1. Integrating Restorative Justice Principles and Practices Within Juvenile Justice
Coalition for Juvenile Justice
June 5, 2017
Facilitators: Catherine Bargen, Matthew Hartman, and Aaron Lyons
Co-Founders and Principals of Just Outcomes, LLP

2. Email us at info@justoutcomesconsulting.com
Just Outcomes supports communities and organizations in developing just responses to harmful actions or situations.
Matthew, Catherine, Aaron
us at

3. Poll What is your role in relationship to Juvenile Justice?
Administrator
Intake/Court/Probation
Program Development/Coordination
Community Partner
Other
Aaron

4. Today’s Agenda Restorative Justice Defined
Levels of Restorative Justice Implementation
Five Priority Strategies of Effective Implementation
Q & A
Aaron

5. Restorative Justice Defined
Restorative justice is a response to a harmful incident that seeks the inclusion of all involved, in efforts to meaningfully address the harm and restore trust in relationships.
Just Outcomes
Aaron

6. Restorative Justice Models of Practice
Victim-Offender Dialogue
Conferencing
Circle Process
Aaron

7. Evidence Reductions in re-offending Increased victim satisfaction
Higher restitution repayment rates
Lower incarceration rates
Lower court costs

8. Restorative Justice is Not . . .
A replacement for the legal system
Only intended for minor offenses or low-risk youth
Necessarily an alternative to prison
“That victim program” or “that youth program”
A particular program or blueprint
Highlights:
Not necessarily about diversion of lower risk, lower needs youth out of the criminal justice system. Problems with this assumption include:
Most effective with more serious/violent crimes, both in recidivism and victim satisfactions
Effective with adults
Can take place within the justice system either pre or post sentence
Adapted from Howard Zehr

9. External Expectations (staff/client, staff/partner)
Levels of Change
Program Development,
Implementation,
and Evaluation
External Expectations
and Relationships
(staff/client, staff/partner)
Internal Expectations
and Relationships
(staff/staff, staff/admin)
Matthew
VALUES

10. Restorative Justice Values
Respect
Empowerment
Inclusivity
Humility
Curiosity
Interconnectedness
Responsibility / Accountability
Growth
Dialogue
Catherine
Possible polling question: which two do you think your organization is already strongly embracing or embodying?

11. Principles of Restorative Justice
Invite full participation and consensus
Work towards healing what has been broken
Seek direct accountability
Reintegrate where there has been division
Strengthen the community and individuals to prevent further harms

12. Internal Expectations and Relationships (staff/staff, staff/admin)

13. Power
Without conscious reflection one’s use of power in justice, the “values” quickly become buzzwords co-opted into business as usual. The responsibility of re-examining power and authority relationships rests with both individuals and the collective agency.
NZ example of youth justice reform: not perfect, but a real attempt to disrupt colonial power dynamics at a national level
The innate, ascribed, and learned characteristics that enable a person to achieve their goals.

14. Styles of Intervention
Avoidant (evading power)
“I didn’t see that.”
Accommodating
(surrendering power)
“I know you didn’t mean to, just don’t do it again.”
Restorative (power-with)
“What do you think it will take to make things right?”
Directive (power-over)
“How many times do we have to go over this?”
Support
Expectation
High
Low
Adapted from IIRP

15. Internal Expectations and Relationships (staff/staff, staff/admin)

16. Internal Expectations and Relationships (staff/staff, staff/admin)
Why focus attention here?
Safe organizational culture allows for individual change
Integrity in approach to change
Sustains change

17. Strategies for Implementation
Internal Expectations and Relationships
(staff/staff, staff/admin)
Strategies for Implementation
Commit early to this level for the long road of implementation
Develop healthy and safe workplace culture
Respond to conflict, harm and grievances restoratively
Commit early to this level for the long road of implementation
Develop healthy and safe culture
Use circle process for organizational development
Empower Staff
Cross-train Staff
Collaboratively establish clear expectations
Get the “right” people on the bus
Respond to Conflict, Harm and Grievance Restoratively
Challenge county HR norms
Define and clarify confidentiality
Don’t engage in conflict triangles
If possible, give example?
Ethics violation or Harassment Grievance

18. External Expectations and Relationships (staff/client, staff/partner)

19. External Expectations and Relationships (Staff/Client)
Why focus attention here?
Trauma-Informed, Strength-Based, Equity-Informed
Aligned Messaging
Empowerment Model
Motivates Change
Sustainable Change

20. External Expectations and Relationships (Staff/Client)
Strategies for Implementation
Change the “why”
Power-with relationships
Address needs (process and outcome)
Define accountability restoratively
Consistency in response to regression
Define accountability as:
acknowledgement of choice;
recognition that actions caused harm;
actively seek to understand the experience of those impacted;
participate in working to make things right;
personal transformation to minimize future harm; and,
compliance only in-so-far as it supports the above.

21. External Expectations and Relationships (Staff/Partner)
Why focus attention here?
Empowers community to accept their obligation to their members
Strengthens community capacity
A more empowered community is a
safer community
Allows for efficient, community-based program development
Strategies for Relationship-Building
Practice curiosity and humility
Support capacity building within community
Trust community wisdom and culture

22. Justice system follows community leadership.
Justice system operates separately and independently of the community.
Community viewed as nuisance
Justice system follows community leadership.
Community viewed as problem solver
1. Justice system operates separately and independently of the community.
2. Justice system provides more information to the community about its relationships.
3. Justice system provides information to the community about its activities and asks for intelligence information from the community.
4. Justice system asks for some guidance in doing its work, recognizes a need for community help, and places more activities in the community.
5. Justice system follows community leadership.
Adapted from National Institute of Corrections. (2001). Restorative Justice: Principles, Practices and Implementation. United States Department of Justice. Section 4, “Building Community Resource Capacity”, pp

23. Program Development, Implementation, and Evaluation

24. Programs Aligned with Restorative Justice Values and Principles
Victim-Offender Dialogue Program
Conferencing
Circle Process
Restorative Community Service
Restitution Pay-back Programs
Possible polling question: which do have experience with/know about? Select all that apply

25. Program Development, Implementation, and Evaluation
Why focus attention here?
Expansion of services to all clients (Victim, Youth, Community)
Mitigation of barriers to success
Evidence-based
Provision of safe space for meeting stakeholder’s interdependent needs
Evaluation creates a level of accountability to community

26. Program Development, Implementation, and Evaluation
Strategies for Implementation
Contract with community non-profit agencies for service delivery
Include M & E funding and expectation within contracts
Engage community leaders (formal and informal) in program development
Fill facilitative-governance roles:
Assure community programs and members have meaningful roles within justice response
Fund
Facilitate
Convene
Support, and,
Educate
Refer Clients

27. Five Priority Strategies for Implementation
Change how power is wielded in organizational hierarchies, with clients and families, and with community partners – aim towards power-with others, rather than power-over others.
Change how Power is Wielded
Start restorative justice implementation internally through attention to organizational culture, relationships, conflict and grievance policies and procedures.
Strengthen the Trunk
Strengthen service to victim/survivors through program development, attentive youth case management, and collaboration with victim services/advocacy.
Strengthen Service to Victims
Engage, listen, educate, and empower community as primary partner in administration of justice.
Actively Engage Community
Reallocate funding within budget to align with restorative justice priorities.
Reallocate Funding
Simple summary – put a lens of relationship on everything you are doing!
Polling question: which strategy seems most relevant or important for you in your role?

28. “There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.” Margaret J. Wheatley

29. Questions?

30. Click here to read the blog on this topic!