How Mediators Can Obtain Professional Certification and thereby Elevate Their Profession: A Look at IMI’s Voluntary Credentialing Program - Chapter 28 - AAA Handbook on Mediation - 2nd Edition

 CHAPTER 28
HOW MEDIATORS CAN OBTAIN PROFESSIONAL
CERTIFICATION AND THEREBY
ELEVATE THEIR PROFESSION:
A LOOK AT IMI’S VOLUNTARY
CREDENTIALING PROGRAM
Judith P. Meyer and Irena Vanenkova*
I. Introduction
In many U.S. states, egg-graders, well-diggers, farriers, plumbers,
midwives, manicurists, barbers and hairdressers must be licensed.
Notaries public, doctors, lawyers, ministers and accountants must be
licensed in every state. Licensing requirements are generally imposed in
order to ensure that the practitioners of the licensed professions meet a
certain level of competence, making them less likely to harm the public.1
Mediation, however, is not one of the licensed professions.2
Some states do require mediators to be certified in order to have
cases referred to them by the courts. Florida is a good example. But
most states do not. They merely require mediators in court-referred
mediation programs to undergo training,3 which varies in amount from state to state. Private mediators remain entirely unregulated by
government. Thus, there are no barriers to becoming a private mediator,
either in terms of education or training requirements.4