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Ashley, Jessica and Gray, Donyelle L and Newman, Peter and Gray, Donyelle L and Covey, Sharon and Newman, Peter. Spotlight on The Future of BARJ Reform for Illinois: A Vision for the Future

abstract pendingThis article summarizes a longer piece – “Implementing Balanced and Restorative Justice: The Illinois Experience‿ - written by the authors listed above for the Loyola Law Journal. In 1889 Illinois established the first juvenile court. One hundred years later, Illinois adopted the balanced and restorative justice approach in its Juvenile Court Act and initiated a new reform of its juvenile justice system. The authors provide background to the adoption of this approach in Illinois, explain key aspects of BARJ, and identify important questions that must be addressed for the long-term success of the Illinois BARJ initiative.

Baffour, Tiffany D. Ethnic and Gender Differences in Offending Patterns: Examining Family Group Conferencing Interventions among At-Risk Adolescents.

This secondary study looked at the importance of ethnicity and gender in influencing the relationship between Family Group Conferencing and (FGC) recidivism. The FGC is a mediation procedure involving offenders, their families, and victims of their crimes in which outcomes of material and emotional restitution are sought. Offenders, randomly sampled to participate in a control or experimental group, were sampled via mail, telephone, and in-person interviews. Data from court records were utilized to obtain recidivism rates over an 18-month period. Multivariate analysis indicated a statistically significant difference between the re-arrest rates of FGC participants and non-participants. Female offenders were more likely to avoid arrest than their male counterparts. This study found that ethnicity was not a statistically significant indicator of re-arrest. The FGC has efficacy for juvenile offenders as (1) a cost-effective method to intervene with offenders in their own communities (2) provides alternatives to formal adjudication for vulnerable populations—females and people of color. (author's abstract)

Bazemore, Gordon and Day, Susan E. Restoring the Balance: Juvenile and Community Justice

From the perspective of restorative justice, the most significant aspect of crime is that it victimizes citizens and communities. The justice system should focus on repairing this harm by ensuring that offenders are held accountable for making amends for the damage and suffering they have caused. A restorative system would help to ensure that offenders make amends to their victims. Juvenile justice cannot do this alone, however. Restorative justice requires that not only government, but also victims, offenders, and communities be involved in the justice process. The most distinctive feature of restorative justice is its elevation of the role of victims in implementing justice policies. In an effort to achieve a balanced approach to juvenile justice, restorative justice articulates three goals: accountability, public safety, and competency development. Balance is attainable when administrators ensure that equitable resources are allocated to each goal. A table provides the measures for achievement and the priorities for practice for each of these goals. Abstract courtesy of National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org.

Bazemore, Gordon and Umbreit, Mark S and O'Brien, Sandra and Umbreit, Mark S. Restorative Juvenile Justice in the States: A National Assessment of Policy Development and Implementation

Balanced and restorative justice, a new framework for juvenile justice reform, seeks to engage citizens and community groups both as clients and resources in a more effective response to youth crime. The approach attempts to ensure that juvenile justice intervention is focused on basic community needs and expectations. Balance is achieved when there is improved public safety, sanctioned juvenile crime, and rehabilitated offenders are reintegrated. Restorative justice emphasizes that crime damages people, communities, and relationships. Sanctioning practices include victim-offender mediation and various community decision-making or conferencing processes. A national telephone survey of restorative justice professionals was conducted. Results showed that virtually every State was implementing some aspect of the restorative justice principles at various levels and in its programs and policies. A majority of the States had crafted or revised their statutes and codes to reflect restorative justice principles and had encouraged their use in the juvenile justice system. Restorative justice reform efforts involve a number of major stakeholders both within and outside of government and often necessitate a significant role to be played by a reform initiator. Under a different approach to reform, the stakeholders are primarily governmentally related and roles are tied to traditional hierarchical and bureaucratic structures and processes. Interview respondents expressed multiple impressions of what constitutes a restorative justice program. Funding and resource availability played a mixed role in restorative justice implementation. Abstract courtesy of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org.

Bender, Valerie R and Torbet, Patricia and King, Melanie and Torbet, Patricia. Advancing Accountability: Moving Toward Victim Restoration.

