https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2170&context=law_journal_law_policy

This article discusses a decade-old eviction mediation program in St. Louis County and covers how the program works, explores data collected from the program, and the documented benefits that have accrued to participants. The program was developed as a result of a partnership between the Washington University School of Law Civil Rights & Mediation Clinic and the Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing and Opportunity Council. Originally designed as an opt-in program, the program later became opt-out in 2018. Mediators for the program include both lawyers and law students, and all mediators must attend a training that includes an overview of housing law in St. Louis County, mediator ethics, mediation strategies, and agreement drafting. Mediators must also observe at least two mediations, co-mediate at least two mediations, and be shadowed for at least two mediations prior to mediating independently. Overall, the program has been successful. Data from 2018 reveals that unlike cases that went to trial (which were significantly more likely to end in eviction), 71% of mediated cases resulted in a settlement.