Contact: Sharon Pickett, e-mail: sharonp@igc.org

ACR Approves Uniform Mediation Act:
ACR supports the UMA with conditions of confidentiality, impartiality, and
child protective mediation privilege

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR), a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the practice and public understanding of conflict resolution, conditionally approved the Uniform Mediation Act (UMA) during the ACR Board of Directors April 20-21, 2002 meeting.

The purpose of the UMA is to support the growth and development of conflict resolution by promoting uniformity of mediation across the states. The Act directly affects the work of mediators who practice in a variety of venues, many of whom are ACR members.

UMA legislation was originally promulgated by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) in 2001. ACR, through its NCCUSL Official Observers, Gregory Firestone and Dennis Sharp, played an important role in the process by participating in the NCCUSL UMA drafting meetings and asserting the importance of addressing ACR's 11 UMA Principles. After NCCUSL adopted the UMA in August 2001, ACR carefully reviewed the final version, based on ACR's 11 UMA Principles. At this time, ACR supports the UMA with conditions related to confidentiality, impartiality, and child protection mediation privilege. ACR Board members and volunteer leaders believe that these recommended modifications enhance the utility of the UMA, while maintaining its uniformity across the states.

For more information concerning ACR's position on and recommended amendments to the UMA, please read ACR's UMA Resolution and the summary of ACR's UMA Principles, or contact ACR's Official UMA Observers, Dennis Sharp, Esq. and Gregory Firestone, Ph.D.. To read the final text of the UMA, go to http://www.nccusl.org/nccusl/default.asp.

About ACR
The Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR) is the nation's largest conflict resolution membership organization. ACR's membership is comprised of over 6,000 members from all facets of the conflict resolution field, including mediators, arbitrators, mediation organizations and program administrators, and conflict resolution educators. ACR was launched in January 2001, when the Academy of Family Mediators (AFM), the Conflict Resolution Education Network (CREnet), and the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution (SPIDR) officially merged into one organization.

04/20/2002