Volunteering as a Mediator
All volunteer mediators for the Dispute Resolution Center are required to take a mediation training course. You may choose community mediation, general civil mediation, or domestic mediation training, based upon your interests. These courses are offered at the Dispute Resolution Center of West Michigan, as well as many of the other centers across Michigan.
(http://courts.michigan.gov/scao/resources/other/mtplst.htm).
After you have successfully completed mediation training, you may submit an application to be a volunteer mediator. At that point, you will participate in actual mediations as part of a hands-on internship. After you have successfully completed both the course and internship, you will be eligible to mediate community and small claims cases for the DRC.
The Dispute Resolution Center of West Michigan typically offers a community mediation training course once per year. You can contact us to be put on the waiting list for the next available class. The community mediation course is approximately 40 hours long.
If you would like to specialize in specific areas of advanced mediation, the Dispute Resolution Center also offers courses in topics such as agricultural mediation, special education mediation, victim-offender mediation, and more. You can contact us to learn more about these advanced classes.
In order to remain active on our volunteer roster, we ask that you mediate a minimum of two cases per year.
All of our volunteers are also invited to attend free mediation workshops, which are usually offered once per month. These sessions can enhance your skills and help you network with other mediators.