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Rasmussen, Bo Morhorst. A Decision Making Model"Plus"-- The Study of the Danish Experiment with Family Group Conferencing

In this article, Bo Morthorst Rasmussen reviews the main conclusions from a study of the Danish experiment with family group conferencing (FGC) during 2000 and 2001. The Danish experiment was based on the New Zealand model of family group conferencing. In this model, FGC is primarily a decision making structure involving the family and the social welfare agency in devising a plan of action to benefit a child or youth at risk. Rasmussen presents statistics on the extent of conferencing in Denmark during the two year trial period; the methodology of the evaluation; information on outcomes and levels of satisfaction among participants; components and process in the Danish use of FGCs; and comparison of key statistics with respect to the use of FGCs in Denmark, Sweden, and England.

Marsh, Peter and Crow, Gill. Family Partners

In this paper, Peter Marsh and Gill Crow report on a study that provided a detailed examination of eighty family group conferences (FGC) in England and Wales. These FGCs were carried out in four social services departments in 1995 and 1996. This document covers the FGC model for decision-making in child welfare cases, the conference process, outcomes of the eighty conferences studied, and participants’ views on the use of the FGC model. Marsh and Crow also point toward next steps to be taken to expand and improve the practice of FGCs in child welfare cases and other areas of welfare work.

Lavery, Timothy. Family Group Conferences Offer Promise for Juvenile Cases

This report presents the methodology and findings from an evaluation of the juvenile family group conference program operated by a probation department in rural Illinois. In the study reported, almost every participant in one family group conference was interviewed, including the offender's guardian, the victim, a community member, and the arresting juvenile police officer. The participants were uniformly satisfied with all aspects of the conference. The study also focused on whether youth who would formerly not have been processed by the juvenile system have been brought into the system through the conferences ("net widening"). Program staff pointed out that few juvenile cases in the county were dismissed or resolved informally prior to the inception of the conference program, suggesting that there has not been "net widening." Three conferences that involved the reintegrative shaming of the offender were also observed. Case study program staff reported that from May 1999 to May 2001, only 2 of 26 offenders who had participated in a conference had their cases referred back to court. In both cases, the offenders reoffended, but still subsequently completed their conference agreement. Some of the challenges faced by the conference program have been obtaining the cooperation of multiple juvenile justice system agencies and balancing the goal of meeting victim needs with having the desired impact on offenders. These results are consistent with a recent review of prior research that examined family group conferences. Abstract courtesy of National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org.

Maxwell, Gabrielle. Achieving Effective Outcomes in Youth Justice:Implications of new research for Principles, Policy and Practice

New research from New Zealand follows up the file outcomes over three years for 1003 young people aged 16 years who had family group conferences in 1998. Five hundred and twenty of them were interviewed. Observational data and interviews were collected from another 115 cases in 2001/2002. Findings are presented on the extent to which restorative goals have been implemented. Critical factors predicting outcomes are identified and the implications of these for policy and practice are discussed.The research demonstrates that the nature of the youth justice does affect critical outcomes for young people: both in terms of reducing offending and increasing the probability of other positive life outcomes. Restorative practices that include empowerment, the repair of harm and reintegrative outcomes make a positive difference while the extent of embeddedness in the criminal justice system, severe and retributive outcomes and stigmatic shaming have negative effects. There are also important findings for crime prevention that suggest the need to focus on support for families, the importance of educational qualifications and the need to respond effectively when children first come to the attention of the welfare and youth justice systems. Proposals are made for standards against which practice can be assessed. Author's Abstract.

LeCroy and Milligan Associates, Inc.. Family Group Decision Making: Third Annual Evaluation Report

Used in child welfare contexts, family group decision making (FGDM) is a model and strategy for focusing on family strengths and capacity for change rather than on family problems and deficits. FGDM involves bringing together extended family members to develop a plan of safety and placement for children in families referred to child protective services. This document reports the results of a third-year evaluation of the Family Group Decision Making Program of the Arizona Department of Economic Security. The evaluation report includes a number of components: a description of the current legislative requirements in Arizona; a review of relevant literature; program implementation information based on surveys, site visits, and staff interviews; descriptive data; outcomes for participating families; and conclusions and recommendations based on the evaluation. Additionally, the report contains many appendices with program information, statistical data, and assessment tools underlying the evaluation.

