Champaign County Regional Planning Commission

Rebecca Woodard
Court Diversion Services
Phone: (217) 328-3313, X180
Email: rwoodard@ccrpc.org

Champaign County Regional Planning Commission
1776 East Washington Street
PO Box 17760
Urbana, Illinois 61803-7760
Phone: (217) 328-3313
IL Relay: 711
Fax: (217) 328-2426

Program Purpose

In an effort to create a more peaceful and just community, Court Diversion Services (CDS) attempts to restore the relationship between victims and their juvenile offenders, strives to prevent offenders from committing further transgressions, and promotes community involvement through its restorative justice programs.

Balanced & Restorative Justice (BARJ) is a belief that crime violates people and relationships, not just the state. It focuses on the damage done to:

Victims
Offenders
Community

BARJ attempts to restore the relationships among all three elements by allowing all three elements a balanced say in how to repair the harm done.

In 2001, CCRPC contracted with the Victim Offender Reconciliation Program (VORP) of Champaign County to manage the day to day operations of its victim-offender mediation program. This program has over ten years experience conducting mediations in the city of Champaign. In 2002, CDS used the County Public Safety Tax funding to expand this mediation service to at-risk youth from throughout the entire county. CDS also added a Circle Mediation program to address crimes involving multiple victims and offenders, often where the distinction between the two is blurred. In 2003, CDS investigated adding a peer court to its services in order to address crimes without victims. At the present, CDS continues to work with local law enforcement agencies and the court system to hold over a 100 youth offenders each year.

Circle Mediation

How Does It Work?
Often, crime involves multiple victims and offenders where the distinction between the two is blurred. Circles allow participants, regardless of guilt or innocence, to explore what happened as a group.

Opening
Circle facilitators guide the process using a talking piece. This object can be anything. Only the participant holding the talking piece can speak. The talking piece is passed around the circle.

Exploration
Once everyone has shared their part, the circle explores possible solutions to the conflict. Emphasis is placed on making things right among all the participants.

Agreements
Circle participants continue to pass the talking piece under the direction of the facilitator until a consensus is reached on an agreement. All participants then sign the agreement.

Victim Offender Reconciliation

How Does It Work?
Often, youth offenders hurt someone they know. VORP allows victims and offender to repair the harm done to their relationships through a face-to-face process called mediation.

Interviews
Trained volunteer mediators meet individually, first with the offenders and then with the victims. Mediators discuss the crime and the damage done with each side.

Mediation
Victims and offenders are then brought together to share their feelings and question each other. Losses, both financial and emotional, are reviewed.

Monitoring
Participants sign an agreement restoring the relationship. CDS then monitors the agreement for compliance. If the offender violates the agreement, the case is returned to the referring agency for prosecution.

Volunteer Mediators

Mediators are volunteers with at least twenty hours of mediator training. They come from churches, local universities and colleges, or community organizations. CDS offers a 20 hour free training to interested volunteers willing to commit to at least one year of service with the program. Trainings occur about once a year depending on case load and volunteer retention. Once trained and background checked, mediators participate in assigned mediations once a month. The CDS Coordinator schedules all mediators on a quarterly basis. Interested parties can apply by contacting the CDS Coordinator at the numbers listed below.

Please fill out the application and send to the address at the bottom of the page.

Donations are always welcome. Make checks or money orders payable to the CCRPC Social Services Division. Please send any contributions to the address listed below.

Court Diversion Panel

The purpose of Court Diversion Panels is to hold delinquent youth accountable for their behavior by imposing sanctions that will repair the harm to the community and/or teach skills to avert recidivism. Participating in a panel review provides first offenders a way to keep their record clean while at the same time interrupting patterns of delinquent behavior by promoting positive feelings of self-esteem, motivating self-improvement, and developing a healthy attitude towards authority.

Court Diversion Panels are compromised of three members from a pool of trained Court Diversion Services staff, adult volunteers and peer volunteers, at least one of which must be a peer volunteer. The volunteers attend a 20-hour conflict resolution training prior to becoming eligible for panel service.

Juvenile offenders are referred to the panel by police through the station adjustment process. The types of offenses heard at the panel include victimless cases or minor cases where the offender does not acknowledge responsibility for the behavior.