This White Paper discusses Pennsylvania’s Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Committee’s (JJDPC’s) plan to advance accountability within juvenile justice by incorporating a victim restoration program. The core of Pennsylvania’s JJDPC victim restorative approach holds juvenile offenders accountable for the harms their crimes cause and holds them responsible for repairing those harms to the greatest extent possible. The victim restorative approach is rooted in the restorative justice philosophy that brings together the offender, the crime victim, and the community to jointly develop solutions that promote reparation, reconciliation, and reassurance. The JJDPC approach places reparative practices, such as paying restitution or completing community service, at the center of its accountability goal. The JJDPC victim restoration approach also focuses on juvenile offenders’ understanding the wrongfulness of their actions, the impact of the crime on the crime victim and community, and their responsibility for causing the harm. The paper outlines the rights of crime victims and focuses on their rights of participation in the victim restoration program. The roles of juvenile court judges in the victim restorative approach are reviewed, as are the roles of probation officers, crime victim advocates, crime victims, defense counsels, district attorneys, community-based treatment providers, parents/guardians, community members, law enforcement, and schools. Accountability activities are described and include victim impact statements, a victim/community awareness curriculum, juvenile offender apologies, a crime victims’ compensation fund, restitution, and meaningful community services. The actual restorative juvenile practices adopted by the JJDPC include victim/offender conferencing, restorative group conferencing, circles, school restorative conferencing, community justice panels, and victim impact panels. The JJDPC will continue to advocate that restitution be ordered in all cases where it applies and will continue to develop qualified trainers to teach facilitators how to use the victim/community awareness curriculum. Abstract courtesy of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.gov.

Bozarth, Julia Madden and Kethineni, Seesha and Gaines, Cheryl and Bozarth, Julia Madden and Blimling, Lisa and Kethineni, Seesha. "Youth Violence: An Exploratory Study of a Treatment Program in a Central Illinois County"

A local treatment provider has developed an OPTIONS program to prevent adolescent aggression. The program is designed for youths who displayed threatening or abusive behaviors, particularly toward family members. This study described the characteristics of juveniles and their families who were referred to the program and if the program participation helped reduce the severity of violence and improve the communication skills among program participants. Referrals came from law enforcement, juvenile court services, school resource officers, and parents. Information on 100 juveniles and their families were provided by the counselors of the program. The findings showed that a large percentage of juveniles came from unstable families with a family history of criminal convictions, substance abuse, or mental illness. Program participants showed an improvement in communication skills and reduction in their levels of dangerousness.(author's abstract)

Burns, Linda. Juvenile Accountability Conferencing: A Child of Restorative Justice

A new spin on Restorative Justice, the Juvenile Accountability Conferencing Program in Montgomery County, New York, is helping youthful offenders understand the consequences of their crime, not only for themselves, but for others. It is giving victims an opportunity to have nagging questions about the crime answered, establish restitution that they feel ""fits"" the crime and their needs, and most of all, find closure. The youthful offenders are relieved to be able to make things right and put their lives back together. This session is an opportunity to learn how this new program is being run, some of the pitfalls and triumps of actual conferences, names withheld of course, and offers a question and answer period. Author's Abstract.

Cohen and Odgers, Candice and Glackman, William and Cohen and Ray Corrado. and Odgers, Candice. "Serious and Violent Young Offenders' Decisions to Recidivate: An Assesment of Five Sentencing Models

"Five models of sentencing were assessed with respect to their impact on the decisions of young offenders to recidivate. The five sentencing models tested were fairness, deterrence, chronic offender lifestyle, special needs, and procedural rights. A sample of 400 incarcerated young offenders from the Vancouver, British Columbia, metropolitan area were asked questions regarding their attitudes toward these sentencing models and their intentions to recidivate after serving a period of incarceration. Principal components analyses suggested that although these models do not function independently, two composite models do shed some light on the issues that young offenders consider when contemplating their decisions and intentions to recidivate. Despite the ability of these models to predict half of the explained variance in young offenders’decisions regarding recidivism, a majority of the sample appeared to not be affected exclusively by cost-benefit analysis, punishment, or reintegrative motivations. The authors conclude that without additional variables and even higher predictive validity, it is premature for policy makers to focus on any single model of sentencing in constructing juvenile justice laws." "Author's Abstract"

