Family
Mediation Services, Inc.
Standards of Practce For Divorce & Family Mediation
The Symposium which developed the Standards included
representatives from Academy of Family Mediators (AFM), Association of Family
Courts and Community Professionals (AFCC), American Bar Association (ABA)
Family Section, and other national, state and regional organizations. The
Standards represented a consensus of the best suggestions made over a period of
two years in which the Symposium met to develop them. The Standards had
previously been adopted by the ABA Family Section and by AFCC, as well as several
state mediation organizations. The adoption of these standards by ACR rounds
out the trio of major national organizations whose members are family and
divorce mediators.
The General
Standards
STANDARD I:
A family mediator shall recognize that mediation is based on the principle of
self-determination by the participants.
STANDARD II:
A family mediator shall be qualified by education and training to undertake the
mediation.
STANDARD III:
A family mediator shall facilitate the participants' understanding of what
mediation is and assess their capacity to mediate before the participants reach
an agreement to mediate.
STANDARD IV:
A family mediator shall conduct the mediation process in an impartial manner. A
family mediator shall disclose all actual and potential grounds of bias and
conflicts of interest reasonably known to the mediator. The participants shall
be free to retain the mediator by an informed, written waiver of the conflict
of interest. However, if a bias or conflict of interest clearly impairs a mediator's
impartiality, the mediator shall withdraw
regardless of the express agreement of the participants.
STANDARD V:
A family mediator shall fully disclose and explain the basis of any
compensation, fees and charges to the participants.
STANDARD VI:
A family mediator shall structure the mediation process so that the
participants make decisions based on sufficient information and knowledge.
STANDARD VII:
A family mediator shall maintain the confidentiality of all information
acquired in the mediation process, unless the mediator is permitted or required
to reveal the information by law or agreement of the participants.
STANDARD VIII:
A family mediator shall assist participants in determining how to promote the
best interests of children.
STANDARD IX:
A family mediator shall recognize a family situation involving child abuse or
neglect and take appropriate steps to shape the mediation process accordingly.
STANDARD X:
A family mediator shall recognize a family situation involving domestic abuse
and take appropriate steps to shape the mediation process accordingly.
STANDARD XI:
A family mediator shall suspend or terminate the mediation process when the
mediator reasonably believes that a participant is unable to effectively
participate or for other compelling reason.
STANDARD XII:
A family mediator shall be truthful in the advertisement and solicitation for
mediation.
STANDARD XIII:
A family mediator shall acquire and maintain professional competence in
mediation.
Overview and
Definitions
Family and divorce mediation ("family mediation" or
"mediation") is a process in which a mediator, an impartial third
party, facilitates the resolution of family disputes by promoting the
participants' voluntary agreement. The family mediator assists communication,
encourages understanding and focuses the participants on their individual and
common interests. The family mediator works with the participants to explore
options, make decisions and reach their own agreements.
Family mediation is not a substitute for the need for
family members to obtain independent legal advice or counseling or therapy. Nor
is it appropriate for all families. However, experience has established that
family mediation is a valuable option for many families because it can increase
the self-determination of participants and their ability to communicate,
promote the best interests of children, and reduce the economic and emotional
costs associated with the resolution of family disputes.
Effective mediation requires that the family mediator be
qualified by training, experience and temperament; that the mediator be
impartial; that the participants reach their decisions voluntarily; that their
decisions be based on sufficient factual data; that the mediator be aware of
the impact of culture and diversity; and that the best interests of children be
taken into account. Further, the mediator should also be prepared to identify
families whose history includes domestic abuse or child abuse.
These Model Standards of Practice for Family and Divorce
Mediation ("Model Standards") aim to perform three major functions:
1. to serve as a guide for the
conduct of family mediators;
2. to inform the mediating participants of what they
can expect; and
3. to promote public confidence in mediation as a process
for resolving family disputes.
The Model Standards are aspirational
in character. They describe good practices for family mediators. They are not
intended to create legal rules or standards of liability. The Model Standards
include different levels of guidance: Use of the term "may"
in a Standard is the lowest strength of guidance and indicates a practice that
the family mediator should consider adopting but which can be deviated from in
the exercise of good professional judgment. Most of the Standards employ the
term "should" which indicates that the practice described in the
Standard is highly desirable and should be departed from only with very strong
reason. The rarer use of the term "shall" in a Standard is a higher
level of guidance to the family mediator, indicating that the mediator should
not have discretion to depart from the practice described.
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