We are helping neighborhoods, organizations, workplaces, and places of worship in numerous ways. Restorative practices provide effective tools to develop respectful relationships, strengthen community, explore controversial topics, deal with conflict, and repair harm.
Organizations
Building a strong team is critical to the success of any organization or workplace. Restorative practices can help your organization create a strong sense of teamwork, build relationships, promote effective communication, provide for collaborative decision-making, and address the challenges of conflict and organizational change.
For more information on how restorative practices can help your organization, workplace, or place of worship, contact us.
Families
Restorative practices help families with a wide range of issues. Parents can use these tools to improve communication with children, increase emotional intelligence, deal with bullying and manage the inevitable conflicts that arise in families. Restorative practices are also highly effective in dealing with the most challenging family problems. For example, our Re-entry Family Circles Program helps women in the Monroe Correctional Facility make the transition back to family life and the community.
For more information on how restorative practices can help your family, contact us.
Victim support
Acts of wrongdoing can cause lasting wounds and leave victims with many questions. Victim-centered restorative practices provide the opportunity for victims to share their stories and get answers to some of their questions. We also provide a safe environment where victims can have productive conversations with the people who caused harm to them or their loved ones.
“Prior to the conference I was fearful of the perpetrators. Afterwards I was able to free myself from my worries and fears that we would be targets of further violence.”
Anonymous, 2010
All acts of wrongdoing, from graffiti to assault, leave wounds. If you’ve been impacted by crime you may find yourself:
- Wondering, “Why me?” and “Why did you do this?”
- Re-experiencing trauma
- Searching for justice
- Wanting to have a say in what happens next
A Community Conference allows you to:
- Meet in a safe environment with the person(s) who harmed you, if they are willing to accept responsibility for their actions.
- Share how you have been affected by the harm that has occurred.
- Find answers to some of your questions.
- Have input into the outcome of the case.
Partners in Restorative Initiatives works in collaboration with the Monroe County Office of the DA to identify cases going through courts that would benefit from the possibility of going through a Community Conference. If you are interested in hearing more about how a Community Conferencing process could help you. For more information contact us.
“This is our first experience with this kind of process and we’re very pleased with having an alternative to the retributive court process.”
Victim 2012