MAHONING VALLEY Dispute resolution agency to join with Help Hotline

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Mahoning Valley Dispute Resolution Services agency is coming under the auspices of Help Hotline Crisis Center, effective today.
Boards of both agencies approved the merger last week, said Atty. James Callen, who founded MVDRS in 1992, along with John Polanski, who at the time was a mediator in the Mahoning County Common Pleas Court's Domestic Relations Division.
Callen, director of Northeast Ohio Legal Services, said the dispute resolution services agency was started with a grant from the Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management. MVDRS has continued to be supported over the years, primarily by Youngstown Municipal Court, Mahoning County Common Pleas Court and the Ohio Department of Development.
Callen said the agency sees an estimated 250 to 350 clients a year for such things as neighborhood disputes, barking dogs and tenant/landlord disagreements.
Averts violence
He said the agency has proven useful to the police and the courts by helping mediate disputes that might otherwise escalate to violence. Mediation has a high degree of compliance because the parties to the dispute are involved in forming the resolution agreement, Callen said.
The retirement of Janice Bailey, MVDRS executive director, was a key reason for the move, said Neil Altman, who retired as MVDRS board president.
"We had three alternatives: Close the agency, look for another director, or find an agency that would nurture and keep it active the way it is now. I feel Help Hotline is that kind of agency," said Altman, Youngstown City health commissioner.
Dorothy Kane, project coordinator for the Tri-County Family Violence Prevention Coalition and an employee of Help Hotline, will become program director of the dispute resolution agency. Duane Piccirilli, head of Help Hotline, will be MVDRS executive director.