County of Santa Clara Family Conference Institute. Santa Clara Family Conference Model (FCM) Executive Summary

The Santa Clara family conference model (FCM) originated in 1996 as a response to the need for families to contribute to the improvement of safety and protection of children in their care. The Santa Clara FCM is a form of family group decision-making (FGDM); this FCM is an adaptation of prototypes from New Zealand and Oregon (USA). This document provides an overview of the principles and processes of FCM, as well as a summary of key findings from a four-year evaluation of Santa Clara’s FCM program. The findings cover perceptions about the Santa Clara FCM from staff members and family participants, and outcomes from FCM processes in the Santa Clara program.

Northwest Institute for Children and Families. Connected and Cared For: Using Family Group Conferencing for Children in Group Care. Phase I: Retrospective Study, Evaluation Findings

In the child welfare system, children in residential treatment and group care facilities are the neediest. Cases for children in group care are among the most difficult to resolve. For these children – whether they will eventually live with their family again, or they will never live with their family again – family remains of great significance. Yet, for various reasons, their family is rarely included in case planning or intervention processes. Many, therefore, reach independence at age 18 with no family support network. In this context, the Northwest Institute for Children and Families studied and evaluated the effectiveness of family group conferencing (FGC) on behalf of high needs youth in residential care settings in Washington State. This document presents the Institute’s 'Phase One Evaluation' findings. These are results based on a retrospective study of a number of conferences for youth in group care placements between 1998 and 2001.

Mandell, Deena and Sullivan, Nancy and Meredith, Grahame and Sullivan, Nancy. Family Group Conferencing: Final Evaluation Report

This document reports the final evaluation of a three-year pilot project of family group conferencing in Etobicoke. A collaborative effort of four child welfare organizations in Etobicoke and the Toronto area, the family group conferencing pilot lasted from October 1998 to April 2001. The aim was to establish a model of family group conferencing that would function successfully by providing good and effective child welfare services in the Toronto area. This report covers the following topics: background to the pilot project; the origins of family group conferencing; specifics of the structure of the Etobicoke Family Group Conferencing Project; the evaluation’s findings with respect to outcomes, benefits, challenges, and costs of the conferences; the development of a referral system; and projection of next steps for the project.

Sandau-Beckler, Pat. El Paso County. Familias Primero: Family Group Conferencing. 2003 Project Evaluation.

The Familias Primero Family Group Conferencing Project is a model court initiative of the 65th Judicial District Children’s Court in El Paso, Texas. Family group conferencing (FGC) is a process whereby child welfare services collaborate with the family, and the extended family and its support network, in the decision-making and development of plans for the care and protection of the children. An evaluation of the El Paso FGC program was conducted in the spring of 2003, with the period being evaluated covering January 2002 through March 2003. The report on the evaluation includes an in-depth analysis of the experiences of this entire FGC program. Some of the specific areas evaluated, especially with respect to outcomes, were the following: family communication; family strengths development; family resource development; goal setting and case management; compliance; and family permanency.

Vanfraechem, Inge and Walgrave, Lode. Restorative Conferencing in Belgium: Can It Decrease the Confinement of Young Offenders?

From November 2000 through October 2003, five youth courts in the Flemish section of Belgium ran a pilot program exploring the use of restorative conferencing with serious youth offenders. The conferencing program relied on the New Zealand family group conferencing model, which seemed appropriate for more serious offenders. The data collected during the pilot programs are presented here. The results indicate that restorative conferencing can be implemented within the existing Belgium juvenile justice system and that judges, advocates, police officers, and social workers are satisfied with the use of the New Zealand model. Very high rates of satisfaction were also noted among victims, offenders, and their parents. Recidivism may also have been reduced as a result of the conferencing program, with a re-conviction rate of only 22 percent for juveniles who participated in the conferences compared to the 58 percent reconviction rate among juveniles who did not participate in the program. The success of the conferencing program in Belgium opens the door to a feasible approach for reducing the number of juveniles housed in detention facilities. Abstract courtesy of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org

O'Mahony, David and Doak, Jonathan. Restorative Justice -- Is More Better?: The Experience of Police-Led Restorative Cautioning Pilots in Northern Ireland

