Car Theft Accountability Program Recruiting Volunteers for Restorative Justice
The restorative justice process brings offenders (and their families) and victims together in a restorative justice circle to try to repair the harm that has been done to the community. By repairing the harm to the relationships between offenders and victims, and offenders and the community that resulted from the crime, restorative justice seeks to understand and address the circumstances which contributed to the crime. In addition to trained staff from the Juvenile Detention Center, community volunteers are needed to participate in the circle to represent the community.
The Juvenile Justice Working Group has agreed to help recruit the community volunteers. Ideally we will include a diverse cross-section of the community, including people of color. Please email Alta Price if you want to volunteer, including your name, email address, and phone number.
Some initial information for potential community volunteers from Jeremy Kaiser, Director of the Juvenile Detention Center:
Volunteers Needed for Car Theft Accountability Program:
All volunteers will need to pass a child abuse/criminal background check and possess the right frame of mind to help restore relationships and repair harms that have been done in the community.
Volunteer training has not been scheduled yet. We will most likely wait until May or June to schedule volunteer training. We will bring in a consultant from a company out of Boulder, Colorado named Restorative Solutions. [Visit the Restorative Solutions website to learn more about restorative justice, especially as used in schools.] Catherine Childs is the name of our consultant who provided our facilitator training and will also provide our volunteer training. That initial training will last approximately 3-4 hours. We will also provide on-going skills training for all volunteers.
The volunteer’s role will be to sit in on restorative community conferences and provide the community perspective to the circle. They also help problem solve ideas to repair harm and provide support to victims, offenders, and families during and possibly after the conference.
Ideally we will have a pool of volunteers (5-10) that we can train to be available for conferences. We will likely only have 1-2 volunteers at each conference. The amount of time committed will be based on availability. Conferences will last between 1-2 hours at the most. We are going to try to schedule most conferences on Tuesday and Thursday nights, so availability on those nights will be crucial.
Community Volunteer Information Session:
Although not required, Jeremy Kaiser will be at an information session for potential community volunteers on Tuesday, May 7th at 6:30 pm at the Scott County Juvenile Detention Center Program Space, 500 W 4th St, Davenport. It is in the building connected to detention, but it is the entrance near the southeast corner of the building.