Berkshire Mediation Services: Policy Regarding Mediator Standing with BMS

Policy Regarding Mediator Standing with Berkshire Mediation Services

All persons who work as mediators with Berkshire Mediation Services will need to fulfill the following requirements to attain and maintain standing as members of our Mediator Panel.

All Mediators will have received a minimum of 30 hours of Basic Mediation training with a recognized training organization.
All Mediators will have a minimum of three hours of Ethical Standards training with a recognized training organization
All Mediators who work in the courts will have:
Small Claims Court: 5 hours minimum Small Claims Court training.
Juvenile Court (CHINS): 6 to 24+ hours CHINS/ Parent-Child training.
Probate and Family Court: 20 hours minimum Divorce Mediation training.
All training must be done with a recognized training organization.
All Mediators will have an internship period of at least three months following Basic Training. They will work under the supervision of the Court Coordinators in Small Claims Court. During this period, they will observe and co-mediate with the Court Coordinators or other experienced mediators. At the end of the internship, they will have provided at least 18 hours of mediation and they will have been observed and evaluated by the Court Coordinator, the Case Coordinator or the Director and have been assessed as ready to co-mediate with their peers.
All mediators will keep track number of cases and of actual hours spent in mediation. They will need to have mediated five cases in the three years preceding application for standing. They will need to maintain their skills by mediating at least 20 hours per year, and five cases per year to continue in good standing. They may also use 20 hours of co-training in an approved training to continue in good standing.
All mediators will be observed and evaluated at least annually in order to maintain standing. If they are found wanting in skills or attitude, they will be informed about areas where they have strengths and areas where they need to improve. They may be placed on three months probation if they have major need of improvement. Their work will be monitored for improvement during this time. If improvement is not noted, they will be dropped from the panel.
Continuing education sessions, with role play opportunities for evaluation will be made available at three times during the year, and each mediator will need to participate in one session per year. Some of these sessions may focus on one area of mediation, such as divorce mediation.