Section 9-31-405 - Program goalsThe Arkansas Youth Mediation Program's goals are to:
(1) Reduce economic, psychological, and social costs to individuals and public and private institutions arising from disputes involving youth;(2) Reduce court dockets and delays;(3) Increase the ability of youth to resolve conflicts cooperatively, productively, and nonviolently;(4) Reduce antisocial behavior by children, parents, and other relatives;(5) Increase the ability of elementary and secondary schools to concentrate their efforts on education by decreasing distractions due to conflicts in school;(6) Encourage youth offenders to understand the consequences of their actions and take responsibility for those actions by providing suitable restitution to victims of their offense or other rehabilitative dispositions, or both;(7) Provide victims of juvenile crime an opportunity to constructively confront offenders to explain the impact of the offense and develop suitable restitution plans or other rehabilitative dispositions;(8) Expedite the safe and permanent placement of children removed from their homes due to allegations or findings of being dependent-neglected by improving the operation of the Department of Human Services in developing and implementing appropriate case plans in cooperation with affected family members and other interested individuals and agencies;(9) Train lawyers and law students in techniques for satisfying a client's interests through negotiation and mediation and reducing unnecessary adversarial behavior and expense in litigation throughout Arkansas; and(10) Assist public and private institutions in Arkansas to incorporate mediation programs into their institutions by providing training and technical assistance.