NJC's serve parties involved in disputes that might otherwise be prosecuted as misdemeanors. This article first identifies the tasks that comprise the mediator's role and the qualifications necessary for performing these tasks. The various skills and strategies mediators use to discharge their duties effectively are then identified, followed by a discussion of the components of any mediator development program. These are a selection process for procuring appropriate mediator candidates, a course of study that teaches practitioner skills, and a post-training setting in which candidates apply skillsto actual disputes. The article then describes how NJC's typically handle these components and identifies criteria for assessing efforts to implement these components. An analytical scheme is presented for the assessment of a mediator development program, and its application is illustrated in the NJC context. The article concludes with a description of methods for evaluating the effectiveness of a mediator development program and a discussion of related subjects: the transferability of mediation skills from one substantive area to another and the matter of licensing mediators. 111 footnotes.