The New Jersey Division on Civil Rights (DCR), an agency within the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety/Office of the Attorney General, is charged with enforcing the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination and the New Jersey Family Leave Act. DCR accepts and investigates complaints (typically related to employment or housing discrimination), and uses a variety of processes to resolve disputes, including mediation, conciliation, negotiation, and civil hearings. DCR has engaged HNMCP to evaluate DCR’s mediation and conciliation programs, to assist in identifying criteria to be used to select cases for mediation, and to offer recommendations for ways to improve the office’s mediation, conciliation, and settlement negotiation techniques and processes.

Activities & Deliverables

• Meet with DCR’s upper management, investigators, deputy attorney generals, mediators, conciliators, and potentially parties to get an overview of how the mediation, conciliation and settlement negotiation processes work now
• Review written materials parties receive regarding the mediation and conciliation processes
• Present key observations about the current system with recommendations for innovations and improvements
• Work to develop tools such as case screening guidelines, feedback forms, and/or educational materials to support the implementation of recommendations