Being restorative for youth: St. Croix Valley Restorative Justice Program
St. Croix County in Wisconsin lays opposite the Twin Cities and serves as a refuge for suburbanites from their work life in Minnesota. As a result, the county has a per capita income of $69,682 and has a significant young adult population with disposable income. The county was known for its underage drinking problem, but a small and growing agency, which started 6 years ago, has seen evidence that the problem is being alleviated, in part, to their work with local court system.
The St. Croix Valley Restorative Justice Program dedicates itself to “build and sustain a culture of peace and belonging utilizing restorative justice principles and programs in our community”. Basically, the program works towards raising the social awareness of offenders to the consequences of their actions and holds them accountable to the community. Their main method of infusing the awareness is through the use of circle meetings where the victim and offender sit in the same room with one another and with select individuals from their friends and family to share their experience. The method reveals, however, that the choices made by these individuals were not entirely made by the victim and offender, but that they were allowed to happen by the actions of the community. The select individuals in the room learn about the history leading up to the choice and then understand how their complacency or lifestyle contributed to the harm happening. Which this leads into the natural question, did the select individuals ever hear the story before or did they ever talk about the consequences of potential choices?
The most successful program that SCVRJP has developed to date is a circle meeting process that addresses underage drunk driving. In Wisconsin, minors ticketed with public intoxication face a choice of having their driver’s license revoke or attending SCVRJP’s circle meeting. The majority prefer to hold onto their license and go through the program.
Below, you will find a video where its executive director Kris Miner shares more about their program and discover more information.
Resources:
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/55/55109.html
http://circlespace.wordpress.com/