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Lee County Victim Offender Conference Program

The Lee County Victim Offender Conference (VOC) Program is a relatively new outgrowth of the Illinois Balanced and Restorative Justice Initiative. VOC provides victims with an opportunity to meet with first time young offenders as a diversion from court. In this article, Mary Huffman of Lee County Probation provides an overview of the development of Lee County VOC.

Furness, Amanda. Turning Toward Compassion: Restorative Justice works to develop youths' conscience

It isn't enough just to boss them around. Parents, teachers and court authorities have found this statement to be true in their dealings with many of today's youth - often losing their children to the system after forced discipline fails to work. A method recently introduced in New Orleans called the "restorative justice" movement is hoping to revolutionize the relationships between youth and their communities by exhibiting the most basic human emotion. Love. (extract)

Planning Committee for the Balanced and Restorative Justice Conference. Directory of Michigan Programs Incorporating Restorative Justice Principles

The Directory of Michigan Programs Incorporating Restorative Justice Principles is an initial attempt to catalogue Michigan juvenile programs that utilize one or more restorative justice principles. Restorative justice programs promote maximum participation of the victim, juvenile offender, and community in juvenile justice proceedings. Balanced attention is given to offender accountability, offender competency development, and community protection. The programs described in this directory utilize one or more of these principles: the programs are not based entirely on restorative justice principles. (excerpt)

Michigan Family Independence Agency. Crime Victim Survey Provider Survey: Assessing the Availability, Accessibility and Adequacy of Service for Victims of Juvenile Crime in Michigan

Currently, there is a lack of awareness within the juvenile justice system regarding available victim services, how to access them and how best to address the needs of victims of juvenile offenders. Resource directories exist for specific types of victim services such as domestic violence, sexual assault or drunk driving. More than one group or organization has compiled a directory of victim service providers however they are not comprehensive and are not well publicized. In addition, the majority of established, well known victim service providers deal primarily with victims of adult offenders. An accessible, well- publicized and regularly updated database of victim resources (including those available for victims of juvenile offenders) is needed for victims of crime as well as service providers and justice system professionals. The information gained through this preliminary research will be used to update, consolidate and expand existing victim resource directories into one comprehensive Michigan victim services and resources database. The goal is create a database that can be updated at frequent intervals and that is user friendly. In the future, the information will also be used as part of a strategic planning process aimed at developing and implementing practices within the Bureau of Juvenile Justice that address the rights and needs of victims of juvenile crime. (excerpt)

Enns, Elaine. California Victim Offender Program Directory

A list of victim offender programs in California, with contact information and other identifying information such as: type of agency, types of referrals, referral point in the juvenile justice system, number of cases received/mediated in 2003, and other programs offered.

Schellenberg, Jill S. Public Opinion on Implementing Restorative Justice Principles in Fresno, California

The research in this project indicates where the public stands on how to meet the goals of a fair and just criminal justice system. People of different ethnic groups, ages, gender, and personal experience with crime in Fresno, California were polled to see how they felt about alternatives to the criminal justice system. Polling Hispanics and African-Americans was especially important because these groups are more often victims of crime than other ethnic groups in Fresno. The research showed that, when given the choice, people favored restorative methods of dealing with crime, rather than retributive methods. (excerpt)

Deschutes County Board of Supervisors. Community Justice Resolution: Resolution No. 96-122 (Deschutes County, Oregon)

Resolution of the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners adopting community justice as "the central mission and purpose of the county's community corrections efforts."

Deschutes County Juvenile Community Justice. Deschutes County Juvenile Community Justice Report: A Report Card to Our Stakeholders; 2002 Family Survey Results

This 2001 annual report card from Deschutes county, Oregon provides a brief overview of programmes and outcomes.

Deschutes County Juvenile Community Justice. 2003 Deschutes County Juvenile Community Justice Report Card

We are pleased to present this 2003 Juvenile Community Justice Report Card to our stakeholders, and hope that it leads to a better understanding of the issues facing the youth and families of our community. This publication is our third year of reporting to the community on a set of performance measures designed to inform citizens about our ability to restore justice for victims, build safer communities and hold youth accountable. (excerpt)

Umbreit, Mark S and Umbreit, Jenni and Fercello, Claudia and Umbreit, Jenni and Greenwood, Jean and Fercello, Claudia. Directory of Victim Offender Mediation & Conferencing Programs in the United States

This directory lists victim offender mediation programs found throughout the United States. Programs are alphabetized first by the state, then the city, and finally by the program name. For those states which do not have a page listing, it means that we do not have any records of a victim offender mediation program in that state. It does not mean necessarrily that there are no programes in that state, only that we have no records of such a program. (excerpt).

Lightfoot, Elizabeth and Umbreit, Mark S. Analysis of State Statutory Provisions for Victim-Offender Mediation

Restorative justice practices are taking root around the country, however there is little empirical data related to restorative justice policies and programs. One such practice is VOM; the current article documents the existing statutory authority among States relating to the restorative justice practice of VOM in criminal cases. State code provisions are important for providing a framework for the implementation of VOM statewide. A LexisNexus search of all State codes using VOM language and types of activities produced 29 States that have VOM-related statutory authority. The comprehensiveness of the statutes ranged widely, with some including details related to training requirements, costs, evaluation, confidentiality, and liability, while others simply mentioned VOM as an alternative sentencing option. The specific provisions are discussed in turn. Statutory authority over VOM is important to establishing a standard through which practitioners can work; as the practice of VOM continues to grow, more States will begin to enact legislation governing its use as a criminal justice practice. Abstract courtesy of National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org.

Arizona State Legislature. Arizona Family Group Decision Making Legislation: Arizona Revised Statutes, A.R.S. 8-1001

This document provides a listing of program characteristics for the Arizona Family Group Decision making Program.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Boyes-Watson, Carolyn. The Value of Citizen Participation in Restorative/Community Justice: Lessons from Vermont

The Vermont Reparative Probation program is one of the earliest and most extensive statewide restorative initiatives in the United States, writes Carolyn Boyes-Watson. It stands to reason there is much to learn from the experiences of this program. Therefore, in this essay Boyes-Watson asks what can be learned from the Vermont experiment, and she further asks how those lessons can inform public policies in support of the development of restorative community-based programs. Specifically, she focuses on what Vermont can teach about the role of citizen participation through volunteering to help address crime and its effects on individuals and communities.

Eagle, Harley. Restorative Justice in Native Cultures

Harley Eagle is of Dakota and Saulteaux ancestry. He lives on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota among his Oglala Lakota relatives. From this indigenous perspective, and from his experiences in community work on the reservation, he writes about restorative justice in native cultures. After rehearsing some of the history of conflict between native peoples and Euro-Americans in North America and its harmful effects on native peoples, he states that it is necessary to keep in mind this historical context when practitioners engage in restorative justice work within indigenous communities. When dealing with present conflicts between people and in communities on reservations, the historical context means the conflicts often actually have a long history of family disputes that have never been healed. People involved in the conflict have forgotten traditional values, customs, and practices for dealing with conflict. Restorative approaches tap can into traditional ways, encourage native peoples, and lead to constructive results for individuals, relationships, and communities on the reservations.