Good Cause Becomes Membership Drive: Senate Bill 539 Requires Additional Training for Family Mediators by January 1, 2018
This post has been viewed 3,599 times.
Dear Fellow Mediators:
The Texas Council on Family Violence (TCFV), who are the people that lobbied for the new requirement about 4 hours of Domestic Violence Training by January 1, 2018 for family law mediators, are going to provide it free from December 15, 2017, through December 31, 2017. Afterwards their training will cost $30 for a TCFV membership plus $25 each for the four training modules. Here is a copy of the email that TCFV sent out about the free training: [same as below]
************************
Good Evening Mediators,
We are sending this to all our volunteers, although the additional training requirement affects family mediators.
On September 28, I notified you that Governor Abbott signed SB-539 into law on May 27. This law requires family mediators to take an additional four hours of family violence dynamics training by January 1, 2018.
On Monday, November 13 members of the Texas Mediation Trainers Roundtable hosted a meeting in which the Texas Council on Family Violence (TCFV) representatives briefed the requirement for this additional training. We were briefed that TCFV was developing the training which would be available to TCFV members only. Persons would have to join TCFV for $35 and then pay $25 for each of the four training modules. DRC Directors reminded the TCFV representatives that our mediators are volunteers who donate their time to provide mediation service to the community, and that we would lose mediators if they had to pay for this training.
On November 20, I learned that TCFV had an internal meeting yesterday and decided to provide this training online for free for DRC volunteers starting on December 15th until Dec 31.
The training is four hours. Upon completion, a certificate will be provided by the TCFV. Please bring a copy of that completion certificate for us to place in your file.
To remain current as a family mediator, you must take this training. [We] will add this requirement to our family mediation training in 2019.
Details are found below in the email from Krista Del Gallo, Public Policy Manager at TCFV on accessing the web link starting on December 15.
***************
Good news folks! Please see the note below from Krista DelGallo with the TCFV. The TCFV will provide their online training to volunteers at the DRCs for free through January 1, 2018. Those who complete the online training will receive a certificate showing they are in compliance with the new domestic violence requirements.
From: Krista DelGallo [mailto:kdelgallo@TCFV.org]
Sent: Monday, November 20, 2017 5:35 PM
To: Roberts, Elaine <elaine.roberts@mctx.org>
Subject: Follow up information about domestic violence training for mediators
************************
Hello
Nice to talk with you today! As I mentioned, we had an internal meeting regarding this training this afternoon. To accommodate the concerns you and other DRC’s with numerous volunteers have raised, we are going to have the web based training available free of charge for the public through January 1st. That way any volunteers that want to be in compliance can take the training then. In January we’ll shift to making it available to individual members only.
Below is an email that I created for you to share with your volunteers.
Please feel free to share it with other DRC staff. IF you have the contact information of the leader of the association of the meeting you were at on Friday, I am happy to let them know.
Thank you!
Krista
TCFV is creating a Domestic Violence Curriculum Tool Kit for Child Custody Mediators that will be available December 15th. The tool kit will be four one hour webinar modules and supplemental materials on these four core components:
- Dynamics of domestic violence
- Child exposure and resiliency
- Intersection of DV and child custody including the Texas statutory framework
- Trauma-informed, safety centered mediation practice
To access these webinars starting December 15th, got to TCFV’s website (hyperlinked-and click On-Demand tab). Until January, these four webinar modules will be accessible to anyone, free of charge. Starting in January, this content will only be available to TCFV members. More information on joining TCFV as an individual member may be found here.
In 2018, TCFV Policy staff will be offering this training in person at forums as well as provide support and technical assistance to local DV programs that are interested in providing the training in their communities.
Krista Del Gallo
Policy Manager
Texas Council on Family Violence
Tags:
