The Maryland Program For Mediator Excellence

The Maryland Program for Mediator Excellence (MPME) offers members valuable opportunities to improve their mediation skills, knowledge and understanding.  The program also provides opportunities to network and contribute to improving Maryland's mediation community. 

The MPME was created collaboratively by the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section of the Maryland State Bar Association; Community Mediation Maryland (formerly Maryland Association of Community Mediation Centers); The Maryland Council for Dispute Resolution (MCDR); The Maryland Chapter of the Association for Conflict Resolution; and the Maryland Judiciary's Mediation and Conflict Resolution Office (MACRO) with the assistance of hundreds of mediators across the state.  The MPME is coordinated by MACRO.  We welcome your membership and participation in this exciting program.  Should you have any questions, please contact Cheryl Jamison, MACRO’ Quality Assistance Director at 410-260-3540 or cheryl.jamison@mdcourts.gov.

What you are about to read is a snapshot of the Maryland Program for Mediator Excellence.  In the same way that a tree grows and develops, so will the MPME.  As feedback is received, pilot programs launched and evaluations completed, the branches and leaves will mature and new ones will sprout.  This is very much a living organism.

The Trunk = Entrée into the Program

The trunk of the MPME is how mediators get into the program.  The requirements are:

• Complete at least  40 hours of mediation skills training
• Agree to comply with the Maryland Standards of Conduct for Mediators as adopted by the Mediator Excellence Council, the governing body for the MPME
• Agree to participate in good faith with the Mediation Ombuds Program
• Commit to completing two hours of ethical education each year
• Commit to completing four continuing skills improvement activities each year.

The Branches are Where the Fun Begins

The branches of a tree are where the fun begins.  This is where the external or visible activities take place. Branches hold an amazing array of colorful leaves.  Children climb trees using branches; tree houses are built upon branches; hammocks are hung on branches and individuals sit, recline, and relax under branches.  For the MPME, this is where members experience valuable opportunities to improve their mediation skills, knowledge and understanding.  The branches of the MPME are:

The Mediation Ombuds Program

• Provides consumers of mediation services a place to resolve issues, concerns and complaints in a system that is restorative in nature. 
• The objectives of the Mediation Ombuds Program are to provide:
• A system of responsiveness to concerns and complaints about mediation services;
• A framework for building competency among mediations who are the subject of legitimate complaints; and
• Opportunities to help people making complaints gain an understanding of mediation, its benefits and purpose.

Continuing Education and Training

• Offers a wealth of information about educational and training opportunities around the state and nationally as well as programs designed specifically for MPME members.

Mentoring

• Creating opportunities to enter into mentoring relationships and work on specific mediator skills.  Other traditional types of mentoring opportunities will be available in the future.

Networking

• Promoting networking opportunities through practitioners organizations, informal discussion groups, regional networks and other events of interest to mediators.

Evaluation

• Promoting ways to effectively evaluate individual mediation services as well as the effectiveness and success of the MPME.

Performance-Based Assessment & Certification

• Developing a voluntary assessment program that is objective, consistent, transparent, reliable, free from conflicts of interest, respectful of different mediation approaches and allows for continued skill building.

Self-Awareness

• Providing mediators with opportunities and resources to grow professionally through self-reflection and mindfulness techniques.

Roots Are the Foundation of the Tree

Every thriving and vibrant tree has strong roots which feed the entire tree.  Without healthy roots, the tree will eventually die.  The same is true of the MPME.  The tree’s roots represent the solid foundation needed for high quality mediation.  These are the areas identified by Maryland mediators as essential to any high quality practice. 

Consumer Awareness

• Informing consumers of the benefits of mediation so that consumers begin to not only to think of mediation first when a dispute occurs; they are also able to understand the benefits of mediation, and tell the difference between mediation and other ADR services.

Mediation Definitions

• Identifying and describing mediation based on the strategies used by Maryland mediators.

Ethical Practice Standards

• Informing mediators about the ethical standards adopted by the MPME and other ethical issues facing mediators.

Training Standards

• Developing voluntary standards for basic and advanced mediation training courses.

Diversity

• Ensuring diversity of practice and population within the MPME.

Membership Invitation

We invite you to become a member of this unique program by completing the Membership Application.  There is no membership fee.  Once you complete and return the application, you will receive an MPME Membership Packet. 

Take a few minutes, complete the application and join the Maryland Mediators who are making a commitment to excellence.  Then send the application, along with documentation that you have completed 40 hours of mediation skills training to:  MPME, 903 Commerce Road, Annapolis, MD 21401.  The information can be sent by fax to 410-260-3541.

Should you have any questions, please contact Cheryl Jamison, Quality Assistance Director at 410-260-3540 or cheryl.jamison@mdcourts.gov.