By Leslie Ross
Hancock County Case Coordinator for RJP Maine &
Downeast Restorative Justice Board Member

News that the Sheriff's department was requesting funds from the Hancock County Commissioners for the purchase of riot gear, firearms and ammunition spread quickly, as did the response to it--the Commissioners and the Sheriff's Department had never received the volume of comments and concerns that they received over this one issue.  And these continued to come in even as the Sheriff clarified that he was not requesting armed vehicles or tear gas but equipment he called protective--shields, batons and helmets.

Due to the response, the request was removed from the agenda the week before the meeting, but this did not stop 66 people (where normally there might be 2 to 5, depending on the agenda) from showing up to voice their concern. Downeast Restorative Justice took this dramatic increase of local residents' involvement in these issues and the larger concerns they raised as a demonstration that there was a need for dialogue.

To that end DRJ proposed that the Commissioners form a committee of both law enforcement and community members the objectives of which will be two-fold:

On one hand, it will explore what we feel needs to be included in a Community Crisis Intervention Policy Manual, something that currently does not exist for the County. Beyond crowd management, concern with which was the impetus for the sheriff's initial request, this manual will cover different individual crisis management intervention strategies and the organizations or professionals (e.g., mental health, substance abuse) who are best equipped to respond. It will also include best practices and the aligning training to support them.

The other purpose of this committee--and this is close to our hearts--will be to lay the groundwork for a more cooperative working relationship between law enforcement and the community they serve. It is our hope that together (community members and different law enforcement agencies), we will establish a structure for routine open communication and check-in circles.

We are so excited about this coming together and see it as a very positive outcome to the anger and frustrations that were raised by the Commissioners' initial meeting announcement. Already, many not previously connected with either RJP or DRJ, some as individuals and some as representatives of other organizations, have expressed interest in being involved in the process.

Downeast Restorative Justice will be holding a Zoom meeting on Wednesday July 1 at 6 pm for members of the community to voice what questions they would like this committee to address before presenting the formal proposal to the Commissioners the following week.

With love and respect,
Leslie Ross

This should not be normal in the United States. This isn't normal. This isn't ok.

It shouldn't take video footage of George Floyd's murder to prove that this is wrong wrong wrong. I want to live to see a justice system/government/leadership that holds itself accountable to the communities it serves, seeing the inherent dignity and worth of ALL people regardless of the color of their skin, the $ in their pocket, their criminal background or history of substance use. I want people in power to share power equitably, to not abuse that power in discriminatory ways. I want law enforcement officers that aren't afraid of their communities and communities to not live in fear of law enforcement. I want law enforcement to be trained first and foremost as peacekeepers, to listen to their communities, and help people work through conflicts without resorting to violence.

I want to help make Maine--and this nation--a place that is welcoming to all people, and I feel grateful for all of the people in local law enforcement who show up to work each day with realness and humanity at the Reentry Center, the jail, and in the community at large. I feel grateful to participate in work that brings together both law enforcement and incarcerated/formerly system-involved people to talk about universal human experiences, breaking down stereotypes and stigmas. And there is more work to be done.

But most of all, in whatever ways, big and small, that I can fight against this sort of racism and desensitization to the violence towards and murder of people of color, I want to do that. I have this privilege and if I'm not using it for good, then I'm just as bad as the rest.

This is not ok.
​
George Floyd died just after 8pm this past Monday night, Memorial Day. Tonight at 8pm I'm going to light a candle in his honor and have a few minutes of silence. Join if you want, if you are so moved.
​

​medium.com/equality-includes-you/what-white-people-can-do-for-racial-justice-f2d18b0e0234

​www.nytimes.com/2020/05/27/us/george-floyd-minneapolis-death.html?fbclid=IwAR0trYDfqgSPVYP5bnbQIXFqt4PFJndOaibVsZ4iTWS_Z2-8PdphtfmXoYU

​Thank you for your dedication and passion, Dottie 🧡 It is an honor to serve with you. - RJP Maine

In the spring of 2018, Lucy Funkhouser was pursuing her Masters in Social Work Degree through the University of Maine, and she approached me about the possibility of completing her nine-month generalist internship with RJP.  To be candid, I actively discouraged her at first; "you seem great", I said, "but you're working, parenting and going to school... plus an internship based out of an office an hour-long drive from where you live?  That seems like so much!"  She took a deep breath:  "I believe in this," she said, "I want to make it happen."

