Thursday, September 13, 2012

Introducing the Ottawa Restorative Justice Newsletter


Among our Ontario Community CACs we have an active interest and ongoing connection with Restorative Justice. We have looked both at the issues of Victim’s of Crime as well as the issues of the one who has committed the crime and his or her family.  Our CACs are able to facilitate the Restorative Justice Process where needed.

The Ottawa Restorative Justice Network each month publishes a great email newsletter that is filled with gleaning of what the Restorative Justice participants are doing around our province, our country and around the world.

I have found these newsletters very helpful in our community of Peterborough.
Today I am publishing their September 2012 newsletter for you to peruse.
Murray Lincoln
Chair for Ontario Region of CAC

Introducing the Ottawa Restorative Justice Newsletter – by Kimberly Mann/Amber Montgomery ~ Chairpersons

Hello Everyone!
Here is the e-mail out for September 2012!
1) The Collaborative Justice Program invites you to a Celebration and our first Annual General Meeting!
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
5 p.m. - 7 p.m. 
Raw Sugar Cafe, 692 Somerset Street West, Ottawa, ON

Please join CJP for an annual program update and light refreshments!
Visit our new and improved website for more information and RSVP to cjpstudent@storm.ca or telephone 613-239-1268.

2) Restorative Justice Workshop - The Church Council on Justice and Corrections, September 28, 2012
Gain an understanding of restorative justice and the restorative circle.
Develop an appreciation of how restorative processes can bring satisfaction to those aected by an oence.
Gain an opportunity to think about your role in implementing practices of restorative justice in your own communities.
11:30am -1pm
St. Andrew's Presbyterian (Parish Hall)
82 Kent Street, Ottawa, Ontario
$10 ($5 For Students)
Please RSVP: splayford@ccjc.ca, (613) 563 1688 x105

3) Restorative Practices 4 Day Professional Development Event - International Institute for Restorative Practices, Toronto, September 25-28
With this event you will:
·                     Gain practical knowledge and skills you can use immediately.
·                     Strengthen your ability to help others handle their own issues and achieve their own goals.
·                     Interact with other knowledgeable professionals to find realistic solutions to the issues you face everyday. 
Cost is $550 per person. Each day runs 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. (Registration 8-8:30 a.m.)

4) Bullying: Is Prevention the Cure? - Crime Prevention Ottawa Speaker Series, Monday, September 17, 2012
No school in Ottawa is immune to bullying. It’s a complex problem and there is no simple solution. How do we prevent it? And why is the search for solutions so complicated?  This engaging discussion will look at the wider social context in which bullying takes place - a world where we condone bullying by sports heroes, reality TV stars and celebrity chefs. It's also a world where children are dealing with challenging relationships at home. We'll examine successful approaches that address child development and take into account the whole school environment.
Keynote Speaker: Tina Daniels, Associate Professor of Psychology, Carleton University
Respondents: Paul Richardson, Superintendent of Education, Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est and Brett Reynolds, Principal of Inclusive, Safe and Caring Programs, Ottawa Carleton District School Board
Monday, September 17, 2012 from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at City Hall, 110 Laurier Avenue West
Coffee: 7:30 - 8 a.m. in John Piggott Hall
Presentation and panel: 8 a.m. in 

R.S.V.P. to Crime Prevention Ottawa at cpo@ottawa.ca or613-580-2424 ext. 22454 
*Please note that space is limited

5) Rethinking Justice: Building Partnerships Between Police and Aboriginal People for Healthy Communities – Upcoming Conference, Vancouver, B.C. - October 25 & 26, 2012

This conference draws on best practices to celebrate successful community-based partnerships and explore the challenges in building future partnerships dedicated to creating healthy communities.
Issues to be Addressed Include:
1. Healthy Aboriginal communities: what is required, what are the core characteristics of such communities and what results can be expected?
2. What are the current challenges in First Nation Communities: what are the best models for understanding the challenges and what are the major policing issues being faced in 2012?
3. Practical and legal issues in community policing, including a comprehensive 2012 update and special focus on matrimonial property on reserves.
4. The latest update from Public Safety Canada on the First Nations Policing Program.
5. Community-based justice and healing systems, including case studies, their successes and challenges.
6. An in-depth exploration of community healing: what is required, what can be done and what is being done that works?
7. How can we change and learn from the lessons of the murdered and missing Aboriginal women from Vancouver’s downtown eastside?
8. Focus on the crisis: Aboriginal children at risk
9. Sentencing: what recent changes and progress has been made in this area and how applying the Gladue decision impacts First Nations communities?
10. How can we rethink justice in ways that build approaches that work?

6) YOUCAN Connect Employment Program - September 10th to December 14th, 2012
The YOUCAN Connect Program is a 14-week employment program for youth who have barriers to employment. The program is designed to help these youth develop employability skills through group-based activities and workshops, to help them gain valuable work experience through job placements, and to provide them with the support from YOUCAN staff who check in with the youth continuously to make sure their individual employment needs are met.

Weeks 1-2: Participants will receive training in employment-related skills.
Weeks 3-14: Participants will work at a job from Monday-Thursday, and receive additional training every Friday,

Contact Katie Lemay for more information or to schedule an interview: katie.lemay@youcan.ca or 613-230-1903 ext 222

7) Call for Presenters/Workshops: 2012 National Restorative Justice Symposium - Winnipeg, Manitoba, November 18-20, 2012

The National Restorative Justice Symposium (NRJS) Planning Committee invites interested individuals/groups to present interactive workshops that will share best practices, ideas and strategies that reflect the 2012 theme “Diverse Needs; Unique Responses” as set out below:

This theme recognizes that restorative justice is an approach that addresses the various needs of people impacted by crime and conflict that are created when a person has been harmed or treated unfairly. Some of these needs are also influenced by an individual's background, culture, gender, age and many other factors that make each person unique. Restorative justice processes, in response to crime and conflict, are highly adaptable to different people, environments, and systems as the identified needs of the people involved help formulate the unique response that can contribute to a person's sense of safety, justice and well-being. 

