Mediation services are provided by HAMP's full-time staff and its trained volunteer mediators. HAMP's caseload consists primarily of matters referred by the Office of the State's Attorney in Hartford Superior Court. Typically, these cases involve relatively minor criminal charges such as breach of peace, threatening, or minor assaults. Frequently the arrest represents only one incident in a much more complex history. Mediation enables the parties to deal with this entire history if they so choose. And, since the parties take responsibility for their own situations, the agreements they reach are likely to be more workable and longer lasting than solutions imposed by outside authorities, such as the police or the courts. When a mediation is successful, the parties sign a written agreement which is then provided to the State's Attorney's Office.