Lucy jumped in with both feet.  She shuttled back and forth from Knox County to Waldo County multiple times a week.  She represented RJP at an international RJ conference in Vermont soon after beginning her internship.  She conducted outreach to harmed parties; connected with teens and their parents and guardians at kitchen tables across the midcoast; she entered data; she attended court; she conducted outreach; she boldly shared her perspectives in staff meetings.  She breathed RJ.  And, as she did, she carried messages of possibility, resilience and healing with her.  She offered that the antidote to heartache, to trauma, to disconnection... is practical; it's a community showing up to address its own harms and needs and to care for its own.

At the conclusion of her internship, we were pleased to offer her a very part-time role (five-hours a week!) as the first ever Knox County juvenile Community Resolution Coordinator.  (Previously, Knox RJ was coordinated out of the Belfast office).  She accepted.  In this capacity, Lucy has helped to establish a local presence for restorative practice in the Knox County area.  She facilitated restorative justice processes; she connected volunteer facilitators with harms in need of repair; she introduced volunteer mentors to individuals receptive to support; she networked; she helped launch drop-in circles of support for mothers in recovery; she supported grants; she thought collaboratively with citizens about what community justice looks like and means. 

As many of you are aware, Lucy graduated last week with her degree and is studying for her certification exam.  She's accepted a full time position offering *HCT or Home and Community Treatment through Community Care - a nonprofit offering a variety of support services across the state of Maine.  Happily, she'll be working in the greater Rockland area, so many of the relationships she's forged will simply take on a new dimension.

Thank you so much for your skills and your heart these past couple of years Lucy!  We are so proud that you'll bring your restorative approach to the work ahead of you! 


*Home and Community Based Treatment (HCT) is an intensive family-based therapy program that provides children and parents with support from a Licensed Clinician and a Behavioral Health Professional (BHP) to assist in managing mental health and behavioral needs of their child, and increasing the caregivers’ confidence and skill set to do so. The service is provided in the family’s home, and occasionally within the community depending on the treatment needs of the child. The HCT service is typically a 3-6 month service.  HCT is intensive and is often in the home within the range of 4-10 hours a week. 

​Thank you for your dedication and passion, Ruth 🧡 It is an honor to serve with you. - RJP Maine

In an effort to restoratively contribute something to our community during this isolating moment in time, RJPMaine thought virtual community building across our four county area would be a good place to start. We invited folks from each demographic of the communities we serve into the planning process; Reentry (former MCRRC residents & staff), schools (teachers, admin & youth), and our court diversion program (youth & mentors).  It was also decided, as a way of making the most of our time together and encourage a bigger conversation, that the virtual pilot team would create a circle script that could serve a diverse group as a way to help maintain community conversations. Before long, the virtual pilot team was formed!

The individuals we asked to take part in this pilot team were not only representative of each demographic that RJPMaine serves, but they are individuals who have demonstrated dedication to restorative practices and have had training and experience in community building circles.  RJPMaine only asked for a willingness to commit to being part of a planning process which hoped to move swiftly. 
 
Along with RJPMaine's Louise, Jenna and Sarah Matari, invited community members virtually “showed up” via Zoom for the first pilot planning circle on Monday, March 23rd. In planning for the circle script, Sarah, Louise and Jenna asked participants what they’re doing to make life seem normal and how they’re socializing with others in these times of physical distancing.  We also asked what felt important to talk about right now given the current climate.  These are a few of the things that came up for our participants during the virtual circle:

-Supporting youth during this time 
-Positive stories, Share ways to stay present and hopeful
-Information, i.e.  Safe activities people can still do
-How to help others creatively
-How to deal with this transition, process, finding balance
-How to care for oneself and the community at the same time 
-Ways we carry on: Netflix, puzzles, Spring

(We would like to ask you, the reader, how could you support your community (or even members of your family and close friends) in talking about these topics?)