Community Planning Team (Dane County). For Us and for R Kids: A comprehensive strategy of balanced and restorative justice in Dane County

The aim of this strategic document is to detail the vision, mission, and implementation of a comprehensive strategy for all citizens of Dane County, Wisconsin, centered around the principles of balanced and restorative justice. The first section introduces the report and Dane County. The second section covers three areas: the integration of prior efforts into a comprehensive strategy for the future; the emphasis on family based services; and an elaboration of balanced and restorative justice in Dane County around four principles – competency development, accountability, community protection, and prevention. The third section elaborates the plan to implement this comprehensive balanced and restorative justice strategy. The last two sections present workgroup reports and Dane County’s comprehensive action plan. At the end of the strategic document is a lengthy set of appendices (about twice the length of the strategic document) on various topics related to balanced and restorative justice in Dane County. Appendix A reports on critical conditions affecting the welfare of African-American youth in Dane County. Appendix B contains a spreadsheet of Juvenile Service System services and program descriptions of Dane County’s community-based services. Appendix C details risk factors for youth and Dane County data collection worksheets. Appendix D includes tools for juvenile delinquency intake assessment. Appendix E presents a number of flowcharts, including system decision points, juvenile court physical custody process, juvenile court process outline, and an event flow for delinquency and juveniles in need of protection and services. Appendix F provides program descriptions for juvenile accountability block grants.

Correctional Service of Canada. Youth Restorative Action Project (YRAP), Edmonton, Alberta

The Youth Restorative Action Project (YRAP) of Edmonton, Alberta, is a justice committee focusing on addressing problems from hate crimes, as well as crimes connected with child prostitution, mental illness, and substance abuse. YRAP was inspired by teenager Jasmina Sumanac. Moving to Canada from Serbia, she was struck by the need to combat hate, racism, and other issues not only in Serbia but also in Canada. Collaborating with her Youth Worker, Mark Cherrington, she and Mark initiated YRAP. As described in this resource paper, YRAP receives referrals from youth courts. Members of YARP meet in a restorative conference with all stakeholders in the problem to deal with the offense and its consequences. YRAP has gained significant recognition, and it is now beginning to expand to Toronto and other areas.

Creating Alternatives for Young Offenders in Toronto

An innovative diversion programme offers young offenders in the Greater Toronto area an opportunity to clear their records and contribute to the community. Called PACT (for participation, acknowledgement, commitment, and transformation), it partners with youth courts to provide a restorative justice and community service alternative in sentencing young offenders.

Eastern Kentucky University, Training Resource Center. Participant Guide. Restorative Justice: Repairing Harm, Reducing Risk and Building Community (A Live National Satellite Broadcast)

This guide was developed to accompany a 2001 satellite telecast examining the experiences of three metropolitan communities that have implemented many changes in their respective justice systems to achieve the priorities of BARJ – public safety, accountability and competency development. (excerpt)

Editor. Interchange: How one volunteer has made a difference

Alice Lynch is executive director of a nonprofit in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that engages social issues affecting women and their families. She also participates in the Restorative Justice Advisory Council, a statewide advisory group to the Minnesota Department of Corrections. On these bases, she volunteered to bring restorative justice to her own neighborhoods in north Minneapolis. This article describes her work coordinating the other volunteers of the Northside Community Justice Committee as they employ the model of restorative circles in dealing with African-American juvenile offenders.

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)

Goodenough-Gordon, Katya. RADIUS Program for Girls in Minnesota Offers a Gender-Specific Model.

RADIUS is an innovative effort that blends the philosophies of restorative justice with the best practices of gender- responsive programming for girls under 18. Restorative services are provided to girls while they are in residential placement, during their transition and furlough, and after release. The two key components of the program are restorative justice circles and grief and trauma counseling. (excerpt)

Griffin, Patrick. Ten Years of Balanced and Restorative Justice in Pennsylvania.

