Youth often feel comfortable with mediation because they have the opportunity to express their feelings about conflicts and share expectations of how these conflicts can be resolved. The nature of mediation encourages children to contribute to the resolution process and to take responsibility for their actions, unlike the court setting and traditional punitive methods. The AMP aids in resolving disputes for young people between 7 and 17 years of age. Such disputes involve school bus incidents, harassment and assault, neighborhood disagreements, parent-child or child-child conflicts, minor criminal mischief, and ethnic or racial hostilities. Mediation usually takes place after school hours at the Community Mediation Center or at 1 of 15 neighborhood satellite locations. Cases can be referred from any source, but most originate from schools, courts, police, or the district attorney. The program has realized 80 successful mediation agreements to date, out of 98 cases referred for service. Harassment incidents represent the most common case type. The typical client is a white male who is 15 years of age and resides with parent or guardian. Nearly all harassment cases involve a problem or history of conflict prior to seeking assistance from the AMP. The research design used to evaluate the AMP is described. 7 references