Balanced and Restorative Justice

The Restorative Justice Program works with youth ages 13 through 17 who have been adjudicated in Family Court, are on probation or require additional support specified by the Department for Children and Families, which oversees juvenile justice in Vermont. All referrals come from DCF.

Volunteers

Volunteers, who serve as Restorative Panel Members, are an important part of our program. They are enthusiastic community members with strong communication skills and a commitment to a restorative justice philosophy. All volunteers are trained on an ongoing basis.

The goal is to give equal weight, care and consideration to community, victim and youth. Restorative Panels hold youth accountable to victims and the community and give the victims a voice in the process. They encourage face-to-face contact with their offenders at the panel to identify the harm created by the juvenile’s actions and seek input from the victim in the creation of a contract that will help repair the harm. [replace with language from Kathy]

A contract may include community service, a written essay or other creative project, letters of apology, restitution or participation in an appropriate life skills group. Once the juvenile completes all conditions outlined by the contract, he or she is closed successfully from the program and the DCF caseworker is notified. Ultimately, the Family Court judge will release the youth from probation. Youth who do not successfully complete their contracts are returned to court.

Staff for the program include the Panel Coordinator and the Street Checker. The coordinator conducts individual pre-panel meetings with the both the juvenile (with their parent or guardian) and the victim, facilitates the Restorative Panel and the creation of the contract for the youth and provides follow-up services for the duration of the contract, as well as recruiting and training the community volunteers, which ideally are of diverse ages and backgrounds. In cases involving monetary restitution, the coordinator collects the funds and sends them along to the victim.