[CIVIL.REG.,040697,0800]

Mediation

(Iowa Civil Rights Commission; 04/06/97; 0800)

IOWA CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION EMPHASIZES MEDIATION

For the third year in a row, the Iowa Civil Rights Commission has recorded more than one million dollars in annualized benefits. Annualized benefits represents the cash value of settlement agreements to complainants, persons who filed discrimination complaints. With three months still to go in the fiscal year, the cash value of all complaints settled via voluntary mediation totals $1,444,000.

Fiscal Year Annualized Benefits

1992 $282,000

1993 $430,000

1994 $634,000

1995 $1,378,000

1996 $1,825,000

1997* $1,444,000

* partial year

Thanks to the hard work of Iowa's twenty-two local human rights commissions and more than seventy volunteer attorneys and mediators, the Commission is able to offer the parties to a civil rights complaint an effective, alternative dispute resolution process.

Emphasizing mediation, with the help of so many trained and dedicated local commission staff and volunteers, has contributed in a big way to reducing the backlog. Four years ago, the Commission had more than 600 cases waiting to be assigned to investigators. Today, that number is 67.

The Mission of the Iowa Civil Rights Commission is to eliminate discrimination in Iowa. Currently, the Commission fights discrimination five ways:

1. Investigating and resolving complaints alleging discrimination,

2. Conducting a multifaceted public education program on anti-discrimination law and the value of diversity,

3. Testing persons and organizations covered by the law to determine the nature and extent of discrimination in Iowa,

4. Helping communities build diversity appreciation teams to fight discrimination locally, and

5. Promoting the use of study circles on race relations.

For more information about the Commission's programs, contact Don Grove, Iowa Civil Rights Commission, 211 East Maple Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50309-1858, 515-281-8084, or visit the Commission at http://www.state.ia.us/government/crc.

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(Contact: Don Grove 515-281-8084)

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