FOCUSING ON BOTH THE PROCESS AND IMPACT STUDIES, THE REPORT BRIEFLY DESCRIBES THE ORGANIZATION AND OPERATION OF THE THREE NJC'S, WHICH ARE LOCATED IN ATLANTA, GA., KANSAS CITY, MO., AND LOS ANGELES, CALIF. SOME CONCEPTUAL ISSUES RELATED TO DISPUTE RESOLUTION ARE DISCUSSED, AND THE METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH IS OUTLINED. AN ANALYSIS OF THE 4,000 CASES HANDLED BY THE NJC'S DURING THE FIRST 15 MONTHS OF OPERATION COVERS THE CENTERS' REFERRAL SOURCES, CASE TYPES, CASE DISPOSITIONS, AND DISPUTANT CHARACTERISTICS. THE IMPACT OF THE NJC'S IS ASSESSED IN THREE AREAS: (1) IMPACT ON THE DISPUTANTS IN TERMS OF THEIR SATISFACTION WITH THE PROCESS AND THE PERMANENCE OF RESOLUTIONS; (2) IMPACT ON THE COURTS, INCLUDING A COMPARISON OF COURT AND NJC CASES AND THE PERCEPTION AND UTILIZATION OF THE NJC'S BY ELEMENTS OF THE JUSTICE SYSTEM; AND (3) IMPACT ON THE COMMUNITY. OVERALL, PROCESS AND IMPACT DATA SHOW THE NCJ'S TO BE PERFORMING A NEEDED SERVICE EFFECTIVELY, ALTHOUGH THEIR IMPACT ON REDUCING COURT CASELOADS AND COMMUNITY TENSIONS HAS BEEN NEGLIGIBLE. NJC'S SHOULD DEVELOP MORE EFFECTIVE WAYS OF INCREASING PUBLIC AWARENESS ABOUT THEM AND OF BRINGING CASES TO MEDIATION OR CONCILIATION. RECOMMENDATIONS REFER TO THE CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION MECHANISMS AND GUIDELINES FOR FUTURE NJC'S. APPENDIXES PROVIDE THE EVALUATION METHODOLOGY; CASE DISPOSITION, REFERRAL SOURCE, AND TYPE FOR THE NJC'S; DISPUTANT AND TARGET AREA CHARACTERISTICS FOR THE NJC'S; AND MONTH-TO-MONTH TRENDS IN DISPOSITION, REFERRAL SOURCES, AND CASE TYPE TABULAR DATA, CHARTS, FOOTNOTES, AND REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED.