MANAGING-CONFLICT ON LOCAL INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COUNCILS

Conflict resolution is an important communication skill for members of local interagency coordinating councils attempting to coordinate serv ices to young children with special needs and their families. Harbin a nd McNulty (1990) proposed a conceptual model of local interagency cou ncils and described six dimensions of the collaborative process among agencies providing early intervention services. Each dimension (climat e, people, resources, agency, process, policies) has the potential of becoming a barrier to collaboration. This article reviews the literatu re on conflict resolution skills within the context of these six poten tial barriers, identifying strategies that may reduce these threats to collaboration.