Requirements for Accredited Family Mediators

STANDARDS OF PRACTICE and DISCLAIMER

  1. The development of Standards of Practice, the operational context within which the Code of Professional Conduct should function, is a complex and difficult matter.
  2. The OAFM is acutely aware of the ultimate need to certify competence in mediation practice in order to maintain the integrity of the process. However, due to the variety and divergent backgrounds of its practitioners, the unevenness in quality and availability of training, and the very recent emergence of mediation as a distinct profession, the OAFM is of the view that it would be premature to attempt to certify the competence of Accredited Family Mediators at this time.
  3. Experience and outcome research will eventually provide the best information as to what constitutes high quality in mediation practice. At that point, a certification process will be more appropriate.
  4. The OAFM does, however, have minimum standards of practice including education, training, supervision, and experience that form the basis of its accreditation designation. To Requirements

REQUIREMENTS for ACCREDITED FAMILY MEDIATOR DESIGNATION

An applicant/member must satisfy the OAFM Board of Directors that he or she meets the requirements set out below before they can receive the Accredited Family Mediator (AccFM) designation of the OAFM:

  1. Education Requirements
  2. Knowledge of Family Mediation Theories and Skills
  3. Experience and Consultation/Supervision in Family Mediation Practice
  4. Experience in the Human Services field
  5. Compliance with the OAFM’s Code of Professional Conduct and Standards of Practice
  6. Required insurance coverage for professional liability, and
  7. Continuing Education requirements

ACCREDITATION REQUIREMENTS

EDUCATION

Applicants for AccFM status from OAFM must provide at least one of the following:

  1. Proof of a university degree, or
  2. Proof of Family Mediation Canada certification.
  3. Applicants who do not have a university degree must provide proof of a minimum of 10 years of relevant work experience in the human services field.*

KNOWLEDGE OF FAMILY MEDIATION THEORIES AND SKILLS

A basic knowledge of family mediation theories and skills is essential. For the purpose of application for accreditation, or continuing accreditation, an applicant/member must have completed:

  1. Forty hours of a basic family mediation training course. The course must be taught by an OAFM accredited mediator or approved by the OAFM, or be determined by the Board to be its equivalent. The family mediation training course must include a minimum of five hours in each of the following categories:

    1. Conflict intervention models and theories;
    2. Psychological issues in separation, divorce, family dynamics, and power imbalances;
    3. Issues and needs of children in separation and divorce;
    4. Mediation process and techniques including role play;
    5. Ontario Family Law including custody, support, asset evaluation and distribution, taxation as it relates to separation and divorce; and
    6. Family economics (not required if the basic training is limited to custody mediation).
  2. Twenty hours of family mediation skills training. Twenty hours of training can be acquired through attendance at one or more advanced trainings, relevant workshops and conferences.
  3. A minimum of 14 hours of domestic violence assessment (DVA) education/training . Those qualified to provide this training may instead present a proof of DVA training offered and delivered by them. The OAFM considers DVA training a critical and essential component of a family mediator’s training. The DVA training has to be either a course or training that is focused on this subject in successive, intact sessions that total a minimum of 14 hours. Courses and training that provide or touch on domestic violence for a few hours at different times in the course(s), or the aggregation of a few hours from different courses do not meet the DVA training requirement.

*Note: If the applicant lacks the minimum qualifications outlined above in paragraph (1) and (2), he/she shall submit a resume and contact the accreditation committee to discuss his/her suitability for accreditation on an individual basis.

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EXPERIENCE and CONSULTATlON / SUPERVISION IN THE PRACTICE OF MEDIATION

  1. The applicant mediator is required to have hands-on mediation work experience supervised by an OAFM Accredited Family Mediator for a minimum of 100 hours:

    1. The applicant must submit letter(s) from AccFM (O.A.F.M.) mediator(s) confirming supervision of the required 100 hours of family mediation work; and
    2. The 100 hours of supervision may be any combination of the following:

      1. co-mediating,
      2. observing,
      3. consulting, and
      4. de-briefing.
      Example: If an applicant is not able to obtain in-person supervision, he/she may meet this requirement through on-going consulting and peer review of 100 hours of mediation work. (See FAQ for details)
  2. The applicant mediator is required to obtain five Agreements to Mediate/Retainer Contracts that were signed by the clients of five family-related cases:

    1. Any information that could identify clients is to be removed.
    2. For ease of reference, applicants are to assign a case number to each case. The top of each page should clearly display the name of the applicant, the case number, and the page number. With the removal of client-identity information, the case number will support the accreditation committee in its review of the accreditation application and allow ease of reference should the committee seek further information from the applicant.
    3. Indication of the applicant’s role in the mediation process of each case; whether he/she was the mediator, co-mediator, intern, etc.
    4. Issues to be mediated.
    5. Date the Agreements to Mediate were signed.
  3. The applicant mediator is required to obtain five family-related cases mediated to the point of agreement*.

