The County of Workforce Development, Aging and Community Services (WDACS) helps provide employment services to adults and youth, and mediation services to court filings.
On April 18, WDACS and Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas honored several individuals and organizations who have provided outstanding services for the latter, as well as conflict resolution.
The Annual Mediation Week Awards presentations took place at the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration during the regular Board of Supervisors Meeting.
Outstanding Case Award went to Centinela Youth Services for a victim-offender mediation case involving a 12-year-old student found guilty of stealing five laptops from his elementary school.
According to a WDACS release, the child was ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution, and placed on probation. The parties resolved to forgive the debt and release him from prison.
WDACS indicated the L.A. County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs was awarded the Outstanding Project Award for their “Parent-School Conflict Resolution Roundtable.”
Jacqueline Miller Stoops received the William C. Hobbs Award for Outstanding Adult Volunteer.” She completed 65 hours of basic mediation and conciliation training, among other things, then gave over 350 hours of volunteer service within an 18 month period to the Loyola Law School Center for Conflict Resolution.
“Mediation is one of the most used conflict resolution skills, and helps to promote positive human relations in a diverse metropolis like Los Angeles County”, said Robin Toma, WDACS assistant director and the executive director of the County’s Commission on Human Relations.
“Intergroup Relations are strengthened when people are able to sit down face-to-face, have a chance to understand each other through the mediation process, and agree on the solutions. It’s an invaluable program that does so much to advance our Human Relations Commission’s mission, to transform prejudice into acceptance, inequity into justice, and hostility into peace,” she said, according to the release.
WDACS informed that mediation services are free to county residents through the Dispute Resolution Program [(213) 738-2621 for more information.]
