Facilitators are not employees of Episcopal Social Ministries, but rather are considered independent contractors. The weekly commitment for a facilitator is approximately 3 hours. There is also a monthly facilitator meeting. The meeting is scheduled for an hour and a half, and is a peer group supervision. The facilitator meeting is a time when facilitators can provide support to one another.
Facilitators share with each other new techniques, their successes and their learnings.
To accommodate varying schedules the meetings alternate between lunch time and early evening. Likewise the facilitator is a participant in the group, and needs to feel free to share of him or herself in ways that might not be appropriate or feel comfortable if they were working with clients from their own agency. By having facilitators work with groups at agencies other than their own, it takes away one of the issues of authority that can be problematic. Articulate the characteristics of an effective facilitator. Recognize typical patterns of Group Dynamics and use those patterns to help the group function more effectively.