During the review, the panel members, offender, and parent/guardian read the police report and discuss what happened and what harm was done to the community. Three questions will be posed: 1) what is the nature of the harm resulting from the crime? 2) What needs to be done to repair the harm? and 3) who is responsible for the repair?

The Panel then discusses what sanctions would be appropriate with the offender and parent/guardian. The sanctions imposed by panel review are designed to fit the offense and may involve apology, restitution, community service, prevention education, and/or service on a future panel. While the obligations may be difficult for the offenders, they should not be intended as harms and they must be achievable and limited to an appropriate time frame. Sanctions are explained and all parties sign an agreement.

Court Diversion Services staff will follow-up with each case to determine success or failure, and notify police of case outcomes.

Eligibility and How to Apply

Any youth who has committed a violation of the Illinois criminal code, school disciplinary code, or local ordinance within Champaign County is eligible for Court Diversion Services. The Court Diversion Services Coordinator will screen referrals to determine eligibility and placement into programs. All programs have the following eligibility criteria:

Offenders must live in Champaign County.
Offenders must agree to participate fully in any program.
Offenders must be minors as defined by Illinois State law.
Offenders must admit to committing the crime.
Offenders must understand the crime
Offenders must be novices who have committed misdemeanors, or non-violent felonies.

Contact the program coordinator to make a referral.

Reports, Newsletters, & Articles

coming soon...

Annotated Bibliography of Restorative Justice and Conflict Resolution Websites

ADRWorld.com
601 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
South Building, Suite 700
Washington, DC 20004
Phone: (800) 584-5791
Email: info@adrworld.com
http://adrworld.com/

ADRWorld.com is your single source on the World Wide Web for up-to-the-minute news on arbitration, mediation and all forms of alternative dispute resolution. An indispensable resource for the legal community and dispute resolution practitioners, ADRWorld.com keeps you on top of the latest developments in all practice areas, and gives you instant access to legislative and regulatory developments in all 50 states and the federal government, important court opinions, and a comprehensive library of statutes, court rules and policy documents.

American Arbitration Association
335 Madison Avenue, Floor 10
New York, New York 10017-4605
Phone: 800-778-7879
Fax: 212-716-5905
Email: Websitemail@adr.org
http://www.adr.org

The American Arbitration Association is available to resolve a wide range of disputes through mediation, arbitration, elections and other out-of-court settlement procedures. That the AAA has flourished for over 75 years affirms an unparalleled commitment to progressive leadership in alternative dispute resolution (ADR), and the Association's facility for change and service innovation. The history, mission and not-for-profit status of the AAA are unique in the field of alternative dispute resolution. It is, however, the Association's ADR resources its panels, rules, administration, and education and training services that provide cost-effective and tangible value to counsel, businesses and industry professionals and their employees, customers and business partners.

Association for Conflict Resolution
1527 New Hampshire Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202.667.9700
Fax: 202.265.1968
Email: acr@acresolution.org
http://www.acresolution.org

The Association for Conflict Resolution is a professional organization dedicated to enhancing the practice and public understanding of conflict resolution. Our mission is promoting peaceful, effective conflict resolution. ACR represents and serves a diverse national and international audience that includes more than 7000 mediators, arbitrators, facilitators, educators, and others involved in the field of conflict resolution and collaborative decision-making. Anyone interested in the field of conflict resolution is welcome to join.

Balanced and Restorative Justice Project
Florida Atlantic University
1515 West Commercial Blvd
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33309
954-762-5668
Email: barj@fau.edu
http://www.barjproject.org/

The Balanced and Restorative Justice Project (BARJ) is a national training and technical assistance effort supported by a grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), U.S. Department of Justice. Project trainers, researchers and juvenile justice practitioners work with jurisdictions nationwide assisting to advance systemic change in juvenile justice policy and practice. The emphasis of the BARJ project is to focus on the way in which jurisdictions are addressing the re-integrative (competency development), sanctioning (accountability), and public safety goals of the Balanced Approach mission. Project staff work with special emphasis states and jurisdictions, such as, California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas, developing BARJ through statewide initiatives and legislation. Project staff and national consultants conduct national, state, and local training, strategic planning, and technical assistance with jurisdictions in developing program goals, performance measurement, and evaluation.