With an understanding of what our diverse group of virtual community volunteers wished to discuss, over the next week, RJPMaine's Karin, Jenna and Louise, worked to finalize the script that the community participants helped create.  The script was then piloted with the same group of individuals during our second virtual circle on Monday, March 31st.  Below are excerpts from the script we collectively created:

Check-In Round 
What’s going on for you right now?
Round 1: Personal Needs
What do you need? 
Round 2: Tapping into Resilience
What is a strength you have these days? What can you offer to those around you?
Round 3: Tapping into a Broader Perspective
Tell a story about life going on around you?
Check Out
What are you taking away from this circle?

With this information, over the next week, Karin, Jenna and Louise, worked to finalize the script.  The script was then piloted with the same group of individuals during our second virtual circle on Monday, March 31st.  Below are the different veins of inspiration we shared with one another in closing this circle:

Music
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros' album Here
Nils Lofgren's song "Wonderland" 
Video & Audio
"Some Good News" Network -- John Krasinski's youtube video and interview with Steve Carell
Fantastic Fungus -- inspiring documentary
Anne with an E -- tv show about Anne of Green Gables on Netflix
Teaching Podcasts
The Character Strong Podcast  
The Google Teacher Podcast
Activities
Hand-sewing, mending
Getting outside at Solar Noon- show as much skin as possible, and soak up the sun! 
Local Stories
Teachers going on parade for their students
Readings or Quotes
Ross Gay's poems and essays http://www.rossgay.net/poems-essays

As intended, RJPMaine will be emailing the script to each of our institutional partners in the hopes that they may find comfort in connecting through circle during this time. To our trained circle keepers, we share this script as a way to create spaces for people in their own communities to connect.

For those of you who are looking forward to healthier times and are interested in restorative practices, RJPMaine would like to share that we'll be offering 'Foundations in Restorative Practices' this fall at the UMaine Hutchinson Center in Belfast.  Please click on the following link for dates and course specifics; hutchinsoncenter.umaine.edu/foundations-restorative-practices/.

​In closing, RJPMaine would like to thank those who volunteered their time, their space, their hearts and their minds to this virtual community building project.  Sarah, Louise, Jenna and Karin are filled with gratitude and are actively brainstorming what comes next. We sincerely hope there's more virtual circles to come and more stories to share 🧡

​Over the last three and a half years, Megan has been working with RJPMaine to implement Restorative Justice practices into Long Creek Youth Development Center. Megan, along with Margaret Micolichek and the Long Creek team, created a restorative curriculum for the youth to participate in and to be able to unpack the impact of their actions leading them to Long Creek. Megan and the team have trained both youth and staff in restorative practices creating a more restorative climate and culture that teaches and supports youth decision-making and creates accountability for their actions.  Now, the Staff are more apt to use a restorative conversation and/or intervention to prevent a youth receiving an incident report or further involvement in the justice system. Youth and staff have also become adept at holding circles on their units that build relationships, responds to harm and celebrates youth successes.

As Megan and the team continue their work with Long Creek, it has become clear that a permanent staff presence within the facility would allow for further culture change and restorative sustainability. The facility as well as the state of Maine saw the importance of this work and created the position of Restorative Justice Coordinator, a role which Megan recently wholeheartedly accepted! Megan plans to move forward in her new role by deepening restorative justice culture and climate by expanding Long Creek's current practices within the center, and with the State’s  goal of reducing youth incarceration to only the highest risk, Megan will be collaborating more with community partners. Working with youth is Megan's absolute passion and she is grateful to be able to continue on this journey with the experience she has gained from her time with the Restorative Justice Project Maine.  Megan's RJPMaine colleagues are excited about her new role with the State of Maine, and are grateful for her commitment to the youth of Maine.  

Megan, RJPMaine thanks you for your service and passion and we wish you the very best 🧡 ​