Susan Capparelli, Executive Director, of St Croix Valley Restorative Services shared the mission, vision, model and results of restorative services in our community.
The organization seeks to provide help, prevent harm and promote healing through prevention, intervention and reintegration.
With a mission that utilizes the principles and practices of restorative justice, the organization helps people respond to the effects of crime and interpersonal conflicts.
“Whether it is conflict with the law, within school, between others or within self, the philosophy of restorative justice puts repairing harm done to relationships and people first, over and above the retributive need for assigning blame and dispensing punishment for a rule, policy or law that was broken,” said Susan.
What happened? Who was harmed? How do we make it right?
The center embraces a paradigm shift in understanding what accountability and responsibility really mean. It connects individuals to resources to help them build relationships, resolve conflicts and be accountable in a safe and emotionally healthy manner.
Rather than focusing on what rule broken, who broke it and how do we punish the offender, the restorative process or system helps the person who caused the harm understand the harm they caused. Restorative Services address the needs of victims, offenders and the greater community for a number of criminal offenses, with a focus on accountability and positive behavior change.
“With restorative justice, the person who committed the offense answers to the individual affected by it,” said Susan. “The offender must hear the impact and take responsibility for it, whether in a group or face-to-face. To fully acknowledge harm to others is a painful experience. It’s quite a bit harder to do than going to court and paying a fine.”
Helping people understand how their behavior affected other human beings leads to acknowledging that they had the power to make a different choice. It starts with acknowledging how their behavior was harmful to others. There is no such thing as a victimless crime, said Susan.
Offenders should take action to repair the harm where possible, and make necessary positive changes to avoid behavior in the future by committing to better, safer choices.
It works with municipal courts on teen infractions, and focuses on moving from zero tolerance to no tolerance, believing that positive behavior change will produce the best results. It also provides risk assessments and resources to find low, medium and high risk treatment options, as well as mental health support and suicide prevention.
Reintegration is key. St. Croix Valley Restorative Services works with probation, parole, mental health support and suicide prevention for those in jail.
Who makes it work?
St. Croix Valley Restorative Services is funded through grants and donations from individuals and groups. It does not receive city, county, state or federal funding. It is staffed and utilizes 40 volunteer, who donated over 600 hours in 2018.
In 2018, St. Croix Valley Restorative Services made 1,023 intervention referrals, with 886 successful completions.