Funding

Articles discussing funding resources and strategies for programmes.

Everychild gives $1 million to Juvenile Justice Center

from the article in Palisadian Post: Centinela Youth Services, Inc. has been named the recipient of the $1 million 2012 Everychild Foundation grant. The funds will launch and sustain a restorative justice center across the street from three Los Angeles juvenile courts over a three-year period. Specifically, the grant will be used to create and operate the center, including the funding of dedicated staff and partner agencies for services provided there. Everychild's grant will provide the remaining 60 percent of the $1.6-million total program cost.

Community mediation in economic crisis (Ineffective and effective sustainability measures)

from the article by Wendy E. Hollingshead Corbett and Justin R Corbett in Nevada Law Journal: Most Frequently Reported Ineffective Sustainability Measures Increased or improved fundraising activities. The rationale as to why this internal strategy was not effective was very simple for most respondents—in times of economic crisis most corners of society are negatively affected, including centers’ traditional funding sources. This particular economic crisis seemed even to affect some centers’ most reliable sources of foundational, institutional, and appropriated funding. One research participant succinctly stated: “Grant exploration has resulted zero benefits,” while another reported: “additional development work has only wasted valuable time with little reward for our efforts.”

Alberta solicitor general to fight for restorative justice

from the article at CBC News: Alberta's solicitor general is vowing to fight to restore funding for restorative justice programs in the face of mounting criticism from his party and a retired chief justice. "I will fight to restore it," Frank Oberle told CBC News. "I'm going to fight to restore the grant money next year." Oberle said he was forced to eliminate the $350,000 grant for the program to reach budget targets. His department is responsible for jails in Alberta and most of his budget is taken up by salaries where there is no room to cut.

Monetizing restorative justice services

from Sylvia Clute's article on Genuine Justice: A continual question for those who are offering restorative justice services is how to pay the overhead? There is a spectrum of options. Here are just a few, but they span the gamut from the linear market economy model to a much more holographic funding system built on trust and a good dose of faith. Private provider for a fee A private for-profit company can be established that offers restorative justice services according to a set fee schedule. The company hires employees or subcontractors who are trained to offer these services, then markets its services in the target area. This is the traditional, linear market economy model: I provide you certain services and you pay me the price that I demand for those services. Contract with a private institution

Support, history of Genesee Justice motivated director to ensure division saved

from the article by Howard Owens in the Batavian: Ed Minardo will be out of a job come Jan. 1, but Genesee Justice will carry on. "It was certainly in my mind, 'Not on my watch,'" Minardo said after learning that County Manager Jay Gsell would recommend to the legislature that Minardo's plan to cut staff hours and eliminate his own job be approved. And the legislature did just that Monday evening.

Genesee Justice gets a five-day reprieve

From the article by Howard Owens on the Batavian: Genesee County's world renowned restorative justice agency is spared the budget ax for at least five more days. A proposal by Genesee Justice Director Ed Minardo to cut staff hours and eliminate his own job deserves further study all nine legislators agreed during a budget discussion meeting at the Old Courthouse this evening. While the proposal comes close to eliminating all of the expense necessary to keep the county budget balanced, more savings must be found.

Don’t take Genesee Justice for granted

from Dr. Beth Allen's article in The Daily News: The great Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Justice cannot be for one side alone, but must be for both.” This single phrase to me epitomizes the very essence of how our criminal justice system in our country should operate. She also wrote, “It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.” For 30 years, Genesee Justice has been a pulse that tends to the souls of our victims of crime and to the destiny of the offenders that have perpetrated those crimes.

Community Groups Urged to Apply for Restorative Justice Grants

From the announcement on the AUMA website: Applications are now being accepted for 2010/11 provincial grants for restorative justice projects that support victim-offender mediation, training programs, leadership development in schools, and Aboriginal restorative justice programs. Through the Alberta Community Restorative Justice grant program, the Alberta government has allocated $350,000 to support restorative justice programs and initiatives throughout the province.

Local program helps youth offenders repair harm done in communities

from Alex Holmquist's article in mndaily.com: The Seward Longfellow Restorative Justice Partnership offers first-time youth offenders an alternative to going to court through participation in a restorative conference. The program accepts youth ages 10 or older who live or commit a crime in the 55406 zip code. Their typical crimes include trespassing, graffiti, shoplifting and fifth-degree assaults.

Tips to sustaining a restorative justice program, from the front line.

from Kris Miner's entry at Restorative Justice and Circles: I can tell you from the directors seat, here at St. Croix Valley Restorative Justice I am designing a game plan to keep our program going. Some tips:

Restorative justice program faces funding woes despite success

Eighty percent or more of the CJP’s cases conclude with a resolution agreement, according to Kimberly Mann, coordinator of the Collaborative Justice Project (CJP) that operates from the provincial courthouse in Ottawa. However, despite such a high satisfaction rate and positive evaluation results from government departments such as Justice and Public Safety, CJP is finding it increasingly difficult to stay afloat. “We had federal funding as a pilot for the first six years. Since then we’ve been struggling to find funds,” Ms. Mann said.

Investing in restorative justice

Our criminal justice system is broken, and the reasons are complex. One of the many contributing factors is that our penal system's focus on punishment is not working. You would think that after their first time behind bars prisoners would never do anything to wind up back there; yet the opposite is true. In December 2007, the Department of Justice estimated that two-thirds of all released prisoners will commit new offenses within three years of their release. In addition to the great human toll of incarceration, $68 billion of our taxpayer dollars are paying for this travesty.

Friday Discussion: RJ funding

With the economic crisis, governments are struggling to balance their budgets. Funding for restorative justice has never been easy, but in this climate it promises to be harder.