CJNVT Volunteer Conference – 4/3/13

Restorative Justice in Action: Fostering Healing and Equity in Our Work

April 3, 2013 – 8:45 to 4  Capitol Plaza Hotel, Montpelier, Vermont

8 to 8:45 – Registration

8:45 to 9 – Welcome

9 to 10:15 – Panel – Moving Toward Equity in Restorative Justice – Understanding people’s experiences (Ita Meno, Moderator)

10:20 to 12:20 – Morning Workshops

Continuing the Conversation – Discussion with equity panel members (Lisa Bedinger and Ita Meno, Facilitators) – 1 hour

Reparative Board Networking – Creative contracts and other topics of interest to you  (Derek Miodownik) – 1 hour

Restorative Justice in Schools – Introduce Restorative Justice in your local school system   (Susan Cherry) – 2 hours

Recognizing Offender Manipulation:  Tools and strategies when working with offenders  (Kym Anderson/Jenny Beaudin) – 2 hours

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Issues – How to identify indicators and what to do if participants show signs   (Deb Brown) – 2 hours

12:30 to 1:30 – Lunch

1:30 to 2:15 – Keynote – Amy Holloway:  Victim Healing – Restorative Justice Tools for Working with Victims

2:30 to 3:30 – Afternoon Workshops

 Continuing the Conversation - Discussion with keynote speaker, Amy Holloway (Karen Vastine, Facilitator) – 1 hour

CoSA Networking – Focus on topics of interest to you  (Derek Miodownik) – 1 hour

Five Stages of Change – Meeting people where they are  (Win Turner) – 1 hour

Resisting the Punitive Pull – Maintaining your restorative intentions  (Larry Hames/Jackie Trepanier) – 1 hour

3:30 to 4 – Pulling it All Together:  Equal Access to Restorative Justice – Gale Burford, Ph.D

Cost:  $30 (free for restorative justice volunteers)

For additional information or a registration form, please email tracis@cjnvt.org

Sponsored by the Community Justice Network of Vermont and
the Vermont Department of Corrections

Connecting Community Conference 2012

Connecting Community Event Draws 170 Restorative Justice Volunteers and Practitioners – Gov. Shumlin Gives Keynote

On June 8, 2012, nearly 170 restorative justice volunteers and staff came to Norwich University for a day of learning, networking and inspiration. Governor Peter Shumlin delivered the keynote address. The conference highlighted the essential contributions government and citizens make to a civil community and was sponsored by the Vermont Department of Corrections.

Community Justice Centers (CJCs) and Community Justice Programs (CJPs) rely on community volunteers who donate hundreds of hours to help deliver programs that repair the harm caused by crime and conflict in communities around Vermont. In 1998, the Department of Corrections (DOC) started partnerships with municipalities to develop the CJCs. Currently, 12 Centers and 5 Programs are in operation.

Restorative Justice is a philosophy that views crime as a violation of people and relationships, and it takes different forms. It recognizes that crime harms the whole community, harm creates obligations, and justice involves community members helping those who caused harm take responsibility and make things as right as possible for victims and other affected parties. “The goal of restorative justice processes is to build understanding, encourage accountability, and provide an opportunity for healing,” says Karen Vastine, the Community Justice Network of Vermont spokesperson.

The Community Justice Network of Vermont is made up of Community Justice Centers and Community Justice Programs statewide. Its mission is to broaden and strengthen Vermont’s restorative practices through leadership, advocacy, education, and partnerships.  CJNVT is currently planning its 2013 conference, which should happen in the spring or early summer.

Community Conflict Assistance Project

Name of Organization: The Community Justice Network of Vermont and the Vermont Bar Association, Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee

History of Organization: The Community Justice Network of Vermont (Network) was formed in 2008 to advance the profile, services, and successes of the twelve Community Justice Centers of Vermont. Community Justice Centers deliver a full spectrum of restorative programs to address issues of crime and conflict, including community mediation. At present about half of the centers in Vermont offer community mediation services.

The Vermont Bar Association, Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee (ADR committee) has been promoting the use of mediation in Vermont for 25 years. This is the first collaboration of the Network and the ADR committee.

Project Description: The Community Justice Network of Vermont and the Vermont Bar Association will organize and host a conference for Police Chiefs and City/Town Representatives to promote the social and economic value of mediation as a tool for resolving neighborhood and community disputes. The conference will feature presentations by police and communities that have integrated mediation into their policing practice. Following the conference, the Community Justice Centers will partner with the Vermont Bar Association to recruit pro-bono mediators for the increase in service demand.