    1. This is the final comprehensive document that the applicant presents to clients as a summary report of their agreement.
    2. All information that may identify clients should be removed.
    3. Information related to the identity of the accreditation applicant, the mediator’s relationship to the clients (the mediator, co-mediator, intern, etc.), and the date of the summary report must be retained.
    4. A case number and the page number are to be clearly displayed at the top of each page. Case numbers are to be consistent with those assigned to Agreements to Mediate (paragraph 2 above).
    *Note: Depending on the professional background of the mediator, the concluding report has a variety of titles, e.g. Mediator’s Report, Mediator’s Understanding of Clients Agreement, Memorandum of Understanding, etc.

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EXPERIENCE IN HUMAN SERVICES

  1. Applicants who possess a law degree or a graduate degree must provide proof (i.e. letter from supervisor, peer references) of a minimum of two years of relevant experience in the human services field.*
  2. Applicants who have a university degree other than a law degree or a graduate degree must provide proof (i.e. letter from supervisor, peer references) of a minimum of six years of relevant work experience in human services.*
  3. Applicants who do not have a university degree must provide proof (i.e. letter from supervisor, peer references) of a minimum of ten years of relevant work experience in human services.*

*Note: For the purposes above, “human services” is defined to be experience where the applicant has dealt with the public on a regular basis in a capacity related to counselling, reconciling, problem solving, crisis prevention, conflict intervention, conflict resolution, mediating, or arbitrating issues of social welfare, stress, crisis, change, or social justice.

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STANDARDS OF PRACTICE

  1. CODE OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT

    An Accredited Family Mediator must endorse and adhere strictly to the OAFM Code of Professional conduct as it sets out Standards of Practice. No mediator shall venture into an area of practice beyond his/her own area of expertise.

  2. LIABILITY INSURANCE

    All candidates at the time of application for the designation of Accredited Family Mediator, as well as Accredited Family Mediators at the time of annual renewal, must provide proof of current liability insurance covering the practice of mediation in an amount not less than $1,000,000.

  3. CONTINUING EDUCATION

    An OAFM Accredited Family Mediator must continue and submit proof of his/her mediation education through attending courses and workshops, and reading about new developments in the field. The continuing education requirement is met by a minimum of 10 hours of course work annually related to the practice of family mediation.

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ACCREDITATION APPLICATION PROCESS

Applicants applying for the Accredited Family Mediator designation of the OAFM are required to compile all information listed in the Accreditation Requirements page and forward it to the OAFM accreditation committee along with the OAFM Accreditation Application Checklist form. See the Contact Us page for the address to send the application form.

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APPLICATION REVIEW AND INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS

The OAFM accreditation committee meets on a quarterly basis. Incomplete applications are set aside as pending files and applicants are requested to provide the missing information.

The application file is considered closed after one year of the date when the last request for missing information was sent out, if no reply has been received from the applicant.

Any subsequent request for accreditation by the same applicant will be treated as a new application. Accordingly, the applicant will be required to again submit the application fee and all supporting documents.

Applicants should retain a complete copy of the accreditation application package for their reference before forwarding the package to the accreditation committee.

REQUIREMENTS FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE ACCREDITED MEDIATOR DESIGNATION

  1. ADHERENCE TO THE OAFM CODE OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT AND STANDARDS OF PRACTICE
  2. LIABILITY INSURANCE
  3. CONTINUING EDUCATION
  4. MEMBERSHIP FEE

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q.
How can I find someone to supervise my practice?

A.
Contact the accredited members in your area. Use the search feature on the OAFM website to see who may be able to provide you direct or indirect supervision. If you do not find a supervisor in your area, contact accredited members in other areas of the province to see if they can supervise your mediation work indirectly.

Q.
I don’t have a degree. Do I still qualify for accreditation?

A.
Yes, if you have at least 10 years of suitable experience in human services.

Q.
What is human services experience?

A.
As a family mediator, you will be working with families facing a variety of situations. In order to meet the human services requirement, sufficient experience must be demonstrated in working with people facing a variety of circumstances in order to help them in challenging situations. Such work experience is often in the context of counselling, reconciling, problem solving, crisis prevention, conflict intervention, conflict resolution, mediating, or arbitrating issues of social welfare, stress, crisis, change, and/or social justice.

