News : CDRC in the News

June 27th, 2008

by Madeline Maher
originally printed in the Ithaca Journal

Last month our column offered a basic overview of restorative justice and its principles. This month, we focus on several individuals in our community who are incorporating these principles in the work they do. Since there are many people practicing these common restorative justice principles in our community, and a limit to our time and column length, we'll continue addressing this topic in future articles, through various lenses.

Restorative justice is a values-based system, with the triad of the victim, offender and community at its center. Restorative justice asks us to embrace a philosophy that says that justice can be restored if all parties work together for the good of healing the whole. Holding offenders accountable, repairing harm to the victims and reintegrating both into the community are key steps in that healing. The process takes time and willingness, as those involved uncover their needs and work together to meet them. The concepts are challenging, especially because we grow up in a world where crime and punishment are handled by the state. This is why Suzi Cook believes in introducing value-based concepts early. Cook, the paralegal in the Tompkins County Attorney's office, has worked with adjudicated youth for 25 years. "When they say it takes a village, they are so right," she says. Though some may balk, she appreciates the value of doing a Person In Need of Supervision petition referral on a child with persistent problem behavior to access a wealth of support and services. It allows issues to be addressed by the youth, their family and school in an effort to prevent more serious behavior in the future.

Adults, too, have a great capacity for change. Deb Dietrich, executive director of OAR, spoke of the need for a community that supports that transformation. Formerly Offender Aid and Restoration, the agency is now Opportunities, Alternatives and Resources. OAR offers support, tools and a sense of community for people involved in the county criminal justice system, their families and friends. Dietrich spoke of initiating discussions in the moments that may be most difficult - during a conflict, after an offense - so we learn how to face the challenge in the midst of it. "As much as we might want to, we don't implement restorative justice," Dietrich says. "It has to come from a place of self-knowledge. So, how do we as a society or as individuals help people come to a place of self-actualization" where we can begin to see the effects of our choices and embrace change? OAR employs a humanistic touch in all they do, creating opportunities for individuals to accept responsibility and become empowered to make better choices.

Pat Buechel is the probation supervisor in Tompkins County. She identified programs like SWAP - the Service Work Alternatives Program - and Day Reporting as restorative justice. Participants in SWAP make amends, giving back by assisting not-for-profit agencies and government with efforts like preparing for the Friends of the Library Book Sale. Day Reporting is one of the department's reintegration programs and an alternative to incarceration. It offers a structured environment focusing on education and personal advancement and placed 119 people in jobs in 2007. Buechel said an offense is like "throwing a stone into a pond," the ripples being the effect on self, family and friends, community and society. She believes that the work probation does plants a seed for change. Her hope is that not just one thing might make the difference, but that one thing will make the difference. "You never know what one thing you say will be remembered and inspire change down the road."

All three women noted the power of the victim-offender conferences the Community Dispute Resolution Center facilitates as a key piece in restorative justice, where victims speak honestly of their experience and offenders can see the consequences of their actions and be accountable. Like the other programs, these happen after a problem has arisen. However, a restorative approach can help before offenses occur by offering a means for a community to take responsibility for its own well-being, educate its members about a different kind of justice, and create ties that bind so offenses against a faceless stranger next door might be prevented.

Other local groups work from a restorative justice focus: our drug courts, our domestic violence court, our jail re-entry program and our churches among them. Noting this, all three women agreed that without the community to support and champion the cause of restorative justice, it cannot succeed. All three share a dream that restorative justice might, one day, thrive throughout our community.