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Youth Justice Board for England and Wales. Key Elements of Effective Practice- Restorative Justice

It is stated at the beginning of this manual that the aim of the youth justice system is to prevent offending and re-offending by children and young people. The Youth Justice Board for England and Wales was established to provide leadership for these objectives. Toward this end, the Board has identified effective practice as a key element in developing and improving youth justice services. This manual describes the features of effective services, and it supports the identification of staff learning development needs. It covers key indicators of quality, restorative justice, guidance for practitioners, guidance for managers, and guidance for strategic partnerships. The manual can be used by anyone working with young people to reduce and prevent anti-social behavior and offending.

Department for Courts, New Zealand. Facilitator Training Manual

In late 2001 the New Zealand Ministry of Justice initiated a pilot program of court-referred restorative justice conferences in three court districts. The conferences in the pilot program are managed by facilitators who have been trained and approved by the Ministry of Justice. This document consists of materials for training facilitators in the processes, skills, and information needed to manage a constructive conference. After an introduction to the pilot program and the manual itself, the training modules cover the following topics: the nature of restorative justice; restorative justice conferencing in this pilot program; victim and offender issues; cross-cultural issues; facilitation skills; preparation for a conference; and the post-conference process.

Training and Accreditation Policy Development Group. Best Practice Guidance for Restorative Practitioners to form the basis of training and accreditation

The training and accreditation group (the group) was invited by Paul Goggins to look at how high quality restorative justice practice could best be assured, through training and accreditation. The first six months of our work has been to identify the components which should form the basis for accreditation as a restorative justice practitioner. This definition of best practice forms the core of this report, and will inform the development of national occupational standards. (excerpt)

Hennessy, Julia and Carter, Ian and Dale, Christine and Carter, Ian. Family Group Conference and Young People Who Offend: Practice Standards

Outlines practice standards to apply to family group conferencing in Essex, England, including for the referral stage, writing the FGC report, meeting the victim, meeting the young person and family, contacting family members, liaison with key professionals/volunteers, arranging the venue, conducting the conference, the plan, and debriefing and contacting the participants following the conference.

Crime Victim Services. Best Practice Guidelines in Working with Victims of Reparative Probation Offenses: A Restorative Justice Manual

This manual is divided up into eight major sections, followed by a number of Appendices. We begin with some definitions we think will be helpful in your work, and as they are used in the guide. Then the manual follows the reparative process - from screening the cases sent to the program through follow up to a Reparative Board meeting. We describe each point in the process from the perspective of how to best try to meet the needs of victims and affected parties of that particular Reparative Probation offense. Again, some of this material focuses on best practice, and some of it is very specific about logistics, timing and details to complete. (excerpt)

Youth Justice Board for England and Wales. Good Practice Guidelines for Restorative Work with Victims and Young Offenders

As noted at the beginning of this document, the aims and objectives of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (YJB) are grounded in restorative justice. For example, key elements in those aims and objectives include involvement of victims of youth crime in the youth justice process, as well as assistance to victims to help them get over any harm resulting from the offense. The YJB has encouraged a variety of approaches to restorative practices, yet also has decided to set some standards for effective practice. This document, then, provides certain guidelines for good practices. Performance can be measured against these guidelines. The document consists of an introduction to the YJB and the rationale for guidelines; types of restorative practice; principles for restorative practice; steps in restorative processes; and the use of restorative approaches within the Crime and Disorder Act in England and Wales.

San Joaquin County Human Services Agency. Family Conferencing Process: Practice and Procedure Guide

The Human Services Agency of San Joaquin County in California employs a family conferencing model to improve the care and protection of children. This approach functions by building partnerships between the family, community, and government. The San Joaquin family conferencing model roots in the belief that the best care and protection for children can be achieved by joining the strengths of families with community and agency support systems. This document provides a guide for family conferencing practice and procedure. The guide contains a history of this approach in San Joaquin County; a definition of what is meant by xe2x80x9cfamilyxe2x80x9d and who constitutes a childxe2x80x99s family; the importance of the family; principles of family conferencing; the referral process; the family conferencing process; and the roles of participants.