This paper describes the ways in which Pennsylvania's juvenile system has been reformed over the last decade to reflect the principles of balanced and restorative justice (BARJ).The BARJ principles for Pennsylvania's juvenile system were incorporated in Act No. 1995-33 (Act 33), which was passed in 1995. Act 33's BARJ principles hold juvenile offenders accountable for their offenses by including in their case management requirements to remedy the harms that their offenses have caused victims and the community. In order to document what has happened over the 10 years since Act 33 was enacted, this report examined the findings of Juvenile Justice System Outcome Measures, which contain reports by the State's juvenile court and probation departments for each quarter, synthesized into an annual Juvenile Justice Report Card. The 2005 Juvenile Justice Report Card showed that just over $2.5 million in victim restitution and Crime Victims' Compensation fund payments were collected from juveniles whose cases were closed that year; and more than 500,000 hours of community service were performed by juveniles. Key observers agree that these data reflect a significant change in juvenile justice from the period before Act 33 was passed. The primary change is in holding offenders accountable for the harms they have caused. One of the most closely monitored measures of juvenile system performance in the State's juvenile probation departments is the proportion of youth who successfully complete supervision without reoffending. According to the 2005 Juvenile Justice Report Card, approximately 87 percent of cases statewide were closed without a new offense. In emphasizing accountability and the mitigation of harms, BARJ has retained the previous goals of supervision, care, and rehabilitation of juvenile offenders. In fact, BARJ has brought the implementation of these concepts to new levels by requiring training in skill-building in combination with eliminating negative behaviors. Abstract courtesy of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org.

Hanneman, Evelyn U. Interchange: Maine’s Chief Justice discusses the court’s movement toward restorative justice

With few judges and growing caseloads, Maine’s Chief Justice considers restorative programs that make a difference in young lives–and impress the court personnel. Author's abstract.

Harp, Karen and Ware, Teresa and Kuykendall, Michael and Ware, Teresa and Cunningham, Marcia and Kuykendall, Michael. Juvenile Delinquency and Community Prosecution. New Strategies for Old Problems.

This monograph provides a brief explanation of community prosecution, an overview of the potential interface between community prosecution and juvenile justice, a discussion of the legal and systemic issues that APRI uncovered during its site visits, a review of some common issues identified between community prosecution and juvenile justice, and a brief comparison of community prosecution to another emerging juvenile justice philosophy, balanced and restorative justice. (excerpt)

Hines, David. Conferencing and Law Enforcement: Woodbury Community Justice Program

A suburb of Saint Paul, Minnesota, Woodbury is a rapidly growing city of 50,000 people. In recent years it has experienced a significant increase in juvenile offending. The Woodbury Police Department decided it was necessary to try a new approach to the problem of juvenile crime. Thus was born the Woodbury Community Justice Program. It is a police-based program which employs restorative practices to deal primarily with juvenile crime and delinquency. David Hines, a police officer with the Woodbury Public Safety Department, describes this community restorative justice program, including providing statistics on violations dealt with over nearly eight years, as well as guidelines for officer training.

Hipple, Natalie Kroovand and McGarrell, Edmund F. Family Group Conferencing and Re-Offending Among First-Time Juvenile Offenders: The Indianapolis Experiment.

In an assessment of treatment, this study examined prevalence patterns of reoffending among first-time juvenile offenders involved in family group conferences (FGC) in Indianapolis, IN.The results of the Indianapolis Restorative Justice Experiment using family group conferences (FGC) for first-time juvenile offenders were largely positive. The findings indicate that youths participating in FGC survive longer before being rearrested over a 24-month period. In addition, youths participating in conferences had significantly lower incidence rates. The results indicate the need for continued experimentation and study of the role of restorative justice practices and FGC in the justice system. Restorative justice processes and family group conferences in particular have become increasingly common in justice system practices across the world. In a family group conference, after admission of responsibility by the offender, they, the victim, and the supporters of both the offender and victim are brought together. They are brought together with a trained facilitator to discuss the incident and the harm brought to the victim. The FGC provides an opportunity for the victim to explain how they have been harmed and ask questions of the offender. This study addressed the reoffending among youths involved in FGC. Nearly 800 youths participated in the experiment and the cases were tracked for 24 months following their initial arrest. (Abstract courtesy of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.gov).