Center for Restorative Justice & Peacemaking
School of Social Work
University of Minnesota
1404 Gortner Ave, 105 Peters Hall
St. Paul MN 55108-6160
612-624-4923
612-624-3744 Fax

The Center for Restorative Justice & Peacemaking acts as a resource center of video, books, and articles relating to restorative justice and victim offender mediation. The website offers an exhaustive supply of articles and research findings for mediation groups. The site features works by Mark Umbreit, a celebrated restorative justice expert, and faculty member at the University of Minnesota. Training seminars are nationally recognized and occur throughout the year. Mediation groups under the directory are handily classified by type of organization.

Community Justice Exchange
520 8th Avenue
New York, New York 10018
1-877-373-7300
Fax: 1-212-397-0985
Email: info@communityjustice.org
http://www.communityjustice.org

The Community Justice Exchange is a place where people planning or running community justice programs can find out what's happening in the area of community justice, get help planning community justice initiatives, and connect with peers. The site lists best practices and features a national programs database for linking up with other programs in your area. Even the online library lists relevant categories, allowing the user to search by topic. The format is easy to use and very effective.

Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority
120 S. Riverside Plaza
Suite 1016
Chicago, Illinois 60606
1-888-425-4248
312-793-8550
Fax: 312-793-8422
Email: irc@icjia.state.il.us
http://www.icjia.state.il.us/

The Authority's mission is to improve the administration of criminal justice in Illinois through an informed and involved public. In addition to providing easy access to the latest criminal justice news and information, this site opens doors to the Authority's three major areas of operation: research, information systems, and federal and state grants. Whether you are looking for crime statistics on your community, criminal justice research of state and national scope, or news about federal grants, this site will be a tremendous tool, especially with its comprehensive directory of other resources.

International Institute for Restorative Practices
P.O. Box 229
Bethlehem, PA 18016
610-807-9221
Fax: 610-807-0423
Email: info@restorativepractices.org
http://www.restorativepractices.org/

The International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP) is a non-profit organization, which provides education and research in support of the development of restorative practices. IIRP's website discusses and publicizes definitions, ideas, best practices, theories and standards for restorative practices. It also links to useful research, education and training about restorative practices. The site is very easy to navigate. Many of the issues focus on school related topics. IIRP also hosts other restorative justice sites.

International Center for Justice and Reconciliation
Prison Fellowship International
PO Box 17434
Washington, DC 20041
Phone: 703-481-0000
Fax: 703-481-0003
Email: rjonline@pfi.org
http://www.restorativejustice.org/

Restorative Justice Online is a comprehensive, non-partisan website devoted to restorative justice principles, practice, programs and theory. It includes the largest annotated bibliography of restorative justice articles in the world.

The International Center for Justice and Reconciliation is the criminal justice reform arm of an association of NGOs in 95 countries. These NGOs mobilize volunteers to work in prison and promote criminal justice reforms. For more information about the association, go to Prison Fellowship International. The Center's mission is to expand the use of restorative justice around the world.

Justice Fellowship
1856 Old Reston Ave.
Reston, VA 20190
Phone: 703-904-7312
Fax: 703-904-7307
Toll: 1-800-217-2743
Email: mail@justicefellowship.org
http://www.justicefellowship.org

Justice Fellowship is a non-profit on-line community of Christians working to reform the criminal justice system to reflect biblically based principles of restorative justice for America's criminal justice system. Founded in 1983 as a subsidiary of Prison Fellowship Ministries, Justice Fellowship works to have a presence in local, state and federal jurisdictions.

Justice Fellowship works with key state and federal policymakers to change the way our current criminal justice system is administered. In some jurisdictions, Justice Fellowship works to advance a single piece of legislation. In other places, our approach is more comprehensive as we look at system-wide solutions to the problems of crime. Our work sometimes places us in an advisory or "technical assistance" role to an official commission on some criminal justice subject. Whatever the capacity to which we are called to serve, we adhere to the philosophy of biblically based restorative justice.

Mediate.com
PO Box 51090
Eugene, Oregon 97405
(541) 345-1629
Email: admin@mediate.com
http://www.mediate.com/

Mediate.com is the most visited conflict resolution site on the Internet. It is managed by a software company looking to design and handle mediation association websites. The site is more a commercial bulletin board for mediation groups looking to buy and sell services on the internet. Despite this, it still offers quite a lot including mediator and mediation agency directories, private mediation training groups, a healthy article library, and an online forum for mediator discussions. A calendar lists interesting seminars from a variety of instructional agencies.

