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The Restorative Justice Diversion Program provides an alternative to the criminal legal system. The process is confidential, voluntary, and focuses on supporting individuals to take responsibility for their actions and repair the harm caused to those impacted by crimes.
The Full Circle Restorative Justice Diversion Program serves juveniles in Chaffee, Custer, Fremont and Park counties, receiving referrals from the 11th Judicial District Attorney's Office, some municipal courts and law enforcement.
The Restorative Justice Diversion process is based on restorative principals of "Relationship, Respect, Responsibility, Repair and Reintegration."
“Although I was initially hesitant, the Full Circle advocate supported me to find my voice. I found the courage to move forward and discover a resilience I didn’t know I had.” -Harmed Party Participant
“Full Circle Restorative Justice helped me understand the ripple effect of my behavior(s).” -Responsible Party Participant
“Full Circle Restorative Justice helped give my son a second chance.” -Parent of a Responsible Party
In Restorative Justice, the Victim/Harmed party has the opportunity to share how they have been impacted by a crime and are directly
involved in deciding what can be done to repair the harm they have experienced. Participation for the Harmed party is always completely confidential, voluntary, and free. Harmed parties are supported throughout the restorative justice process and beyond; with options to connect with resources and services to facilitate their healing process.
The Responsible party has the opportunity to repair the harm they have caused to themselves and others by gaining a deeper awareness of the impacts of their actions, and to build empathy and leadership through the completion of agreement items decided upon in the final conference. Participants in our diversion program are also able to receive access to additional resources to
support positive future choices.
Harmed parties and Responsible parties may bring a support person to their conferences, such as a trusted friend or family member. A volunteer community member will also be invited to speak to the impacts the incident had on the greater community. During the final conference, oftentimes the community member is a person with lived experiences similar to the participants. A therapy dog team can be provided for additional support upon request by either party.
After a court referral, the Responsible Party contacts the RJ Diversion Coordinator within two weeks to schedule a time to meet with a Full Circle Restorative Justice facilitator for a pre-conference. The pre-conference provides an opportunity to learn more about the restorative justice process and consider if it is a good fit. During the preconference, we discuss the events that led up to the Responsible Party’s legal involvement, the impact it has had on family, community, and themselves, and begin coming up with action-items to repair the harm.
The Harmed Party is contacted and will have the opportunity to talk with a Restorative Justice Facilitator, submit an impact statement, share about impacts and express their needs for repairing the harm caused.
After the involved parties have been contacted and completed the pre-conferencing process, the Full Circle Restorative Justice Diversion Coordinator will schedule everyone for the conference. During this final conference, the Responsible Party will share about the event and hear how the incident has impacted the Harmed Party, family members, and the community. Participants will then determine what agreement items are needed to repair the harm and restore relationships. Agreement items are specific, measurable, achievable, reasonable, time-bound and equitable. Once successfully completed the criminal legal system will no longer be involved and there will be no criminal record for the Responsible Party.
● Decreased crime and harm as measured by low recidivism rates.
● Increased positive youth connections and involvement in activities.
● Increased satisfaction for Harmed Parties as measured by successful completion of Restorative Justice agreements by Responsible Parties.
● Increased satisfaction with programs as measured by qualitative feedback.
Read the Full Circle Restorative Justice 2022 Impact Report.