Project Goals:

• Increase the utilization of mediation in the twelve communities served by Community Justice Centers.
• Increase collaboration and efficient use of resources between the Community Justice Network of Vermont and the Vermont Bar Association.

Project Benefits:

• Lower costs and service demands on police and other city departments through effective use of mediation in response to neighborhood disputes and other types of conflict.
• Establish ongoing collaboration between the Community Justice Network and the Vermont Bar Association to maximize skills and resources.

Project Narrative:

The Community Justice Network of Vermont was formed in 2008 to promote the collective voice and vision of the Community Justice Centers of Vermont. The Network is committed to promoting a restorative approach to conflict and crime- community by community.

There are twelve Community Justice Centers located across Vermont’s rural and mountainous landscape. Each Justice Center is affiliated with either a town or city and reflects the priorities of its local citizens. As a result, services are tailored to the specific needs of local communities. Some Centers, for example, offer truancy programs while others focus on offender reentry, Parallel Justice, or “Pre-Charge” programs. All Community Justice Centers, however, offer post-adjudication Reparative Boards, which address the harms caused to victims and community by specific incidents of crime.

These are just a few examples of the types of programs developed by the Justice Centers. Taken collectively, Community Justice Centers offer restorative programs and interventions that span the entire breadth of the Criminal Justice Process.

In addition to delivering restorative programs, Community Justice Centers have considerable capacities to provide both mediation referrals and services. There is a natural alignment between the Centers’ restorative work within the Criminal Justice System and the preventative potential of Alternative Dispute Resolution.

The “Community Conflict Assistance Project” proposes to increase the utilization of police-referred mediation services with the financial support of the American College of Civil Trial Mediators.  The Community Justice Network and Vermont Bar Association will launch this effort by organizing a statewide conference of professional mediators, Community Justice Center staff, city/municipal managers, and Police Chiefs from the twelve Justice Center towns and cities.

The conference will feature presentations by representatives of successful police mediation programs.  The presenters will identify the concrete benefits of mediation, including: reduction in police calls, lower costs, and improved neighborhood relations (See “A Quantitative Analysis of The Effectiveness of Community Mediation in Decreasing Repeat Calls for Service”, Conflict Resolution Quarterly, Fall 2005).

It is anticipated that an outcome of the conference will be the creation of at least one pilot program in one community which coordinates the efforts of local law enforcement, town officials, the community Justice Center and the Vermont Bar Association in creating a program for police referred mediation. The pilot program and others that arise from this conference will be implemented at the local level of the Community Justice Centers.

In order to meet the increased demand for mediation services, the Vermont Bar Association will establish a database of professional mediators willing to provide ‘pro-bono’ services. Community Justice Centers will utilize this database to link local dispute referrals with the volunteer mediators.

The “Community Conflict Assistance Project” will establish the commitments and infrastructure to provide mediation services across the twelve communities of the Community Justice Centers.  These services will provide demonstrable results, including reduced demand and costs of non-emergency police services, and greater community recognition of the effectiveness and benefits of mediation.

“The “Community Conflict Assistance Project” will also cement the nascent collaboration between the Vermont Bar Association and the Community Justice Network of Vermont. The collaborative work on this project will promote mutual understanding of each organization’s resources and strengths, building relationships for future work together in support of their common goal to raise public awareness of alternative dispute resolution and the creation of public infrastructure that supports the collaborative resolution of conflict.

 

Windjammer Conference Center, South Burlington, Vermont

Friday, May 13, 2011

8:30 am – 4:30 pm

RSVP by April 22, 2010 to

Faith Copeland

802-223-2020

fcopeland@vtbar.org

Conference location:

http://www.bestwesternvermont.com/hotels/best-western-windjammer-inn-and-conference-center/

Hillsboro Police Mediation Program:
http://www.ci.hillsboro.or.us/Police/Divisions/Mediation.aspx

Hillsboro Oregon Police Chief Carey Sullivan:
http://www.ci.hillsboro.or.us/Police/Default.aspx?g1dd=0

http://www.oregonlive.com/hillsboro/index.ssf/2010/06/hillsboro_names_new_police_chief.html
http://www.oregonlive.com/argus/index.ssf/2011/01/mediation_beats_prison_for_eff.html

http://www.omediate.org/hillsboromediation/index.cfm

Article by Hillsboro Police Det. Ed Vance on truancy interventions:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2194/is_9_77/ai_n29475670/