Office of Dispute Resolution

Office of Dispute Resolution Community Conflict Resolution-Restorative Justice Services Mini-Grant FY 2006 Awards

Braided River Peace Project, Durango (6 th JD & Southern Ute Tribe) Braided River is the only agency in the area providing dispute resolution, mediation, restorative group conferencing, peace making circles and victim/offender dialogue. Among their volunteers are Spanish speakers, Navajo, and Sign Language experts. Braided River has an established referral system through the 6th JD. Their goal is reduction in recidivism and increasing diversion referrals through the District Attorney’s Office, the courts and local law enforcement agencies. Last year the center served over 258 people (138 were juveniles). The funding would pay for increased contract staff hours for the Program Director and the Case Manger to respond to the increased demand for services and to better utilize their volunteers and staff. The increased staff time would be used to provide more and higher levels of training to current and new community volunteers; to train existing volunteers to assist with screening and interviewing potential cases, coordinate volunteer/referral meetings, and track and follow up mediation/conflict resolution cases; to further develop relations with other organizations and schools to contract for services and to plan fundraisers in order to permit needed sustainability. Staff will also conduct outreach and educational activities, facilitation at public meetings, participation in community service entities, collaboration with community partners, and provide technical assistance to teachers, administrators, and businesses to build a proactive peace building culture. With the funding they expect to serve 10 to 15 referrals per week (260-390 in 6 months).

Community Alternatives-Face-to-Face, Aurora (18 th JD) This restorative justice pilot project will serve first-time juvenile offenders arrested for underage possession of alcohol, and will provide an alternative to punishment through fines, court fees and community service. The program will provide an opportunity to teach accountability, awareness of the impact their behaviors have on the community and their families, and an opportunity to take responsibility. Offenders referred to the program by the District Attorney’s Office will be required to attend a two-session class, with either both parents or guardian. At the first session, parents and juveniles will be separated and Face-to-Face will provide an educational analysis of the effects and liabilities of drinking, as well as potential and realized impacts on the community. The second session will take the form of a restorative justice conference that includes parents, juveniles, and community members, and focuses on reaching agreements about making amends to the community. The agreements will be monitored by the program, with results reported to the referring agencies. Failure to complete the class or the agreement will result in further actions by the court. This program is modeled after programs in Iowa and Longmont, CO, and is aimed at changing social norms.

The Conflict Center, Denver This project will set up 8-week violence prevention/conflict resolution skill building classes at 2 middle schools to students and their parents. It is part of a cooperative effort among the Denver Safe City Office, Denver Public Schools, Denver City Attorney’s Office and Denver County Juvenile Court (191J) to create effective links to reduce the number of school suspensions and expulsions and reduce involvement with the juvenile justice system due to violence. The project is designed to address physical and verbal fights in schools, with more immediate and effective responses that provide alternatives to suspension and diversion from the juvenile court process. Students who are co-combatants, identified by schools and cited by the Denver Police Department for disturbing the peace, public fighting, threats to persons and unlawful acts at school will be diverted to this project. They will receive individualized needs assessment and supervision (by Denver Safe City Office), have the option of receiving mediation (Denver Public Schools mediator) and will be required to attend skill building classes provided by the Conflict Center. Youth and their parents will be given the opportunity to have a shortened school suspension time and to avoid court appearances. The two middle school populations are respectively 35/39% African American, 60/51% Latino, 4/5% White, 2/5% Asian, with 74/72% on free or reduced lunch, 16/11% Spanish speaking, and 32/20% of students suspended. The project is currently being piloted at Montbello High School with the hope of replicating the program model throughout the metro area.

1 Mesa County Partners, Grand Junction (21 st JD) Partners provides four victim empathy classes for youth from January until June each year. Grant funds would double the number of classes offered so that there is increased opportunity for youth to complete their court-ordered requirements in a timely manner. Partners presents victim empathy classes as an eight-week class that educates juvenile offenders about how crime affects the victim, victims’ and offender families, friends and the community as a whole. An important part of these classes is the involvement of victims of crime, who come and speak to the youth about how they were affected. Partners also involves the community, as police officers, business owners (such as insurance adjusters) and victim advocates who speak to the youth about how crime affects everyone. The target population has been and will continue to be youth on diversion contracts from the D.A.’s Office, adjudicated youth on probation and youth that are on committed/parole status. This allows for these youth to shorten their time in the system, which in turn allows for earlier re-integration into normal, productive community activities. With the education these classes provide, these youth are re-entering the community with a greater understanding of the effects of their decisions, both positive and negative, with the goal of lowering recidivism.

The Resolution Center, Hilltop Community Resources, Grand Junction (21st JD) The Resolution Center (“TRC”) proposes two projects: 1) to develop mediation services as an alternative to filing of criminal charges in neighborhood and community disputes, and 2) to provide Victim Offender Mediation for adult offenders in the 21st JD. The police department and District Attorney’s Office will refer cases involving families, neighbors and others who have a fairly close relationship in noise complaints, landlord/tenant and consumer/merchant disputes, assaults, threats, and harassment problems. The TRC will train their 6 volunteer Small Claims Court mediators in community mediation. These volunteers will in turn serve as Sr. Mediators for a new group of volunteers trained in community mediation. The funds will be used to pay for a portion of the program coordinator’s time and stipends for the Sr. Mediators for training the new volunteers. The Victim Offender Mediation for adult offenders is an expansion of TRC’s current program of Victim Offender Mediation for juvenile offenders.