Q.
What is required to be stated in the letter from an AccFM Mediator confirming 100 hours of supervision of my mediation work?

A.
As an accredited member of OAFM, you will be mediating family mediation cases on your own and required to follow the OAFM’s Code of Professional Conduct and Standards of Practice.

The letter(s) from the supervising AccFM(s) should have sufficient detail to provide assurances to the OAFM accreditation committee that:
  • The AccFM has observed 100 hours of mediation work done by you; details about how the supervision was done can be included (i.e. direct, indirect, observation, peer review, consultation, etc.)
  • The AccFM is satisfied with your skill level to work as an effective family mediator.
  • The supervision of your work demonstrated to the AccFM that you understand and follow OAFM’s Code of Professional Conduct and Standards of Practice.

Q.
I understand that I am allowed to have indirect supervision of my family mediation work. What does indirect supervision mean?

A.
The criterion relating to 100 hours of supervised family mediation work ensures that any person obtaining accreditation has received sufficient training and demonstrated an aptitude to be an effective family mediator. It is also important to remember that you will be required to follow the OAFM’s Code of Professional Conduct and Standards of Practice after becoming accredited. Accordingly, the supervisor should ensure that you have a good knowledge of the OAFM code of conduct and are able to comply with it effectively during the mediation process.
  1. The accreditation committee relies on the supervising AccFM to provide assurance by way of reference letter that he/she did supervise 100 hours of mediation work of the applicant, and is satisfied with the mediation skills demonstrated by the applicant for accreditation.
  2. The exact arrangement that supervision of 100 hours of work takes, whether direct or indirect, is negotiated by each applicant and the supervising AccFM.
  3. Supervision means supervision of the mediation work carried out by the applicant and must extend to supervision beyond simply the outcome of the work done. Review of signed Agreements to Mediate that were the basis for 100 hours of work to reach mediated agreements is not sufficient. The supervisor should be involved in the mediation process to provide sufficient opportunity to observe the mediation work and provide any guidance needed.
  4. The applicant can keep a running total of work done at each stage of the process. The time count is for how much time it took the applicant to complete each mediation step that was reviewed by the supervisor as the steps were being taken. (It is acceptable when the supervisor’s review time is a fraction of time recorded by the applicant.) It is also allowable when parts of the supervision were direct and other parts indirect, as long as the applicant’s competency observed by the supervisor or more than one AccFM supervisor totalled 100 hours.
  5. One example of how indirect supervision could be carried out:
    1. A client prospect calls and the applicant does intake interviews – The applicant records one hour for time taken for interviews and then creates a detailed report of the intake and forwards it for review and guidance by the supervising AccFM. (Total supervising of Family Mediation Work = 1 hour)
    2. The applicant does DVA interviews and takes two hours for these. The applicant creates a detailed report for each interview and forwards by email to the supervisor for review and guidance by the supervisor. (Total supervising of Family Mediation Work = 2 hours)
    3. Three mediation meetings occur – each two hours long. At the end of each meeting, the applicant creates a detailed progress report for clients (additional two hours spent to create the progress report). The applicant sends these to the supervisor by email for review and guidance prior to sending them to the clients. (Total supervising of Family Mediation Work = 4 hours per meeting x three meetings = 12 hours)
    4. The applicant reviews the financial information and prepares support calculations. (Time taken = 3 hours.) The applicant sends these to the supervisor by email along with a mediation summary report for review and guidance prior to finalizing. (Total supervision of Family Mediation Work = 3 hours)
    5. The Applicant prepares a final summary report of the mediated agreement or Memorandum of Understanding. (Time taken = 3 hours). The Applicant sends these to the supervisor by email for review and guidance prior to giving these to the clients. (Total supervising of Family Mediation Work = 3 hours)
    6. The total indirect supervision of the applicant’s family mediation work done for these clients = 21 hours.
    7. The applicant should provide a summary of mediation work to the supervisor on a continuous basis, so that the supervisor may provide an unqualified reference letter about how many hours of mediation work were completed under his/her supervision.

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    OAFM Trainer/Educator Accreditation

    As part of the OAFM's program to professionalize some aspects of family mediation services offered to the public, it embarked on an accreditation program. Mediators with a certain number of hours of training, an appropriate professional background, and some experience, can be qualified as Accredited Family Mediators (AccFM).

    The accreditation of courses will result in recognition by OAFM of these courses as providing defined hours towards the AccFM (OAFM) accreditation. Those looking for the accreditation will be able to determine which courses they should take to achieve the AccFM (OAFM) status.

    Training Course Approval Process

    Criteria and Application for Training Course Approval may be accessed here.