NCJ Number
124010
Date Published
1989
Length
50 pages
Annotation
Juvenile and family courts are struggling to find better ways to handle immense responsibilities by examining various applications of a process known as alternative dispute resolution (ADR).
Abstract
"Court-Approved" ADR is any one of a series of varying processes or programs approved by the court and designed to resolve specified minor delinquency, status offense, and abuse/neglect cases without a formal judicial hearing. The benefits for using ADR include improving the resolution of a case by exploring the underlying problems or causative factors, involving the parties themselves in solutions to their problems, and relieving the courts of minor cases and allowing more attention to serious cases. The three principles essential to all Court-Approved ADR are voluntary acknowledgement of facts sufficient for jurisdiction, voluntary participation of all parties at all times, and systemwide and individual accountability. Courts considering expansion of diversion or adjustment processes can benefit from the experiences of the many different types of programs already in existence. 14 footnotes, appendix.