Under the two programs, juveniles (under 17 years old) who committed an offense were diverted from formal prosecution through a formal caution under a restorative justice approach. Evaluation researchers conducted fieldwork from September 2000 to April 2001. All case files (n=1,861) handled by the juvenile liaison officers in the 2 areas over the duration of the project were reviewed. Attention was given to the types of cases that came to the attention of the liaison officers and how the cases were resolved, categorized as "no further police action," "advice and warning," "caution," or "prosecution." The conferences typically consisted of the officer inviting the juvenile to state in his/her own words what they had done to warrant police action. This was usually followed with a question about the youth's motivation for committing the offense. The facilitator would then inquire about the actual and potential consequences of the act for the victim (not present), the juvenile's family, and the juvenile himself/herself. The conference would result in a cautioning agreement that might include expression of remorse, agreement to pay for damage, a written apology to the victim, and agreement to perform certain duties or engage in prescribed behaviors. Evaluators conducted interviews with 29 participants, their parents, and their victims. All participants valued the philosophy underlying the programs and viewed their implementation as appropriate and effective; however, there were two major areas of concern identified by evaluators, i.e., the risk of "net-widening" (drawing offenders into police processing who would have previously received only a verbal caution or warning from police) and the lack of significant victim participation in the programs. Abstract courtesy of National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org.

Editor. Project Turnaround Expands

Bringing victims and offenders together, and reaching an agreement on how the wrong that has been done is best corrected, can achieve much more than the traditional ‘production line’ system of justice, says Justice Minister Phil Goff. Speaking at the launch of the expansion of Project Turnaround in Timaru, the Minister said that for New Zealand’s justice system to be truly effective, “we need more than simple reliance on imprisonment, because international experience shows that the best way to turn around the lives of offenders is not in prisons. “Early intervention is the most effective way of preventing crime by dealing with its causes, and more is being, and will continue to be done, in this area.â€? Mr Goff said that restorative justice was an innovative and effective way of reducing re-offending, as Project Turnaround had demonstrated. (excerpt)

Daly, Kathleen. Restorative Justice and Sexual Assault: An Archival Study of Court and Conference Cases

My paper asks this question: Are restorative justice conferences an appropriate way to respond to sexual violence? Or do court proceedings deliver greater justice for victims? There are just two jurisdictions in the world today, New Zealand and the Australian state of South Australia, which routinely use conferences in responding to youth sexual assault. In other jurisdictions, sexual offences have been excluded from the restorative justice (RJ) agenda: they are understood to be too sensitive or too serious to be handled by an RJ process. Critics of conferences for these offences assume that victims will suffer more from an informal, face-to-face encounter with an offender, than if the case goes to court. Further, it is assumed that if cases are diverted from court, it will appear that offenders are being treated too leniently and that offences not being taken seriously enough, what Donna Coker (1999: 85) terms the cheap justice problem. It's widely known that the criminal justice system is especially inept in prosecuting sexual violence. However, as Barbara Hudson (2002: 622) says, it remains an open question whether restorative justice offers better hope of redress for women and children. This paper presents the results of an archival study of the court and conference handling of youth sexual offence cases. It is the first study to provide empirical evidence on the comparative merits of court and conference for these cases. (excerpt)

McGrath, Jim. Restorative Practices in Education: Managing Challenging Behaviour. Evaluation Report for Southend-on-Sea Restorative Practices Project, September 2003 – July 2004

The Southend Family Group Conference Project has established itself as a core service within the Borough in the short period that it has been in operation. The introduction of Restorative Practices has further strengthened its reputation as a proactive and forward thinking service. This evaluation was a study of the first forty-eight restorative conferences to be held in the piloted Southend schools. The aim of this research is to establish the Projects success in implementing the process and the effectiveness of Restorative Practices when used to challenge unacceptable behaviour. (excerpt)

Campbell, Catriona and O'Mahony, David. Mainstreaming Restorative Justice for Young Offenders through Youth Conferencing - the experience of Northern Ireland

The youth justice system in Northern Ireland is quite distinct and different to that in the rest of the United Kingdom or Ireland. It has also evolved considerably in the past ten to fifteen years and there have been very significant changes to its whole philosophy and operation as recently as 2003, with the introduction of a Youth Conferencing Service. The Conferencing Service now deals with young offenders using an approach based around the principles of restorative justice and the very process and structure of the system has changed to incorporate this new approach (detailed below). This paper looks at crime and how the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland deals with young people who have offended. It examines what is known about youth offending in general and looks specifically at a number of innovative approaches to criminal justice practice. The police response to youth offending is examined and their specialist teams of officers who deal with young offenders. The courts and sentencing are then looked at with attention being placed on the new arrangements for holding children in custody. The range of measures introduced following the Criminal Justice Review are then examined, and specifically the youth conferencing arrangements, which adopt a restorative justice model to deal with young offenders. The paper draws to a close with a critical overview of the major changes in our system of youth justice and the possible lessons that can be learnt from an international perspective. (excerpt)

