Center for Dispute Settlement

12/29/2025

With your support, our peer mediators are bringing peaceful solutions to our communities. Will you help us train the next generation of peacemakers by making your tax-deductible year end gift today? Thank you for your support!

https://www.cdsadr.org/?q=donate

12/10/2025

Advanced Regional Training:
Puzzling Our Way Through - Practical Approach to Resolving Ethical Dilemmas

Open to CDRC staff and volunteer certified mediators
January 28 & 29, 2026 1-4:15 p.m.
Virtual
Free training, sponsored by the NYS Unified Court System

Presenter: Elena Sapora

Sometimes as mediators we must make challenging process decisions in the face of ethical dilemmas. How do we equip ourselves with the knowledge, skills and ability to make sound choices that comport with our ethical guidelines? During this interactive workshop we will share our own experiences of ethical dilemmas, explore hypothetical situations, and practice tools to for resolving ethical dilemmas in mediation.

Register here:

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

12/10/2025

Free Anti-Bias training

Register here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeRMKIkpwXsxPwNtw_zAlfY45SJ8FOCmWj0l6iyuDREpWPk9A/viewform

12/10/2025

12/03/2025

CDS is proud to serve the Western and Finger Lakes regions as grantees of the Surrogate Decision-Making Committee Program of the
Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs.

The SDMC team was recently highlighted on the Justice Center (JC) Podcast series called “Could this Happen in Your Program” that was launched this year.

Episode 7 highlights Surrogate Decision-Making Committee services and how it provides a timely, personalized, and person-centered approach to making non-emergency and end-of life care decisions. The SDMC Director Vicki Clingan and SDMC Nurse Case Processor Cindy Pross were featured guests.

Tune in here:

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

12/02/2025

ROC THE DAY: Your Investment in a Peaceful Generation.

Today's the Day! It's time to ROC the Day and ignite change across the Greater Rochester community!

We don't teach kids what to think; we teach them how to talk.

The future of conflict resolution is in the hands of our youth, and you can help us empower them! Your support for our Peer Mediation program is critical.

The Problem: Traditional discipline can push students out.

Our Solution: We train youth in restorative practices and conflict management skills, providing a proven, peaceful alternative to school suspension.

Imagine: Dozens of students across our region are already active leaders, building bridges and resolving disputes, ensuring that peer mediation is a resolution tool for generations to come.

The more youth we train, the more we can rest assured that our young people know how to handle conflict in a constructive, safe, and healthy way.

Your donation is the foundation of our mission: to resolve conflicts quickly, informally, and peacefully.

Step up for peace. Join us in supporting our community and ROC the Day before midnight tonight!

12/02/2025

Join us and make a difference!

On December 2, 2025, the Greater Rochester community will come together to ROC the Day and we need YOU to join us.

Your donation will help us maintain programming such as our long-standing Peer Mediation program. Our staff train youth in restorative practices, including circles and conflict management skills. The purpose of the program is to educate staff and students about alternatives to school suspension. Since the program's inception, we have trained dozens of youth throughout the Greater Rochester area. Educating youth ensures that peer mediation is a resolution tool for generations to come.

The more trained student mediators, the better off we'll all be. We can rest assured that our young people know how to handle conflict in a constructive, safe, and healthy way.

Your donation helps us continue our mission to support others to resolve conflicts quickly, informally, and peacefully.

Click to donate:

https://www.unitedwayrocflx.org/roc-the-day/causes/CDSM

The Center for Dispute Settlement is a non-profit community dispute resolution center, serving the Greater Rochester and Finger Lakes region since 1973.

11/21/2025

11/20/2025

ONE WEEK AWAY: Rochester LGBTQ+ Together is proud to sponsor our greater Rochester community’s Trans Day of Remembrance 2025 event, presented by Next Generation Men Of Transition & WAVE Woman Inc., again this year. We hope you’ll join us on the evening of Thursday, November 20 at the MLK Lodge (353 Court St.), 6:00pm. This year's theme is "Living Legacies: Rooted in Memory, Growing in Power."

👥 From the Organizers: "We gather to honor the lives of our trans and gender-diverse siblings taken too soon — and to affirm that their light continues to guide us. Through remembrance, we rise. Through community, we heal. Through collective care, we grow stronger together.

This year’s TDOR is more than a vigil — it’s a call to stand in love, solidarity, and remembrance. We invite trans, nonbinary, gender-expansive people, allies, and comrades to join us in holding space for healing, power, and reflection. Bring photos of loved ones you wish to honor. Candles and roses will be provided for community remembrance.

Together, we are living legacies — rooted in memory, growing in power.

😷 Health & Safety Note: Masks are encouraged as cold and flu season is on the rise — let’s keep one another safe."

11/17/2025

Join us and make a difference.

On December 2, 2025, the Greater Rochester community will come together to ROC the Day and we need YOU to join us.

It’s 24 hours of unprecedented community giving. And it’s your chance to make a real difference right here in the Greater Rochester region.

Join us in supporting our community and ROC the Day on December 2, 2025.

Find out more and get ready to ROC at https://www.unitedwayrocflx.org/roc-the-day/causes/CDS.

10/29/2025

Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeRMKIkpwXsxPwNtw_zAlfY45SJ8FOCmWj0l6iyuDREpWPk9A/viewform