U.S. Department
of Justice
Community Relations Service
Our Mission
CRS serves as “America’s Peacemaker” for communities facing conflict based on actual or perceived race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, or disability. CRS works toward its mission by providing facilitated dialogue, mediation, training, and consultation to assist these communities to come together, develop solutions to the conflict, and enhance their capacity to independently prevent and resolve future conflict.
All CRS services are confidential and provided on a voluntary basis, free of charge to the communities. CRS is not an investigatory or prosecutorial agency and does not have any law enforcement authority. CRS works with all parties to develop solutions to conflict and serves as a neutral party.
Contact
Community Relations Service
Tel: 202.305.2935
Translated Information
Our Focus
CRS is the only federal agency dedicated to working with community groups to resolve community conflicts and prevent and respond to alleged hate crimes arising from differences based on:
Programs and Services
CRS provides facilitation, mediation, training, and consultation services that improve communities’ abilities to problem solve and build capacity to prevent and respond to conflict, tension, and hate crimes based on race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, and disability. CRS provides programs designed to strengthen community and law enforcement partnerships, as well as school-based programs that improve problem solving between students. The goals of all CRS programs are to help parties in conflict learn about different perspectives, share information about resources and best practices, and support communities as they identify and implement solutions. While some CRS programs may be designed for a particular audience, most programs can be tailored to a specific audience or setting.