You Can Be a Partner In The Restorative Process By Joining The Estes Valley Restorative Justice Team.

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by philip

Restorative Justice practitioners believe that crime is a violation of people and relationships and creates an obligation in the offender to make things right. However, the present justice system ignores this principle in favor of punishment for the offender without input from the victim or community.  Therefore, those most impacted by a crime have almost no input into the offender’s punishment.

The Estes Valley Restorative Justice Partnership is a non-profit organization of 25 volunteer facilitators who conduct an “alternative to court” process built upon Restorative Justice principles. Restorative Justice provides victims, offenders and members of the community an opportunity to participate in a justice system that seeks to repair harm and hold offenders accountable for their actions.  Those that have a stake in the harm participate in the process to undo that harm. Volunteer facilitators conduct Community Group Conferences that identify the harms to victim and community and ways to repair them.

You can be a partner in this process by joining the Estes Valley Restorative Justice team.  Volunteer facilitator training is November 7 and 8 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day, in Room 202 of the Municipal Building, located at 170 MacGregor Avenue.  To register, contact Case Manager Michael Crabbs at 970-577-3829. Training is free with a one year commitment to the program. Trainees will learn skills in group leadership, active listening, communication, discernment, reframing and mediation.  Upon completion, participants will be exposed to Restorative Justice principles and will start a mentoring process to facilitate Community Group Conferences.  
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