Community Mediation Volunteer Opportunities
Thank you for your interest in volunteering your time with our organization! We look forward to learning more about you and providing you with opportunities to grow within the field of mediation and/or Restorative Justice.
As mediation and Restorative Justice become more and more recognized for the peace-making and community- building tools that they are, and we continue to strive to offer the BEST quality service possible– we are guided by quality assurance standards for community mediators throughout the U.S. It is CSC’s goal to maintain those standards and, at the same time, not lose our attention to the community-based values we hold that are represented in you, our volunteers, who donate your time to help others.
The National Association for Community Mediation (NAFCM) has issued the following statement as guidance for community mediation programs for quality assurance:
“Community mediation programs throughout the U.S. have been preparing individuals to provide mediation and dispute resolution services in their communities for over 20 years. These community programs, by their very nature, are representative of the diversity and differing environments of the communities they serve. Common to community mediation programs is the tradition of high quality practitioner development and the delivery of consistently high caliber services. This quality assurance is achieved through a process of skill development and performance assessment which typically includes:
- Screening and Recruitment
- Basic Mediation Training
- Evaluation of Mediation Training participants
- Apprenticeship
- Co-mediation model
- Continuing Education
- Advanced Training
- Trainer Qualities and Responsibilities
- Trainer/Training Evaluation
- Standards of Practice”
To meet these goals, CSC offers on-going feedback and skill-development opportunities to our volunteers. The attached Volunteer Description will give you more information about the structure within which we utilize volunteers to give you a meaningful volunteer experience. As we continue to grow, we have an increased need for volunteers who are interested in refining and improving their skills to the point where they can help us supervise and mentor new intern mediators.
Our volunteers are the back bone of this agency. Volunteering with CSC is a great way to build upon the skills learned in the training. Volunteer mediators gain exposure to the exciting field of mediation, practical experience, opportunities to improve mediation skills, and can make a difference in peoples’ lives.
We have high expectations of our mediators as the quality of their performance directly reflects on the quality of our service. Therefore, it is an expectation that our volunteers participate in on-going learning by getting constructive feedback throughout the structure of our “continuous learning” organization.
If you are interested in pursuing this opportunity, your first step is to complete the volunteer application, you will find here (click here) and send it to us. When we receive it, we will be in touch to talk about getting started.
You can also read more about the volunteer structure on the Volunteer Job Description Page.
And learn more about Training Opportunities.
All of our volunteers participate in the structure outlined in the job description, regardless of previous experience or training. This way we are able to ensure quality of service and hopefully provide you with a meaningful and personally valuable volunteer experience.
Thank you for your interest, your generous contribution of time, and your dedication to the constructive resolution of differences!