The Board of Directors of VACCR has established the following criteria for membership in the Association - The criteria are intended to encourage organizations to aspire to the best standards of community service. A printable version in PDF fomat is available too.

Member community mediation centers have the following characteristics:

• Organized as a private nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, ascribing to the mission, vision and goals of the Association;

• Having a governing or advisory board that sets policy and direction for the organization and hiring and firing authority for the Executive Director;

• Providing mediation and conflict resolution services primarily to an identified local geographic area and only secondarily to broader areas of Virginia;

• Having goals to serve diverse populations, types of disputes and sources of referral;

• Using governing or advisory boards, staff and mediators who represent the diversity of the community served;

• Using trained community volunteers, who are not required to have academic or professional credentials, as the primary providers of mediation services;

• Providing direct access to the public through self-referral and striving to reduce barriers to service, including physical, linguistic, cultural , programmatic and economic barriers;

• Providing mediation and conflict resolution services to clients regardless of their ability to pay (e.g. free, low cost or sliding scale fees);

• Initiating, facilitating and educating for collaborative community relationships to effect positive change;

• Engaging in public awareness campaigns and educational activities about the values and practices of mediation;

• Providing a forum for dispute resolution at the earliest stage of a conflict;

• Providing a variety of mediation and conflict resolution processes through one or more programs to serve the needs of the community; and

• Providing an alternative to the judicial system at any stage of a conflict.

Steps In The Application Process - The application process involves the following six steps. Please contact the Chair of the Membership Committee to get started and for further information. Currently that is Duane Shockley at the Richmond center. His contact information can be found on the VACCR Centers page. An important VACCR goal is to help develop new centers - so please feel free to contact us for anything we can do to help in your application process.

Here are the application steps:

• Designate one person from your organization to be the application contact for VACCR;
• Complete the application form and indicate your contact person’s name and contact information in the appropriate spaces. There are two versions of the application form:
         Fill-in-the-blank MS Word form
         Non-fillable PDF form

• Send your first draft and any questions to VACCR by email at membership@vaccr.org;
• Someone from the VACCR Membership Committee will contact you to discuss your application, answer any questions, etc. so that you can complete a final draft;
• Once your application is finalized with the Membership Committee, the Committee will bring it before the VACCR Board where it will be reviewed and a site visit authorized;
• Once a site visit has been completed, the Membership Committee will present it’s findings and your completed application to the full VACCR Board for a vote. Every organization that meets the requirements will be admitted to full membership.