Community Resolution Teams

The Restorative Justice Project (RJP) provides diversion from the courts for first time juvenile offenders through Community Resolution Teams (CRT). Utilizing a conference circle process, a paired team of facilitators brings together the victim, offender, mentor and community participants and offers a chance for victims to talk about how they felt and the impact of the offense, and for offenders to accept responsibility for their actions and restore the relationship. All conference participants have the opportunity to share and provide input into an agreement which the offender, with their mentor will have six months to complete. When the agreement is successfully completed, a closing conference is held and the juvenile shares their experience with the group. From 2005-2011, RJP has worked with 136 juvenile offenders, with a 90% success rate of agreements being completed and a 95% success rate of individuals not re-offending. For those juveniles that did re-offend, the average time between first offense and the second was 16.5 months - almost triple the state-wide average of 5.7 months.

Another effort to support juveniles is through the efforts of the Wednesday Afternoon Club (WAC). This is a biweekly program at the Knox County court house in Rockland that serves juveniles who are on conditions or probation and seen to need more support to be successful. It is a way of keeping a closer watch on these juveniles, providing access to resources and support, and catching them if they slip before they have a chance to continually spiral downward. A number of the juveniles that RJP has worked with have been involved with the WAC, with one referral coming from the judge during the WAC.