The effectiveness of Restorative Justice Conferencing is supported by many research and evaluation findings. Restorative Resources is recognized by Sonoma Upstream Investments as a provider of Restorative Conferencing, a Tier 1 Evidence Based Practice.

Restorative Resources is pleased to announce receipt of a federal Title II Formula Block grant award of $300,000 to provide services to teens in Sonoma County. The initial grant amount is renewable annually fo two additional years, a total of $900,000.
 
Awarded by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Corrections Standards Authority, the grant is targeted at juveniles in trouble and uses an innovative concept to right the wrong done and hold teens accountable through use of peer support circles.

 “We are particularly pleased to welcome Ventura Albor as Project Manager for this important project,” said Susan Kinder, Executive Director of Restorative Resources. Mr. Albor is a long-time Sonoma County resident and community advocate who recently served as Grant Manager and Program Development Specialist with California Human Development.

In implementing the program, Restorative Resources will work in close partnership with Sunny Hills Services of Santa Rosa and the Juvenile Division of the Sonoma County Probation Department.
 
Restorative justice brings offenders together with the victims of their crimes and other community members in a facilitated dialog where victims have an opportunity to voice the impact of the crimes on their lives and offenders develop plans to address their concerns.
 
According to Kinder, Restorative Resources has handled over 900 juvenile crimes in this way in Sonoma County since 2002. “The
percentages of youth who have gone through our program and reoffend are very low, compared to other programs for youth offenders” Kinder said. “Our experience has been that fewer than 8% of offenders reoffend.”

The new project will combine the successful experience of restorative justice conferances between youth and victim with circles of support called Accountability Circles. Supported by community volunteers, juvenile offenders will hold each other accountable for “making things right” through completion of their individual restorative plans. Successful graduates of the Restorative Justice Juvenile Accountability Circles will have the opportunity to serve as peer facilitators in future circles.

According to Amos Clifford, a consultant to the program, the community support of a Accountability Circle is critical to the transition from a youth to an adult role. “This will give youth the opportunity to earn their place in the community as a result of stepping up and contributing.”
 
For additional comment:
 Sheralynn Freitas, Deputy Chief Probation Officer, Sonoma County
 Robert Florez, Sunny Hills Services

Our Mission
We provide resources to empower people to restore relationships and build communities of understanding and respect through use of restorative practices.

Our Vision
We are working to bring about a world where our justice systems heal, our schools transform behavior challenges into emotional growth, and our communities come together with compassion and creativity to overcome the challenges we face.

Restorative Practices
Restorative practices invite all people affected by wrongdoing to participate in restorative circles where everyone is given a voice in identifying harms and how to make things right. The circle conversations, guided by a trained facilitator, are marked by respect, equality and accountability. At the core of restorative practices is a deeply held trust in the innate capacity of all people to discover growth in adversity, to extract wisdom from challenges, to be thoughtful and just, and to authentically hear the perspectives of all.
Our Programs

Restorative Justice brings victims of crime and their offenders, along with affected family and community members, together in a restorative conference that builds understanding, explores impacts, and develops agreements for what will be done to make things right. The result: truly meaningful justice for all involved; justice that heals.

Restorative Schools support the social and emotional learning needs of students by working closely with teachers in their classrooms and in teacher circles to develop restorative classroom cultures. With positive classroom communities, disruption is minimized and quality instructional time is maximized. We assist administrators in exploring restorative discipline methods to enhance responses to challenging behavior. The result: trouble transformed into learning; schools that transform challenging behavior into learning and emotional growth.

Restorative Communities link skilled circle keepers with community groups as diverse as commercial businesses, faith-based groups, non-profits, government and more. Circle keepers use the unique power of restorative circles to help groups that are involved in conflicts, planning, internal organizational development, celebrations, and many other purposes. The result: individuals perspectives transformed into group wisdom; communities that learn and grow.

Restorative Training focuses on learning and developing the core skills of restorative principles and practices, emphasizing circle keeping and its application in many settings which include restorative justice, education and community. We use a highly experiential form of training that immerses people in direct and intimate experience of what it is like to be in circles. We guide them through a process of discovering the power of circles. We teach them how to conduct circles effectively in a variety of settings. The result: a growing network of persons trained in restorative principles; sowing seeds of cultural transformation.

What Participants Say
"The conference was a safe place to come together and communicate. We saw the offender begin to understand the impact his actions. It was much more meaningful than any punitive measures." --Victim

"This process helped me understand that I wasn’t alone in trying to deal with a mistake my son had made." --Parent

"The plan the young offender had to follow was far more thorough than any probation or jail time he would have received. Nice work!" -- Law Enforcement