While there is no single universal definition for restorative justice, common elements are shared between those that exist. Fundamentally, restorative justice is about finding peaceful and collaborative ways of addressing crime and resolving conflict in our society while promoting recognition of harm, voluntary participation, inclusion, safety, and facilitated dialogue. Its application is not limited to the criminal justice system.

The restorative justice approach can be applied to a multitude of diverse situations. It can also be applied in a variety of ways in order to address the unique needs of those impacted by crime and/or conflict.

"Diverse Needs and Unique Responses" call upon all of us to explore different way in which restorative justice can be applied in an increasingly diverse society to address the varied needs of those involved. 

If you are interested in presenting, please complete the following form and submit it by September 7, 2012.  The Planning Committee will review the applications and let the applicants know by August 31, 2012 whether they have been accepted. Successful candidates will be requested to submit a head shot photo for publication in the Symposium Program.

Please send completed applications:
By Mail
NRJS Workshop Planning Committee
Attention: Michelle Laviolette
101-720 Broadway Ave.
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3G 0X1
By Fax: (204) 336-3610 (ATTN: Michelle Laviolette)
By E-mail: mlaviolette@onashowewin.com
For further information, please contact:
Michelle Laviolette at (204) 336-3600

8) Restorative Justice: The Evidence - Lawrence Sherman & Heather Strang, The Smith Institute, 2007
This is a non-governmental assessment of the evidence on restorative justice in the UK and internationally, carried out by the Jerry Lee Center of Criminology at the University of Pennsylvania for the Smith Institute in London, with funding from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. The purpose of this review is to examine what constitutes good-quality restorative justice practice, and to reach conclusions on its effectiveness, with particular reference to reoffending.

9) Doing Restorative Justice - Joellen McHard, The Millstone, August 21, 2012
I was drawn to doing volunteer work with the Lanark Country Community Justice Programme for several reasons.  A great deal of my professional work has been in developing countries where large segments of the population do not have meaningful access to the formal justice system – and even when they do the system often does not serve them well – particularly  poor people.  I was often seeking alternative ways of resolving disputes or seeking justice.

10) Youth Take on Bullies in New Television Show - Bill Tremblay, Orangeville.com, August 27, 2012
The topic of bullying will help launch a new show created by teens, for teens on Rogers TV.  Brianna Montgomery, 15, and her sister Cailey, 18, have created Teen Talk 101, a talk show-style program geared towards their peers. “It’s all about teens and what happens in the teen life,” said Cailey, who graduated from Robert F. Hall earlier this year.

11) Restorative Justice in Systems - Video, Crimespace. August 21, 2012
Officer Greg Ruprecht sees Restorative Justice in action by keeping offenders from becoming repeat offenders.

Norway's criminal justice system is, obviously, quite distinct from that of, say, the U.S.; 21 years is the maximum sentence for anything less severe than war crimes or genocide. Still, it's more than that: the entire philosophy underpinning their system is radically different. I don't have an answer for which is better. I doubt anyone does. But Americans' shocked response to the Breivik sentence hints at not just how different the two systems are, but how deeply we may have come to internalize our understanding of justice, which, whatever its merits, doesn't seem to be as universally applied as we might think.

13) Norway Did the Right Thing by Giving Breivik 21-Year Sentence - David Dow, World News, August 27, 2012
More than any other instance of crime and punishment during the past fifty years, the sentencing of the mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik in Norway last week reveals just how wide is the chasm between Western Europe and the United States when it comes to criminal justice. Breivik, who killed 77 people and injured scores more in Norway in July 2011—the largest mass slaughter in Norway since World War II—was sentenced to 21 years, or just over 3 months per victim. 21 years! In some places in the U.S. you can get more time for selling a half ounce of cocaine.

This paper investigates whether the introduction of Restorative Justice programs reduces the incidence of punitive student discipline (out-of-school suspension) in two selected secondary school districts. It also investigates whether currently existing racial disparities in student discipline are alleviated by the introduction of Restorative Justice. Using publicly available suspension data, the paper employs coarsened exact matching to create comparable groups of schools that did and did not implement Restorative Justice practices and compares their suspension results before and after Restorative Justice implementation using t-tests.

15) SRC Adopts Revised Student Code of Conduct - Dale Mezzacappa, The Notebook; Philadelphia Public School, August 17, 2012
The School Reform Commission voted Thursday evening to adopt a revised code of conduct that gives principals more discretion in handling disciplinary cases and prevents some infractions from being punished by out-of-school suspensions.

16) Obtain Most of your IIRP Grad School Master's Degree or Certificate Online - International Institue for Restorative Practices - August 15, 2012

Now up to 80% of your IIRP Master's Degree or Certificate may be earned via online and independent study. The remaining 20% may be achieved by attending 12 days of in-person professional development events held in many North American locations, which may be applied toward academic credit through supplemental online coursework.

"The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride but in the end; there it is." 
                     - Winston Churchill

I hope you enjoyed this email-out! Please feel free to share this with anyone that you feel may be interested and we would be happy to receive any information that you feel may be of interest to our readership! Send torjnetwork@storm.ca.

Be well,

Kimberly Mann/Amber Montgomery
Chairpersons - Ottawa Restorative Justice Network
www.orjn.org
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)