State of Arizona, Children, Youth and Families. Chapter 6, Section 2, i. Family Group Decision Making Program

Arizona law has established the family group decision making program (FGDM) to enable families to find solutions to problems that threaten their stability. More specifically, intended as a diversion from custody of children under Child Protective Services, the Arizona FGDM program seeks to facilitate a family’s development of safety and permanency plans for children who have been subjected to abuse or neglect. The program is modeled on Oregon’s Family Unity Model. This document provides a guide to the nature and operation of Arizona’s FGDM program. The guide assists program staff and others in determining whether a case is appropriate for the FGDM program, and in implementing the FGDM process. The document also includes a form for family group decision making referrals.

Oxfordshire Youth Offending Team. Oxfordshire Youth Offending Team Policy on Work with Victims

The Oxfordshire Youth Offending Team (United Kingdom) was established in the late 1990s to put victims at the center of the criminal justice process. The approach in contacting and supporting victims of youth crime is to work with victims sensitively, taking account of their needs, rights, and wishes. This paper spells out in detail the policies on its work with victims. These stated policies cover the following: Youth Offending Team strategy; victims awareness; reparation and mediation; guidelines for practice; the youth court; interagency implications; and monitoring and evaluation.

Training and Accreditation Policy Group. Best Practice Guidance for Restorative Practitioners and their Case Supervisors and Line Managers

The Training and Accreditation Policy Group was set up to advise the United Kingdom government on best practice, training, and accreditation for restorative justice. This document represents the final report of the Group. Based on the Group’s work over a period of time, including the production of an interim report earlier in 2004, this paper sets forth conclusions and recommendations for best practices for restorative justice practitioners. The conclusions and recommendations cover the rationale for training and accreditation, standards for practice, and means for assessing and certifying practitioners. The document also contains an updated suite of tools for guidance for restorative practitioners, their case supervisors, and line managers. It should be noted that the notion of restorative practice in the document refers to work which involves bringing victims/persons harmed, offenders/perpetrators, and others into dialogue with each other to resolve the harm. Hence, the approach and pertinent skills discussed in these pages are focused on victim-offender work.

Goldberg, Susan. Judging for the 21st Century: A Problem-solving Approach

This handbook provides Canadian judges with an introduction to TJ principles and practices, and with some practical suggestions and guidelines on how to incorporate those principles and practices into their courtrooms. Its larger aim is to help judges run their courtrooms more effectively, creatively, and successfully. Section 2 provides a brief background on dedicated drug-treatment, domestic violence, mental health, and Aboriginal courts in Canada, and other TJ initiatives. Section 3 provides judges in courts of general jurisdiction with a set of guidelines for understanding therapeutic judging and suggestions for incorporating problem-solving principles into their courtrooms. This section is organized according to four broad areas: xe2x80xa2 enhancing interpersonal skills xe2x80xa2 crafting behavioural contracts and relapse-prevention plans xe2x80xa2 developing a non-adversarial, team approach, and xe2x80xa2 sentencing therapeutically. Section 4 explores some of the challenges and opportunities that judges and courts in smaller, rural, and remote regions face when thinking about incorporating TJ initiatives, and provides suggestions for adapting TJ principles to these regions. Section 5 provides judges and interested parties with resources and references for information on TJ and support on implementing therapeutic initiatives in the courtroom. (excerpt)

Home Office. Chapter 5: Restorative Justice Operational Considerations (Conditional Cautioning - RJ Guidance to Early Implementation Areas)

A Conditional Caution is a new way of dealing with certain criminal offences and involves an offender agreeing to comply with conditions to avoid being prosecuted. Restorative Justice can be used as part of the Conditional Cautioning process, either as a condition of the offender's caution, or as the means by which the victim and offender propose the conditions that could be attached to the Conditional Caution. Two of the Conditional Cautioning early implementation areas will be using RJ (West Mercia and Thames Valley). The evaluation of all the early implementation areas will allow us to compare the effectiveness of RJ conditional cautions and non-RJ conditional cautions, in terms of victim satisfaction, offender compliance with conditions, and re-offending rates. The experience of the early implementation areas will be used to refine the guidance before wider roll out. The RJ Operational Considerations have been developed to guide forces in the early implementation areas when using RJ and should only be used in the in the early implementation areas for Conditional Cautioning. They are part of a wider set of operational considerations for the early implementation areas (that includes information for all the organisations involved in the scheme) and should be read alongside Code of Practice for Conditional Cautioning and the Director's Guidance on Conditional Cautioning : Guidance to police officers and Crown Prosecutors issued by the Director of Public Prosecutions under Section 37A of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.

