunity to understand and rectify deep-seated dynamics of race and class in America. To act at these levels while also addressing immediate necessities will, we believe, make the work of restoration more effective, as well as improving all our lives.

We can help by:

- Defusing conflicts as they flare because of stress and overcrowdingâ?€?”through direct service and/or by teaching aid workers the communication strategies they can use to do so
- Helping government or agency officials rebuilt trust with the people and communities they will be working with over coming monthsâ?€?”through direct service and/or by training such officials in skills and strategies they might use in order to do so
- Helping people or groups resolve conflicts that have developed in relation to immediate victim assistance or the rebuilding process
- Reducing the number of criminal charges spawned by this crisis, by giving law enforcement officers the option to refer cases rather than prosecute them, in situations that are better suited to victim-offender dialogue than to court proceedings
- Strengthening communities, by facilitating difficult dialogue over issues of race and poverty, and over how to address those issues as we rebuild.

Our members represent various conflict resolution strategies and approaches. The services we offer include:

- Convening community dialogue for healing
- Facilitating public policy discussions
- Providing listening tables at shelters and housing facilities
- Creating facilitated writing groups to help people process what they have been going through
- Facilitating constructive discussions among people in conflict
- Providing one-on-one coaching and mentoring support for survivors and for those who work with them

We also offer training of volunteers to assist in interpersonal conflict situations as well as more formal alternative dispute resolution services such as mediation, arbitration, victim-offender conferencing and other restorative practices. In addition, we can provide expert facilitation for planning meetings to ensure a more efficient, coordinated response to this national tragedy by provider agencies.

We believe that cultural competence is an important priority in the direct service and in the training we provide in response to this national crisis. Our network of practitioners includes many people of color as well as white people who have experience working in multicultural settings. We can connect you with skilled practitioners who can provide cultural support along with technical expertise, including the expertise, passion and skills to facilitate interpersonal, community and organizational dialogues on many topics â?€?“ including race, class, poverty and other emerging issues.

In order to tap into this network of skilled support, please contact our point person, Jane Doe at phone and email. Jane will quickly connect you with the organization that best meets your needs. We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

(List of all organizations involved)
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_________________
Sandy Heierbacher
Convenor, National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD)

[NancyW]

After reading this, it seems like this letter dovetails nicely with the idea shared on today's telecon about crafting an op ed that invites civic, federal, local and community leaders to consider participative processes in recovery and rebuilding efforts!