Beckett, Helen and O'Mahony, David and Doak, Jonathan and O'Mahony, David and Campbell, Catriona and O'Mahony, David and Jackson, John and Campbell, Catriona and Doak, Jonathan and O'Mahony, David. Interim Evaluation of the Northern Ireland Youth Conferencing Scheme

This bulletin presents the interim findings of an evaluation of the recently introduced Northern Ireland youth conferencing initiative. The findings are based on research conducted by the Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Queen's University, Belfast and focus on the functioning of the scheme in the early months of its operation, from its inception on the 1st December 2003 until the 31st August 2004. (excerpt)

Maxwell, Gabrielle. Achieving Effective Outcomes in Youth Justice: Implications of new research for Principles, Policy and Practice

New research from New Zealand follows up the file outcomes over three years for 1003 young people aged 16 years who had family group conferences in 1998. Five hundred and twenty of them were interviewed. Observational data and interviews were collected from another 115 cases in 2001/2002. Findings are presented on the extent to which restorative goals have been implemented. Critical factors predicting outcomes are identified and the implications of these for policy and practice are discussed. The research demonstrates that the nature of the youth justice does affect critical outcomes for young people: both in terms of reducing offending and increasing the probability of other positive life outcomes. Restorative practices that include empowerment, the repair of harm and reintegrative outcomes make a positive difference while the extent of embeddedness in the criminal justice system, severe and retributive outcomes and stigmatic shaming have negative effects. There are also important findings for crime prevention that suggest the need to focus on support for families, the importance of educational qualifications and the need to respond effectively when children first come to the attention of the welfare and youth justice systems. Proposals are made for standards against which practice can be assessed. Abstract courtesy of the Centre for Justice and Peace Development, Massey University, http://justpeace.massey.ac.nz.

Paulin, Judy and Lash, Barb and Kingi, Venezia and Lash, Barb and Huirama, Tautari and Kingi, Venezia. The Rotorua Second Chance Community-Managed Restorative Justice Programme: An Evaluation

The Ministry of Justice, in consultation with Mana Social Services, commissioned this evaluation of the Rotorua Second Chance Restorative Justice Programme in 2003. The programme is funded by central government through the Crime Prevention Unit, Ministry of Justice. The programme was selected for re-evaluation so that best practice principles for community-based restorative justice programmes utilising tikanga-based practices might be identified. The evaluation objectives were to: 1. describe the programme - its history, the context in which it operates, delivery, objectives and resources; 2. determine the effectiveness of the programme, in relation to its objectives; 3. contribute to the development of best practice principles for community-managed restorative justice programmes utilising tikanga-based practice; 4. describe the extent to which this programme has contributed to the further development of the partnership between government and communities. (excerpt)

Paulin, Judy and Kingi, Venezia and Lash, Barb and Kingi, Venezia. The Wanganui Community-Managed Restorative Justice Programme: An Evaluation

The Ministry of Justice, in consultation with the Wanganui providers, commissioned this evaluation of the Wanganui Community-Managed Restorative Justice Programme in 2003. The programme is funded by central government through the Crime Prevention Unit, Ministry of Justice. The programme was selected for evaluation because it was considered to be well managed and effective. The evaluation objectives were to: 1. describe the programme - its history, the context in which it operates, delivery, objectives and resources; 2. determine the effectiveness of the programme, in relation to its objectives; 3. contribute to the development of best practice principles for community-managed restorative justice programmes; and 4. describe the extent to which this programme has contributed to the further development of the partnership between government and communities. The extent to which the programme has developed its services to meet the needs of M�ori, Pacific, and other cultural groups was also to be examined. (excerpt)

Behtz, Sarah Anne. Justice for All?: Victim Satisfaction with Restorative Justice Conferences

While the process of restorative justice is fairly new, several programs have been implemented globally and found to be effective in various aspects over the past 30 years. Very little empirical research has been gathered from these global programs though members of the criminal justice community as well as members of the general public have expressed interest in learning more about the programs and effectiveness and opinions of the programs. This study takes a closer look at what victims have expressed as being important to them regarding the criminal justice system and satisfaction with how their cases are handled in both traditional court proceedings as well as through restorative justice processes. Author's abstract.