Office for Criminal Justice Reform. Restorative justice: Helping to meet local needs. Web-based guidance

Resource material developed for local Criminal Justice Agencies by the National Criminal Justice Board in the UK.

Youth Justice Board for England and Wales. Criminal Justice Act 2003: Guidance for Youth Offending Teams

From 4 April 2005, key aspects of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (the Act) will come into effect. The majority of the changes that it introduces will apply to adult offenders only. These include the introduction of a new community sentencing framework that removes the current range of adult community sentences, and replaces them with one generic Adult Community Order (ACO), alongside changes to existing adult custodial and suspended sentences. The Act also contains some key implications for young people who offend, the detail of which is covered in this guidance. This guidance should be read in conjunction with the Home Office Juvenile Offenders Unit briefing (to be issued by the Home Office shortly), which will provide an overview of the legislation itself. Despite initial fears to the contrary, all existing youth justice orders (now to be known as ‘youth community orders’ under the Act) will continue to be available to all young offenders, including 16 to 17-year-olds. This means that the Curfew Order, Exclusion Order (currently being piloted for juveniles in one area only), Attendance Centre Order, Action Plan Order and Supervision Order will remain community sentencing options for all young people who offend. Alongside this, the existing adult community sentences that currently apply to 16 to 17-year-olds – the Community Punishment Order (CPO), the Community Rehabilitation Order (CRO), the Community Punishment and Rehabilitation Order (CPRO) and the Drug Treatment and Testing Order (DTTO) – while no longer available to adults under the Act – will continue to be available to 16 to 17-year-olds until at least April 2007. The detail of this is discussed below. The Act also introduces two new custodial sentences, available for adults and young offenders – the Indeterminate Sentence for Public Protection and the Extended Sentence. The detail and implications of these new custodial sentences are also outlined in this document. (excerpt)

Ashley, Jessica and Stevenson, Phillip. Implementing Balanced and Restorative Justice: A Guide for Law Enforcement Officers

Implementing balanced and restorative justice: A guide for law enforcement officers is specifically designed to provide practical BARJ strategies that can be utilized by law enforcement officers on a daily basis. A variety of juvenile justice practitioners provided guidance during the development of this guide to make it applicable to the work of law enforcement agencies and individual police officers. (excerpt)

Department of Corrective Services. Justice Mediation.

This document outlines procedures for post-sentence mediation between victims and offenders within the Department of Corrective Service, Queensland, Australia.

Home Affairs Committee. Draft Sentencing Guideline: Robbery.

3. We generally endorse the structure and flexibility of the draft guideline. It is based on three levels of seriousness, with helpful lists of aggravating and mitigating factors which create the fluidity necessary for proportionate sentencing for offences where the range of conduct is wide. We note that the impact on victims is explicitly taken into account. The Sentencing Advisory Panel recognised the need for separate guidelines for adult and youth offenders, and different sentencing ranges are accordingly presented. There have been several significant changes since the Panel gave its advice: the Council has produced a guideline addressing the assessment of seriousness, and the provisions on the sentencing of dangerous offenders (in the Criminal Justice Act 2003) have come into force. This Report does not aim to comment in detail on all aspects of the draft guideline, but to set out some basic background and then focus on issues of particular concern. (excerpt)

Department of Health and Human Services. Guidelines for community conferences

This manual presents principles and practices that provide a framework for the development and operation of a community conference, a practice based in restorative justice. A number of topics are addressed clearly and succinctly: the role of conference facilitators; the conference process; the role of the youth justice unit of Tasmania’s Department of Health and Human Services; the participation of the victim, the youth offender, and the youth’s parents or guardians; sanctions; confidentiality; reporting on conference outcomes; and referral to other services. An appendix contains many forms useful for community conferences.

InterMinisterial Committee on Young People at R. Legislative Proposals for Youth Justice: Family Group Conference

Point-by-point formal document (for the South African juvenile justice system) on how to conduct a Family Group Conference.