Restorative Program Interventions

Who: Responsible person/s (sometimes known as ‘offender’), Harmed party/ies (sometimes known as ‘victim’), People supporting the responsible and harmed people, BRITE CO Facilitator and Co-facilitator, BRITE CO Community Members, Law Enforcement Officers.

What: A 2-3 hour restorative circle process to address crime and/or conflict that has occurred. The conference process allows the person who is responsible for the harm take accountability with responsibility, while allowing for those who have been harmed to share their impacts. The circle then works together to determine how to repair the harm with strengths-based contracted agreements. Community Group Conferences are the most structured intervention we offer at BRITE Collaborative.

Where: BRITE CO can host this process or it can be held in other locations as needed.

When: Any time harm has occurred and outside support is needed to help address that harm.

Why: Formal Restorative Justice interventions are critical to ensuring people involved in crime or conflict are heard. Through RJ we have the opportunity to hear people’s stories and work together to build relationships and remain connected, not divided. We acknowledge the structural injustices and systems of oppression that exist and believe Restorative Justice is an opportunity to lessen the impact of those systems.

This program has a 90% success rate as compared to a 30% success rate of the traditional criminal justice system.

Who: Any group of youth seeking to learn from their mistakes. Facilitated by our partner, Mirror Image Arts.

What: A 6 hour group restorative program which offers a space where participants' social-emotional growth is activated through creativity, imagination, problem-solving, and play. Youth have the ability to change their thoughts, feelings, behaviors and perceptions with every experience they encounter.

Where: At BRITE CO’s office or on-site for your group.

When: This program is appropriate for community based organizations supporting youth, schools who need support to address harm, other municipalities looking to create restorative justice programs.

Why: This program has a 95% success rate. By using their bodies, minds, and creativity, youth have an opportunity to access their experiences in a way that may not be able to verbally. Youth learn effectively with their peers and this intervention provides stronger connections with trusted adults and builds empathy for themselves and others.

Who: Responsible person/s (sometimes known as ‘offender’), Harmed party/ies (sometimes known as ‘victim’), BRITE CO Facilitator

What: A 2-3 hour restorative intervention that seeks to address harm that has occurred between 2 people. This is a more structured intervention.

Where: BRITE CO can host this process or it can be held in other locations as needed.

When: This intervention is often used after the two individuals have tried a restorative conversation process and are in need of additional support and agreements.

Why: A restorative mediation or agreements circle is an effective way to prevent harm from escalating which can sometimes rise to the level of criminal. We often use this intervention to address harm that exists between students who are fighting or being bullied, to repair behavior at work or in the classroom that can be disruptive. The conversation can help increase understanding and empathy between the parties and uncover underlying needs behind the behavior.

Who: When someone has impacted by shoplifting. It involves the responsible persons, BRITE CO Facilitator and Co-Facilitators, BRITE CO Community Members, Law Enforcement Officers, and Business Owners.

What: This 4 hour program is a group Restorative Justice process that includes up to 7 other responsible persons. After hearing from the community about the impacts of shoplifting, responsible persons share their experiences and make reparative agreements in break-out circles.

Where: BRITE CO hosts this program or it can be delivered off-site in your community.

When: BRITE CO can offer this program to any group that has been impacted by shoplifting. This can include parents who learn their children are engaged this behavior, a group of students at school or church, or a local business that would like to take a restorative approach to shoplifting.

Why: Shoplifting is a not a ‘victim-less’ crime and can quickly escalate. Without an opportunity to take responsibility with accountability, it can easily continue and lead to significant harm and criminal charges.

With RESTORE, people have the opportunity to learn from their mistakes and are offered a second chance. Read more about RESTORE in the news!

Who: Any group who is looking for an opportunity to connect with one another—you have participants and a circle keeper or circle leader.

What: Circle practice can be as short as 2 minutes or an hour or longer depending on the prompt or topic that is introduced. The circle leader will offer a question or prompt to the group and invite participants to answer or pass. Circles are used to strengthen relationships, deepen understanding, and build (or re-build) trust. Circles are an informal practice.

Where: Connection circles can happen anywhere and everywhere! They are designed to be adaptive.

When: Circles can be used to give people an opportunity to process a shared experience, or provide a space to share about challenging or charged topics. They can be used by families, schools, organizations, workplaces in a proactive or responsive way.

Why: Circle practice is rooted in creating equal voice. It allows those who might be quieter to share more easily and invites those who talk a lot to spend more time listening. It supports shared leadership and is the foundational tool upon which restorative practices and justice is built. When done correctly, participants leave feeling like they were understood and were given the chance to listen deeply.

Who: The responsible person, the person/s supporting them, BRITE CO Facilitators, other participants as needed.

What: This 1-2 hour process supports the responsible person to understand what is needed of them to address the harm caused in order to reintegrate back into their community. At the end of the process, a SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time bound) strengths based contract will be created. This intervention is more structured.

Where: BRITE CO can host this process or it can be held in other locations as needed.

When: This intervention can be used to offer additional support to someone who has caused harm and needs clear expectations for how to address that harm. This could be a student or co-worker who behavior is caused harm and trust has been broken—and the community wants to welcome them back after repair.

Why: Our communities are stronger when people are not isolated after harm has been caused, when they are isolated, we all suffer. Reintegration is crucial to ensure everyone’s voice has been heard and needs are met. With clear expectations we are creating environments that are safer where all of us can show up with more courage and curiosity.