Rule 12.070.Qualification as an Approved Domestic Relations Custody and Parenting Mediator, Ongoing Obligations

UTCR 12.070 governs approval to mediate custody and parenting matters in circuit court. The applicant must establish, to the satisfaction of the determining authority, that each requirement is met or exceeded, and must keep meeting the ongoing ones after approval.

Education can be shown several ways. A master's or doctoral degree in counseling, psychiatry, psychology, social work, marriage and family therapy, or mental health from an accredited college or university qualifies. So does a law degree from an accredited law school with course work or continuing legal education credits in family law. A master's or doctoral degree in a subject relating to children and family dynamics, education, communication, or conflict resolution qualifies when it includes coursework in human behavior and is paired with at least one year full-time equivalent post-degree experience providing social work, mental health, or conflict resolution services to families. A bachelor's degree in a behavioral science related to family relationships, child development, or conflict resolution qualifies with coursework in a behavioral science and at least seven years full-time equivalent post-bachelor's experience in that same kind of work.

The training stack is the basic mediation curriculum in UTCR 12.100, the domestic relations custody and parenting mediation curriculum in UTCR 12.110, and court-system training in UTCR 12.130 or substantially similar training. Experience runs on either of two tracks. The first is participation in at least 20 cases including a total of at least 100 hours of domestic relations mediation supervised by or co-mediated with a qualified domestic relations custody and parenting mediation supervisor, of which at least 10 cases and 50 hours must be custody and parenting mediation and at least three of those cases must be directly observed by the supervisor. The second takes at least two years full-time equivalent experience in mediation, in direct therapy or counseling with an emphasis on short-term problem solving, or as a practicing attorney handling a domestic relations or juvenile caseload, together with participation as mediator or co-mediator in at least 10 cases including at least 50 hours of custody and parenting mediation and an understanding of court-connected domestic relations programs.

After approval, the mediator completes 24 hours of continuing education every two calendar years beginning January 1 of the year after approval, as described in UTCR 12.140, subscribes to the mediator ethics in UTCR 12.040, and keeps the public information in UTCR 12.050 current. To supervise others, a mediator needs the custody and parenting qualifications, at least 35 cases including a total of at least 350 hours of custody and parenting mediation beyond the base experience requirement, and an understanding of court-connected domestic relations programs.