Safe & Sound and Running Rebels Host Community Conferencing Training
Jul 12th, 2009
Safe & Sound organized a Community Conferencing Training with the District Attorney’s Office for July 27th and 28th. The training was open to Safe Place staff and community residents. Running Rebels Community Organization, one of our 29 funded Safe Places, hosted the training at their youth center, 1300 W. Fond du Lac Ave. Running Rebels staff works extensively with adjudicated youth and expects that staff will be able to benefit from this training.
Community conferencing is a restorative justice based program for non-violent offenders aimed at repairing the harm inflicted by crime, restoring a sense of community, and providing an alternative to incarceration. The training allows community members to facilitate actual criminal cases that involve offenders, victims, youth and community members. The cases are Deferred/Diversion Prosecution Agreements, meaning that offenders may not be charged with a crime, or may have their charges reduced if they successfully complete the requirements of the court.
For offenders, this means that there is an opportunity to talk about their actions in an honest, open and safe setting; and to hear from their victims directly. They can also keep a clean criminal record or have their charges reduced while beginning to repair the harm they have inflicted on the victims of their crime. This victim focused process is largely absent from the traditional justice system. Over 10 years of Community Conferencing, it has been shown to be effective in 85% of cases, with only a small percentage returning to the criminal justice system with additional offenses.
These regular trainings provide an invaluable skill and can greatly benefit youth and the surrounding community. For residents living in high crime areas it provides an opportunity to ask questions of offenders and express how they have been harmed personally or as a community. Conferencing is not shaming or lecturing, rather a sharing of personal stories and experiences and an opportunity to really listen to victims and offenders while maintaining accountability.