Michigan BARJ Project
Marlyce Nuzum, Bureau of Juvenile Justice
Michigan Family Independence Agency
Lansing, MI
517-266-5889
Email: nuzumm@michigan.gov
http://www.mibarj.org/

This website was created to promote the philosophy and principles of Balanced and Restorative Justice in the State of Michigan. It is supported with funding from the Michigan Family Independence Agency's Bureau of Juvenile Justice. However, all responsibility for content and design lies with content contributors.

National Association For Community Mediation
1527 New Hampshire Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036-1206
Phone: (202) 667-9700
http://www.nafcm.org/

The National Association for Community Mediation (NAFCM) is a membership organization comprised of community mediation centers, their staff and volunteer mediators, and other individuals and organizations interested in the community mediation movement. Membership benefits include funding possibilities, networking, research, publications, a membership directory, and more. From coast to coast and beyond, NAFCM enjoys a unique position as the only national non-profit organization dedicated solely to community-based mediation programs.

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
810 Seventh Street, NW
Washington, DC 20531
202-307-5911
Fax: 202-307-2093
Email: Askjj@ncjrs.org
http://www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org/

The OJJDP Web site is designed to provide information and resources on both general and specific areas of interest about juvenile justice and delinquency. For instance, the latest facts and figures on juvenile justice, delinquency prevention, and violence can be found under the link resources. Learn about youth-focused publications and other resources available from OJJDP, other federal agencies, and many other national and international organizations. The site also lists current and past funding opportunities from OJJDP, the private sector, and other federal agencies. One directory even provides State-by-State lists of contacts, including Juvenile Justice Specialists, State Advisory Groups, Missing Children Clearinghouses, and Departments of Juvenile Justice. The calendar feature reveals upcoming OJJDP-sponsored conferences, including the teleconference series and training and technical assistance opportunities from grantees.

Real Justice
P.O. Box 229
Bethlehem, PA 18016
Phone: 610-807-9221
Fax: 610-807-0423
Email: usa@realjustice.org
http://www.realjustice.org/index.html

Real Justice conferences, also called family group conferences, restorative justice conferences and community accountability conferences, originated as a response to juvenile crime. Conferencing is a new victim-sensitive approach to addressing wrongdoing in various settings in a variety of ways. Real Justice is a website dedicated to this specific technique, and is part of the IIRP umbrella of websites.

Victim Offender Mediation Association (VOMA)
c/o Center for Policy, Planning and Performance
2344 Nicollet Avenue South, Suite 330
Minneapolis, MN 55404
612-874-0570
612-874-0253 Fax
Email: voma@voma.org
http://www.voma.org/

VOMA promotes restorative justice dialogue, principles, and practices. There are currently 380 members, both individual and agencies, in 40 states and 7 countries. The website offers restorative justice publications, email lists, and directories. Though the publications list is not comprehensive, it is divided up into categories. The directory of mediation resources is quite extensive and categorized as well. The site overall is an excellent starting place for information or contacts.

Victim-Offender Reconciliation Program (VORP)
Information and Resource Center
19813 N.E. 13th Street
Camas, WA 98607
360-260-1551
360-260-1563 Fax
Email: martyprice@vorp.com
http://www.vorp.com

The VORP Information Resource Center's mission is to bring restorative justice reform to our criminal and juvenile justice systems. The website provides access to videos, an articles library, training seminars, and technical consulting on VORP issues. Most of these services are offered directly by Marty Price, the head of this organization. The articles library, however, does offer many good articles from a variety of sources. Again, it is not that comprehensive.

Victim Offender Reconciliation Program Wikipedia Site at the
Curriculum, Technology, & Education Reform (CTER)
Department of Educational Psychology,
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Room 226 Education Building
1310 S. 6th St.
Champaign, IL 61820
888-843-3779
http://wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/VORP

This is an interactive Wikipedia website that allows users to add or edit information on the site. It outlines quite a bit about the different types of mediation in use and the effectiveness of various programs across the country. Due to the dynamic nature of the non-secure website, the accuracy of information should be evaluated with scrutiny before accepting it as fact.

For a more detailed list of Restorative Justice Websites, please visit the following: http://www.carleton.ca/~cmckie/restore.htm

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